2 days ago
If the horrors unfolding in Gaza are not a red line for Australia to take stronger action then I don't know what is
Much has been made this week over Anthony Albanese's strongest comments yet criticising the Netanyahu government's ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza. While welcome, his rhetoric calling this an 'outrage', 'unacceptable' and 'untenable' feels inadequate in the face of what looks like a genocide unfolding in full view of the world.
These words have not been matched with any new 'concrete action' of the kind being called for by what feels like just about everyone, and foreshadowed by three of Australia's closest allies, the UK, France and Canada. The prime minister hasn't been able to offer a satisfactory explanation as to why Australia wasn't a signatory to this stronger statement of intent, choosing to move away from the mantle of middle power leader we've worn so proudly in times past.
The time for stronger global action is now. For too long the international community has failed to follow up words of condemnation with action. Palestinian people have been killed in their tens of thousands, two million teeter on the brink of starvation and the Israeli government continues to build new settlements in the West Bank. The pleas for help are becoming ever more desperate, like that of Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, who broke down while addressing the security council over the deaths of children in Gaza.
In the absence of political leadership we've seen people with moral courage step up. Surgeons armed with smartphones, not only saving lives but broadcasting in real time and in unprecedented detail the trauma that this conflict is inflicting on innocent people, especially children.
Earlier this week I hosted an event with one of these medical missionaries, Dr Mohammed Mustafa, a British Australian emergency physician of Palestinian heritage who has completed two rotations on the ground in Gaza, most recently in March this year. More than 1,000 Canberrans packed into parliament's Great Hall to hear him speak, but despite the crowd you could have heard a pin drop.
Dr Mo talked about the horrific choices medical personnel face trying to save who they can during the mass casualty events that are all too common. He came with a message of hope and compassion. He read a statement from the family of an Israeli hostage, condemned the attacks of October 7 and articulated the simple truth that 'killing women and children is wrong, no matter if it's Palestinian children and women or Israeli'.
Dr Mo also lay down the challenge to the Australian government to step up and help fund a deployable children's hospital, and to engage diplomatically with Israel to facilitate its entry to Gaza. Rebuking the prime minister's assertion that Australia wasn't a 'major player' in the Middle East, he said: 'You don't have to be a major player to feed children. You don't have to be a major player to heal children. We need healers in the Middle East, and Australia can be the healer. It can lead the world.'
As Dr Mo spoke I was reminded of one of my heroes, Desmond Tutu. He was constantly urging people to recognise our shared humanity and that 'if you are neutral in times of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor'. This is indeed a time to focus on our shared humanity. And the fact that Jewish people are not Prime Minister Netanyahu, Gazans are not Hamas. Here in Australia we must come together, not turn our frustrations on our fellow Australians. Dr Mo can serve as an example to us all. After what he's seen, he has every right to rage, but chooses instead to see the pain of everyone affected by these horrors.
Dr Mo was one of the first to start what he calls 'Doctor diaries', sending content from inside Nasser hospital at great personal risk in a bid to focus global attention on Gaza. It's something we've seen others continue.
Everyone knows we cannot end the war alone, but we do have an important role to play as a middle power that believes in an international rules-based order.
In June last year I called on the Albanese government to consider targeted sanctions against members of the Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Forces. Almost 12 months and tens of thousands more deaths later, those calls continue to grow, including from within Labor's own ranks.
We should have a consistent, values-based approach to how we respond to war and disasters and how we use our humanitarian program. This includes providing an equitable amount of aid and assistance based on need, not politics. Alongside this Australia must stop exporting weapons or parts of weapons that could be used to kill and injure civilians, and start providing emergency visas to the family members of Australians.
If the horror unfolding in Gaza is not our country's red line for stronger action then I don't know what is.
David Pocock is an independent senator in the ACT
