Greens mark October 7 with ‘genocide’ claim
Adam Bandt marked the first anniversary of October 7 by accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing a "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza.
The Greens have been called an “utter disgrace” after the party’s leader Adam Bandt marked the first anniversary of October 7 by accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing a “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.
In a statement released on October 7, Bandt said Australia is “complicit in this appalling conflict” by the Albanese government’s decision not to not support UN resolutions on Palestinian statehood, by refusing to “sanction the extremist Netanyahu government”, and by refusing to “support South Africa’s International Court of Justice case on the genocide in Gaza”.
Bandt said the events of October 7 deserved “nothing less than our most full condemnation as a community”, but added the same should apply to the attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. “The very same commitment to compassion, honesty, peace and justice required of us in response to those attacks of Hamas requires us as Greens to call out the war crimes and genocide that is being carried out by the State of Israel right now in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories, and the bombing and invasion of Lebanon,” said Bandt.
The Greens also endorsed protests that took place across the country over the weekend, with Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Alex Ryvchin accusing the party of being “knee-deep in overt antisemitism” over the past year.
“The Greens are an utter disgrace,” said Ryvchin.
“They have incited against the Jewish community consistently by spreading misinformation and lies. They’ve attacked the police in certain circumstances as well, so the Greens really have become the most dangerous political actor in our society and the major parties need to understand this when we come to the next election.”
It comes as ECAJ, together with the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), wrote to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition requesting that both major parties preference each other above the Greens at the next federal election and rule out negotiating with, or forming a minority government with, the Greens.
The joint call was issued on the one-year anniversary of the abhorrent demonstrations at the Sydney Opera House – well before any military response from Israel – which triggered a “wave of extremism and antisemitism” and the continued “weaponisation of the conflict by elected Greens”.
“The ZFA and ECAJ have also sought pledges from each of the teal independents that they rule out negotiating, or agreeing to form a minority government, with the Greens who, under the leadership of Adam Bandt, have deliberately chosen to: spread disinformation about the war; publicly spout antisemitic rhetoric; refuse to condemn the terrorist organisations, Hamas and Hezbollah; refuse to acknowledge Israel has a right to exist; [and have] failed to address antisemitism in their ranks,” the joint statement said.
ZFA president Jeremy Leibler said the Greens should be denied any role in a minority government “for the sake of our social cohesion”.
ECAJ president Daniel Aghion added, “By committing to preference each other ahead of the Greens, the government and opposition would send a clear message that hatred, extremism, antisemitism and the politics of division will not be tolerated or rewarded.”
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