Spender reaffirms support
Spender told The AJN she spoke to a number of people in the community before signing the letter and knew there would be concern about it.
MP Allegra Spender has reaffirmed her support for Israel and the Jewish community after the teals signed a letter urging government to potentially restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The letter, addressed to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, acknowledges the “extremely concerning and serious” allegations against some UNRWA staff about their participation in the October 7 attacks, but also recognises the “dire humanitarian situation in Gaza”.
Pointing out that no other aid provider in Gaza has the “scale and capacity” to replace UNRWA, “it is our clear understanding that unless international partner funding to UNRWA is restored by the end of March”, UNRWA’s humanitarian operations in Gaza “will collapse”.
The letter is signed by Spender, Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie, Kate Chaney, Sophie Scamps, Kylea Tink and Helen Haines.
Spender told The AJN she spoke to a number of people in the community before signing the letter and knew there would be concern about it.
It has resulted in her being withdrawn as the guest speaker at Courage to Care NSW 25th anniversary lunch as her presence would be “distracting”.
“I know this is a hard issue for the community and I know there are some who may see this as not being supportive, but for me that’s very far from the truth,” Spender said.
“You have to judge people by their actions and I think I’ve been really clear on my actions in support of the community. There is no part of this need to ensure Palestinian people get aid that is at all contrary to my support of the community. Those things are mutually acceptable and many people in the community have talked to me about how concerned they are about civilian suffering.”
Spender said she was “appalled” by reports of UNRWA’s involvement with Hamas and supported the government’s decision to pause funding, but there remains an urgent need to deliver aid to civilians.
“I also share concerns about UNRWA,” Spender said.
“We urgently need to get funding into Gaza, it’s been on pause for a month now, and we need to make a decision. Can we find other sources who can provide that aid? If we can’t, then are there conditions under which we could provide that aid that could mitigate at least some of the concerns around UNRWA?”
Spender said she’s been clear about standing with Israel throughout the conflict, but like many others she cares about “making sure that Palestinian civilians receive the aid they need”.
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