The Labor government has announced that they will submit a resolution to recognise the Palestinian state later this year if they commit to democracy & other conditions. But is this really true?
Albanese, after meeting with both Israeli leaders and leaders of the Palestinian Authority (the former Palestinian government), announced that so-called “Australia” would put forward a resolution to recognise Palestinian statehood in October if Palestinians followed through on several demands made by Labor.
The demands are as follows: Palestine must demilitarise, Palestine must recognise Israel's “right to exist”, Palestine must hold general elections, and Hamas - the current Palestinian government & military group - must not hold any power in the future Palestinian government.
Israel has to meet no such demands, and no actions will be taken by the Australian government to prevent further genocide against Palestinians.
Not only do the demands contradict each other (“you must hold elections, but we get to say who runs in them”), but they deliberately put Palestinians in harms way.
First, one demand is obviously ridiculous. Palestine must recognise Israel's “right to exist”. This is a debate that has been answered by many people better than I can, but what is particularly repugnant about this demand is the requirement for Palestinians themselves to recognise it, forcing Palestinians to recognise their very oppressors without forcing the oppressors to even reduce, let alone stop, the oppression. Palestinians will be forced to recognise Israel's – non-existent, mind you – right to exist without forcing Israel to recognise Palestine's.
The next demand I'll comment on is Palestine must hold general elections. This is good. I like democracy. But why does a government that is currently supplying an anti-democratic, apartheid state with the weapons to commit a genocide with claim that they do? If Albanese cared about democracy in Palestine he would call for Israel to stop murdering Palestinians. He would put sanctions on Israel. He would support Palestinians' rights being upheld, and condemn Israel's failure to uphold them.
There is one major preventing force of democracy in Palestine, and it's Israel.
Following this, the Australian government has also required that Hamas be banned from holding any position in a future, democratically elected government in Palestine. That begs the question, though, would it be a democratically elected government? Last time Palestine held an election – one that was, like this, dictated by pro-Israel western forces – Hamas won fair and square.
I'm not going to pretend that Hamas is some democratic saviour of Palestine. They have extreme failures, everyone knows that, but if they are forced to hold regular, democratic elections what right does Australia have to bar them from government? Why is it our say? Should it not be Palestinians' choice who represents them, not some western diplomat they've probably never even heard of?
Regardless of your stance on this, why should this be a precondition to Palestinian statehood? Australia recognised the statehood of plenty of other countries who committed atrocities far worse than any Hamas member even during times of these atrocities, why are Palestinians not treated with the same respect?
Why are Palestinians viewed as equivalent to their governments' worst actions, while white citizens of white countries are viewed as individuals, as everyone should be?
Another demand is that Palestine demilitarise. There is no demand for Israel to demilitarise. I honestly feel like Albanese is just making some cruel joke at this point. Imagine asking Jewish people in the 1940s to commit to non-lethal tactics without asking the Nazis to shut down the camps. It's ridiculous.
Palestinians have just as much right to self defence and a military as everyone else does, and Israelis have just as much right to leave the land they stole as everyone else does.
Anyone who thinks Palestinians should disarm – especially without thinking Israel should cease to exist – at best has a serious misunderstanding of what is happening in the world around them, and at worst is an advocate for genocide.
An advocate for genocide is exactly what Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong are.
Albanese and the Labor government have no desire to support the Palestinians, repeatedly touting their desire for a pro-settler “two state solution” that ignores the history of Israel's genocide of Palestinians.
Not only this, but the Labor government refuse to submit to any kind of real sanctions or legislation to even symbolically protect the Palestinian people, let alone the real action they should be taking.
Albanese and the Labor government are actively pushing for the continued genocide of Palestinians, and this recognition of statehood is not a win for Palestinians, its a progressive farce to continue the genocide with a coat of paint.
