Latest news with #Palestinian-Australian
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Lawyers for Australian student who lost eye during IDF raid in West Bank doubt Israel will investigate
Lawyers for an Australian dentistry student who lost her eye after being struck by shrapnel in the occupied West Bank say they doubt Israel is investigating the matter despite the foreign minister, Penny Wong, demanding a comprehensive probe. Palestinian-Australian student Ranem Abu-Izneid, 20, was sheltering with her friend on 15 November 2024 at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, when she says a bullet fired by Israeli forces penetrated the window. She later lost her right eye. 'The Australian government continues to seek updates from Israel into the incident and has made clear that it expects a comprehensive, thorough and transparent investigation to be conducted,' a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Wong has called for a transparent review of the incident during talks with the Israeli foreign minister and the Israeli ambassador to Australia, sources said. But Abu-Izneid's lawyer, Lara Khider – who is the acting executive director of the Australian Council for International Justice (ACIJ) – said five months after her client was severely injured, Israeli authorities had not publicly acknowledged the incident or announced an investigation. The Australian government told the ACIJ in March that an investigation had commenced 'though no updates, timeline or findings of this investigation have been provided', Khider said before Dfat issued its latest statement. 'There must now be doubts – indeed, severe doubts – as to whether this investigation is taking place at all. 'Accountability cannot truly be achieved unless a thorough, transparent and timely investigation takes place and prosecutorial actions are pursued for unlawful conduct, extending not only to direct perpetrators but also to those responsible within the chain of command.' Khider also said Abu-Izneid deserved 'reasonable reparations in light of [her] now permanent disability'. Abu-Izneid said: 'We want to know what happened and why it happened.' She said the incident had been 'swept under the rug'. An Israel border police spokesperson previously confirmed officers entered Abu Dis on the day of the incident to rescue a citizen who was reportedly under attack. 'Rioters at the place threw rocks and marble slates on the forces from the roofs of homes and, in that way, endangered their lives,' the spokesperson told the ABC. 'In response, the forces responded with live fire in order to neutralise the danger.' But the border police had not accepted responsibility for Abu-Izneid's injuries, the ABC reported. Abu-Izneid was at the university in Abu Dis when she heard explosions and soldiers shouting. She watched her friend peek out a window of their dormitory building, she recalled last week from regional Victoria. Then she felt a strong push – as if a wall had 'slapped' her. When she regained consciousness, she saw her friend looking terrified, she said. Blood was spurting from her eye onto her friend's face. There was no time to think. They crawled to the kitchen, away from the windows. Abu-Izneid said she reached up to touch her face and felt it 'was clearly not … right'. It felt like 'strings' were coming out of her right eye as she grabbed them with her hands. Her friend called an ambulance – and though they were stationed just across the street they couldn't help, Abu-Izneid told Guardian Australia. 'They said 'we can't make it, the border police are still in the way, and if we show up they're most likely going to shoot us too'. They had to find another way to get to us.' Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She eventually made it to Ramallah hospital and then over the border to St John eye hospital in Jerusalem. The Australian embassy sent a car to transport Abu-Izneid to the Jericho terminal border crossing on 19 November. She understands they were involved in talks to help her cross the Israeli border. But Abu-Izneid claims that is where the assistance from Australia stopped. She passed into Jordan on a special shuttle service she paid for herself. She subsequently flew home to Australia with her father. The ACIJ has claimed: 'The Australian government did not uphold a standard of care and responsiveness expected under the circumstances of Raneem's urgent and extraordinary situation.' Overseas consular staff can't provide medical services or medications and Dfat's Smartraveller website notes they can't 'pay for medical or psychiatric services or medications'. Abu-Izneid was treated at the Royal Melbourne hospital and is now studying at the University of Melbourne. Shrapnel travelled through Abu-Izneid's right eye and cracked the back of her skull, doctors told her. Shrapnel also lodged in Abu-Izneid's face and chest. Her right eye was removed in Melbourne but pieces of shrapnel remain in her face. 'You can see them from the dark spots on my face, and you can actually touch them,' she said. 'You can feel them. Unfortunately, it is going to have to stay with me.' The student previously completed exercises like drilling into cavities with precision. Now, without her right eye, the 20-year-old's depth perception has been hindered. 'I can't tell how far something is,' she said. 'I need help … to pour water from a jug into a cup.' She said her backup plan was to work in childcare but she now doesn't know if that is an option. Abu-Izneid said when her young siblings first saw her after the incident, they were scared of how she looked. 'They know that there is something wrong there,' she said. 'I have dark spots in my face. I have a few scars. It is quite scary for them.' The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli foreign ministry were contacted for comment.
