Anthony Albanese walks a tricky geopolitical tightrope
MIDDLE EAST
There is no doubt that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is walking a geopolitical tightrope as he tries to negotiate the competing narratives of this awful conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people (' Former Israeli prime minister rejects Palestinian recognition ', 12/8). On one side is the almost continuous insistence by the Israelis that they have a right to defend themselves (as they do) against the terrorist organisation Hamas. The Israelis also have a right to request, or try to retrieve, the hostages taken in the attack on October 7. On the other side are the rights of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the collateral in this conflict. Had the Israelis stuck to a more surgical operation to dislodge Hamas from Gaza and retrieve the hostages without the need to reduce the Strip to rubble or starve the population, then collective countries might have stuck with them in this aim. However, the ongoing devastation has caused various countries, including Australia, to start the path to recognise a Palestinian State under the prospective leadership of the Palestinian Authority – it is important to note that numerous world leaders have said a precondition is that Hamas is excluded from staying in power.
In staring down the criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Trump administration, Albanese has joined a group of countries that have taken a more moral and practical path. Words, however, are not actions. And Australia must now apply more pressure on the Israeli government to come to the table and work towards achieving lasting peace.
Jeremy de Korte, Newington
Hitched to the wrong leader
It's interesting that Sussan Ley believes that Australia is out of step with the US, our major ally, when it comes to recommending the recognition of Palestine statehood. The Dutton Coalition lost the last election in part because it hitched its wagon to Trump. Yet Ley continues to fail to read the room by offering a policy out of step with the rest of the world.
Kurt Elder, Port Melbourne
Fluid borders
Michaelia Cash states that because Palestine does not have defined borders it cannot be recognised. You could argue that Israel's borders are ill-defined because they keep taking more and more land from Palestine. The same could be said of other countries such as Russia or Ukraine. Trump wants his borders to grow as well – Greenland anyone? Are we meant to block them all?
Alan Inchley, Frankston
A way to peace
Palestine Action Group organiser Amal Naser is critical of the Australian government for offering us 'recognition ... as though that is what we have been demanding' (' Recognising Palestine is a distraction ... ' 12/8). Instead of a Palestinian state, she advocates punishing Israel. This points to the problem underlying the conflict.
Since 1948, the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly put the destruction of Israel ahead of the wellbeing of its people. Since 1948, they have launched multiple attacks on Israel and rejected a number of proposals for a Palestinian state, most notably in 2000 when Israel PM Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat more than ever, including control of East Jerusalem and a corridor connecting the West Bank and Gaza. The suffering in Gaza would have ended years ago, if numerous Israeli peace and statehood offerings had been accepted. Former Israeli PM Golda Meir was right in the 1970s when she said 'peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us'.
Henry Kalus, Southbank
Path to peace
Congratulations to the Labor government on its decision to recognise the state of Palestine; however, it should have been recognised at the same time as Israel. Now, Israel must withdraw from Palestinian and Syrian territory and then the Arab nations need to acknowledge the state of Israel. Only then will peace occur in the Middle East.
Geoff McDonald, Newtown
Further recognition
Recognition of statehood for Palestine in the absence of a viable and representative government? Well, the Gazan people certainly have been suffering recently, but what about the Kurds, the Tibetans and the West Papuans? Is their suffering and denial of nationhood/sovereignty still to remain 'unrecognisable'? Is the key lesson that you really need to make the neighbours suffer a lot before your own national suffering can be recognised with statehood?
Compared to Gaza, Taiwan seems to be pretty much a nationality and a country, decently organised and run by a representative government, so if the powers of the world can tolerate a two-state solution in the Middle East, then why can't we have another one in North Asia, with two Chinas or one China and one Taiwan?
Garry Dalrymple, Earlwood, NSW
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