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Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Immense frustration': Labor base demands sanctions against Israel
Anger is rising among Labor's base over the war in Gaza, with nearly 80 local branches passing motions over recent weeks calling for Australia to impose sanctions on the Netanyahu government and sever military ties with Israel. Australia joined 27 nations to demand an immediate end to the war and condemn Israel's 'drip feeding' of aid to Gaza on Tuesday, but pro-Palestine campaigners within Labor are calling for the government to go further and take concrete actions against the Israeli government. Seventy-eight Labor branches have passed motions calling for far-reaching sanctions against Israeli entities and individuals involved in the war and a two-way arms embargo on Israel, including the supply of military parts and components. The branches include one in Foreign Minister Penny Wong's home city of Adelaide and three in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Sydney electorate of Grayndler. 'Strong words are not enough,' the conveners of the Labor Friends of Palestine group said in a letter sent to Wong on Wednesday and seen by this masthead. 'Expressions of concern and repeated calls for restraint have achieved little in the last 21 months; indeed Israel's violence and clear disdain for international humanitarian law have only intensified.' Local branch meetings are the primary way for members to influence party policy, outside its national conference that is held every three years, but they have no formal power to change how MPs or ministers act. Noting that the 28-nation statement said the countries were 'prepared to take 'further action' to support a ceasefire', the campaigners said: 'We urge Australia to take the lead by proposing comprehensive sanctions and an arms embargo as practical measures towards ending the violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Age
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Immense frustration': Labor base demands sanctions against Israel
Anger is rising among Labor's base over the war in Gaza, with nearly 80 local branches passing motions over recent weeks calling for Australia to impose sanctions on the Netanyahu government and sever military ties with Israel. Australia joined 27 nations to demand an immediate end to the war and condemn Israel's 'drip feeding' of aid to Gaza on Tuesday, but pro-Palestine campaigners within Labor are calling for the government to go further and take concrete actions against the Israeli government. Seventy-eight Labor branches have passed motions calling for far-reaching sanctions against Israeli entities and individuals involved in the war and a two-way arms embargo on Israel, including the supply of military parts and components. The branches include one in Foreign Minister Penny Wong's home city of Adelaide and three in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Sydney electorate of Grayndler. 'Strong words are not enough,' the conveners of the Labor Friends of Palestine group said in a letter sent to Wong on Wednesday and seen by this masthead. 'Expressions of concern and repeated calls for restraint have achieved little in the last 21 months; indeed Israel's violence and clear disdain for international humanitarian law have only intensified.' Local branch meetings are the primary way for members to influence party policy, outside its national conference that is held every three years, but they have no formal power to change how MPs or ministers act. Noting that the 28-nation statement said the countries were 'prepared to take 'further action' to support a ceasefire', the campaigners said: 'We urge Australia to take the lead by proposing comprehensive sanctions and an arms embargo as practical measures towards ending the violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Wrong side of history': senator hits out at sanction
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has doubled down on her silent protest about the Israel-Gaza war, accusing parliament of "cracking down on black and brown women" after she was sanctioned by the upper house. As Governor-General Sam Mostyn delivered her speech in the upper house on Tuesday for the opening of the 48th parliament, Senator Faruqi held a sign that read: "Gaza is starving. Words won't feed them. Sanction Israel". The government's Senate leader Penny Wong introduced a motion on Wednesday to disapprove of the Greens senator's conduct. It also requests an apology for "unparliamentary conduct" in addition to not supporting her as a potential Senate representative on any delegation during this term. "What she wants most of all is attention," Senator Wong said. "Australians expect us, their elected representatives, to uphold our democratic institutions, to demonstrate a degree of respect for each other as they do, and a respect for our institutions." Labor and the coalition voted in favour of the sanction, while the Greens and WA senator Fatima Payman voted against it. Senator Faruqi accused her colleagues of being on the "wrong side of history" for a lack of action against Israel over its response in Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023. "You are more focused on cracking down on black and brown women," she said, before later accepting calls to withdraw the comment. "The Greens will not be silent as this genocide unfolds. "You will not be able to intimidate me or any of my colleagues, and we will never stop fighting for freedom, for Palestine." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people elected to the parliament have a responsibility to act like an adult. "There's a place for demonstrations, and it's not on the floor of the Senate or the House of Reps, for that matter," he told the ABC. Coalition Senate leader Michaelia Cash criticised the Greens senator for her "breach of respect". "It was deliberate, prolonged and clearly intended to politicise a solemn and ceremonial event," she said. "Rules without enforcement are meaningless ... and institutions without discipline become irrelevant." Pro-Palestinian protester Shane Bazzi was taken out of the upper house by security guards after he began shouting from the public gallery while the motion was being discussed. "Shame, shame," he yelled while being removed. Hundreds of protesters called for sanctions on Israel on the lawns of parliament during its opening with one woman arrested, according to the Australian Federal Police.
