Supportive words from both sides
POLITICIANS on both sides of the divide last week made impassioned speeches supporting Israel.
POLITICIANS on both sides of the divide last week made impassioned speeches supporting Israel.
Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Senator David Feeney commended the Government’s decision to boycott the United Nation’s third anti-racism conference, colloquially known as Durban III, while Liberal member for Casey and shadow parliamentary secretary for tax Tony Smith argued Australia should vote against the declaration of a Palestinian state.
Feeney said supporting the UN was one of the three main pillars on which Australia’s foreign policy stood. “To stay away from a major UN leadership meeting is not taken lightly,” he said.
Feeney said the decision was based on hypocrisy among Israel’s detractors. “Dr Fadia Nasser Abu Alhija, an Arab woman, was appointed professor of education at Tel Aviv University. Could that have happened in Syria?” he asked Parliament.
“Israel takes in more black refugees than the whole of the Arab world put together. Recently, Avi Bari, born in Guinea, became the first African-born officer in the Israeli Defence Forces.”
He said the conference declaration was selective in its condemnation beyond Israel, criticising past slavery by Americans and Europeans, but failing to mention ongoing slavery in Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania or Nigeria.
Smith told the House of Rep resent atives he supported a “negotiated two-state solution that delivers peace and security”.
The Palestinian resolution to the UN was a “dangerous, ill-advised unilateral initiative” and said many Palestinians had shown they did not want peace.
“Time after time, unfortunately, too many Palestinian Arabs have shown that they despise Jewish political self-determination more than they love their own national independence,” he said.
AJN staff
Photo: Senator David Feeney (right) pictured with Michael Danby and Senator Stephen Conroy. Photo: Peter Haskin/AJN
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