Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, altered his rhetoric yesterday by expressing concern for the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. This contrasts with his earlier blanket support for the Zionist occupiers right to punish resistance to its occupation, unashamedly referred to as a ‘right to self-defence’.
Albanese said: “The civilian toll is quite rightly causing enormous concern around the world”, and “every effort has to be made to ensure that innocent civilians are protected to every extent possible”. He also reiterated “every Palestinian life matters, like every [Israeli] life matters.”
These words, similarly echoed by Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, ostensibly introduce greater balance by recognising suffering on all sides and stressing the need for greater humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
But these words follow a similar change in rhetoric by US President Biden, who also called for a ‘humanitarian pause’ to the conflict in Gaza.
Penny Wong stated clearly the purpose of this newfound concern when she said: “when [Israel’s] friends urge [Israel] to exercise restraint, when [Israel’s] friends urge [Israel] to protect civilian lives, it is critical that [Israel] listens. It matters to [Israel’s] own security, which faces grave risks if the conflict spreads.”
In other words, the US and Australia are not actually concerned about the lives of the people of Palestine, they are concerned about the sentiments of the region boiling over because of what they are witnessing from the occupiers and their supporters. So the US and Australia has a problem with how the Zionist occupiers are killing and punishing Muslims, not the fact they are killing and punishing Muslims.
Specifically, they have a problem with Netanyahu and his hard-right supporters, who – facing their own internal problems – threaten to destabilise the entire region in the name of self-preservation. Hence the intensified pressure upon [Israel] to stay committed to a two-state solution and ramped up efforts to see Netanyahu face jail time.
Lastly, facing their own backlash at home, expect the Australian government to roll out its Muslim support act. The propaganda machine will be in full swing, declaring the government is now ‘listening’ to the Muslim community and taking their concerns seriously. This is after the community was completely sidelined in the government’s one-sided support for the Zionist occupiers, who now reach out to use us when they need us. How shameful it would be for any Muslim to whitewash the government’s sanctioning of the spilling of Muslim blood by providing them the cover they desperately need, a great crime we sincerely warn against.
End,
Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
in Australia
