Wong accused of equating Israel with Russia, China
While delivering her Hawke Lecture, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel, Russia and China should abide by international law.
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s executive director Colin Rubenstein has accused Senator Penny Wong of “factual confusion” after Australia’s Foreign Minister equated Israel with Russia and China during her Hawke Lecture at the University of South Australia.
“In trade and beyond, we want our region and our world to operate by rules,” said Wong.
“We expect Russia to abide by international law and end its illegal full-scale war on Ukraine. We expect China to abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea. We also expect Israel to abide by international law.”
Rubenstein said Wong was “equating Russia’s blatantly illegal, imperialist and arguably genocidal invasion of Ukraine and China’s blatantly illegal activity in the South China Sea with Israel’s entirely lawful war of self-defence”.
“Senator Wong’s ongoing obsession with one-sidedly chastising Israel is not only undermining forces for reconciliation in the Middle East, but also severely compromising Australia’s social cohesion and our security relationships with our true allies, especially the United States,” he said.
While Wong condemned the firebombing of the Addas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne as a shocking crime and confirmed it will be investigated as a terrorist incident, she also referred to The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
“It says, ‘criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic’. It is not antisemitic to expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries,” said Wong.
“Nor is it antisemitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s head of legal, Simone Abel, said Australians “know double standards when they see them”.
“It’s deeply cynical for Foreign Minister Penny Wong to deploy the definition of antisemitism against the Jewish people to argue that there is no double standard in Australia’s foreign policy towards Israel,” she said, noting its muted criticism over the years of the murderous regimes in Syria, Iran and Yemen.
“It’s always Israel. That’s the definition of double standards,” said Abel.
Wong went on to defend Australia’s decision to supported a UN resolution calling for the “peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question” and accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of abandoning bipartisan support for a two-state solution.
“Our vote is part of the international push for peace through a two-state solution,” said Wong.
“And why is that? Because it is the only outcome which keeps faith with the imperative of the existence of Israel, that fulfils the world’s promise to the Palestinian people, and that enables the two peoples to live in peace.
“It is for Mr Dutton to explain why he has walked away from decades of bipartisan support for it – and why he is insistent on reproducing the conflict here, rather than defending national unity.”
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