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Mehreen Faruqi sanctioned for Gaza sign protest as Greens senator accused of ‘street theatre'
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has been sanctioned after the upper house agreed her decision to protest the governor general's address to parliament by raising a Gaza protest sign was 'utterly disrespectful'. Faruqi held up the sign urging sanctions against Israel while the governor general, Sam Mostyn, addressed parliament on Tuesday. As Anthony Albanese left the upper house chamber, Faruqi asked: 'Prime minister, Gaza is starving, will you sanction Israel?' Earlier that morning, Australia had joined with 27 other nations, including the UK and France, to condemn Israel for the 'drip feeding of aid' and the 'inhumane killing' of Palestinians. Faruqi is now banned from taking part in any overseas parliamentary delegations for the remainder of the 48th parliament – a move which the Greens senator said showed Labor was 'cracking down on people who speak out against a genocide'. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, moved the motion shortly after question time on Tuesday, accusing Faruqi of attention-seeking to impress her 'hard line' supporters. 'I think we all understand that what senator Faruqi wants most of all is attention, and it may well be her move is designed to sow her base – Greens base – that she's more hard line than the current leader,' Wong said. 'The reality is, this is a very difficult conflict. I have often spoken in this place about the need for all of us to be responsible about how we deal with it here.' The opposition's Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, sought to bring further sanctions against Faruqi with an amended motion that would also ban her from the Senate for the remainder of the week. 'We do not believe that it goes far enough,' Cash said. 'Rules without enforcement are meaningless. Standards without accountability are hollow, and institutions without discipline become irrelevant. The Senate is not a forum for street theatre.' A protester from the public gallery interrupted Cash's statement with chants against the Israeli government, including 'Netanyahu is a war criminal', before he was removed by security. The opposition's amendment was unsuccessful with Labor choosing not to vote with the Coalition. Faruqi told senators she would 'not back down' because Palestinians were 'being murdered, starved and displaced by Israel as we speak'. 'Labor and the Coalition in this chamber wants to avoid the truth. You don't want to see it or hear it, and now here we are … you want to force me to apologise for telling the truth,' Faruqi said. Albanese told ABC's Afternoon Briefing the governor general's address is about the country but 'senator Faruqi wanted it to be about her'. The Senate president, Sue Lines, said the actions were 'utterly disrespectful' given she was not in the chair and therefore could not instruct Faruqi to remove the sign during the address. 'Your actions during the governor general's address were utterly disrespectful and showed a complete disregard for the rules, the traditions and the customs of this place,' she said. Faruqi accused her Senate colleagues of being 'more focused on cracking down on black and brown women in this parliament' but withdrew the comment. In a statement to Guardian Australia after the Senate motion passed, Faruqi accused Labor of 'cracking down on people who speak out against a genocide, while ignoring the perpetrator'. 'They've done it to Senator Payman, they've done it to Senator Thorpe, and now they're doing it to me,' she said. 'The Labor government don't like a mirror being held to their complicity in a genocide.' Israel is facing intensifying international condemnation for its killing of starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and its attacks on humanitarian efforts. According to UN officials on Tuesday, more than 1,000 desperate Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the end of May trying to reach food distributions run by the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Daily Telegraph headline about Labor and Hamas breached accuracy rules, Australian Press Council finds
A Daily Telegraph headline that said 'Labor backs Hamas' breached press standards while failing to take into consideration 'heightened community sensitivities' due to the Israel-Gaza war, the Australian Press Council has found. In publishing the article headed 'To keep peace at home, Labor backs Hamas', the Murdoch tabloid breached the APC rules because it did not take reasonable steps to ensure factual material was accurate and not misleading, the watchdog said. 'Publications need to take great care in order to satisfy the reasonable steps standard in the context of heightened community sensitivities around the Israel/Palestine conflict and on matters of significant public interest,' the APC said. The article reported that the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was backing a United Nations vote calling for an 'irreversible pathway' to a two-state solution in the Middle East. The former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma told the Telegraph the move was a play for domestic votes. Sign up to get Guardian Australia's weekly media diary as a free newsletter 'These potential changes in Australia's UN voting pattern are against our national interests,' he was quoted saying. 'They will do nothing to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. 'All they do is reward Hamas for its terrorist acts.' News Corp Australia defended the article by saying the headline reflected the opinion of Sharma and readers would view the headline as accurately reflecting the senator's view. 'The publication also said that readers can discern the difference between an opposition senator's criticism of government decision-making, as opposed to the editorial direction of the publisher,' the adjudication said. But the APC found that given an absence of inverted commas the headline was presented as statement of fact 'with the clear implication being that the Labor government is 'backing' Hamas'. 'The Council considers that the headline goes beyond what was said by Senator Sharma in his criticisms of the government support for a two-state-solution in the Middle East,' it said. Sign up to Weekly Beast Amanda Meade's weekly diary on the latest in Australian media, free every Friday after newsletter promotion 'Accordingly, the Council concludes the publication failed to take reasonable steps to ensure factual material is accurate and not misleading in breach of general principle 1.' Traditionally, it is subeditors and editors rather than reporters who write headlines. The article, which was printed on page three and published online on 4 December, remains online. The adjudication was printed on page 14 of Wednesday's newspaper. News Corp is the biggest funder of the self-regulatory council, which most Australian publications belong to. Newspapers have been regulated by the industry-funded body since 1976. But its findings have been openly mocked by journalists and publications it has found to have breached standards, including News Corp, which has allowed its journalists to call the body 'foolish' and 'idiots'. Guardian Australia is not a member of the Australian Press Council but it has an independent readers' editor who investigates complaints and publishes corrections and clarifications.