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Human Rights Commission considers discrimination complaint against Peter Dutton over Gaza comments
The Australian Human Rights Commission is considering a complaint that alleges Peter Dutton discriminated against Palestinians and Muslims in public comments after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks and during the subsequent war in Gaza. The complaint, coordinated by the law firm Birchgrove Legal, includes allegations that 'Palestinian-Australian, Arab-Australian and Muslim-Australian complainants' reported feeling 'dehumanised … and humiliated as an 'Other' who does not and should not matter to Australia' as a result of some of the Liberal leader's public commentary. The complaint also alleges that 'as a national political leader' some of Dutton's commentary has 'created an environment of permissibility not only for hatred and racism directed at Palestinian-Australian, Arab-Australian and Muslim-Australian complainants but also other Australians who express solidarity with Palestinians, leading to many reports of feeling intimidated not to attend rallies in support of Palestinians and not to express support'. The complaint was lodged in late November and accepted for assessment by the human rights commission in January, the firm said. The lead complainants are the president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, Nasser Mashni, and the academic Prof Peter Slezak, who is Jewish. The complaint lists numerous public comments by Dutton – some made at public events or in media interviews – which it alleges show racially discriminatory behaviour by: 'justifying or otherwise failing to condemn violence against Palestinian civilians by Israel in likely breach of international humanitarian law'; 'erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians by denying crimes and atrocities committed against them'; 'and conflating Palestinians as being terrorists or terrorist sympathisers'. It alleges racially discriminatory treatment of Jewish people in some of the public commentary by 'conflating Jewish people with Israel's conduct and putting Jewish people in the way of hostility, discrimination and even violent harm'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Dutton has consistently supported Israel throughout the Gaza crisis and called for stronger action in response to antisemitic attacks in Australia. He has acknowledged in comments not cited in the complaint that 'some Gazans will be people of good character, potentially able and willing to integrate into a democratic nation and subscribe to its values', and that some 'despise' Hamas, while calling for Australia to restrict the granting of humanitarian visas to Palestinians fleeing Gaza without thorough background checks. A Birchgrove Legal spokesperson said the firm was confident it could demonstrate Dutton's comments that were cited in the complaint had contravened the Racial Discrimination Act. 'We need to demonstrate that everything he did was not reasonable and not in good faith and we think he has made that easy for us because he's been quite relentless and persistent in his commentary,' they said in a statement. Section 18C of the act states that it is unlawful for someone to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person based on their race. The complaint also cites section 9 which makes racial discrimination unlawful. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Mashni in a statement accused Dutton of 'encouraging Australia to flout international law and withhold empathy to the human suffering occurring'. Dutton's office did not respond when contacted for comment. The AHRC said it was 'unable to provide comment on any cases in relation to our complaints and handling arm'. The commission does not investigate all the complaints it receives. But if it does investigate, it tries to resolve the matter by conciliation. If that fails, the complainant can take action in the federal court. In March Birchgrove Legal sent a request to the international criminal court to consider investigating Anthony Albanese, other members of the government (Penny Wong, Richard Marles, Clare O'Neil) and Dutton for alleged complicity in genocide over Israel's actions in Gaza. The prime minister dismissed that request as having 'no credibility'.
