Foreign minister sees red over Greens’ Gaza questioning
Australian government is pessimistic On the possibility of a proper investigation into abuses allegedly suffered by participants in a controversial aid mission to Gaza.
The blunt assessment was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on a hot day of Senate estimates on Thursday.
Questioning among senators devolved into shouting at various points, requiring the president to adjourn the session twice to take scheduled breaks.
Watching them were three women who joined global efforts to deliver medical support and aid by sea to the annexed region.
Those on board allege violence and sexual abuse at the hands of Israeli defense forces, who stopped their flotilla and detained them before they were released.
Juliet Lamont, who claimed she was raped by an Israeli soldier, demanded that Senator Wong make the flotilla activists’ experiences public.
“Something this barbaric needs to be talked about at all times and ordinary Australians need to know what happened,” he said.
last year, UN confirms 31 cases of sexual violence The attacks carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinians in recent conflicts put the country on the blacklist of countries that commit sexual violence in war zones.
“It shouldn’t surprise anyone that we were attacked,” said Gemma O’Toole, another attendee.
“For the rest of my life, I will have to live with trauma in my body that reminds me of what it was like to be tortured there.”
The group requested a meeting with Senator Wong, who they said had promised to meet privately.
Earlier the foreign secretary slammed Greens Senator David Shoebridge for asking whether he would meet activists during the projections.
“I do not respond to demands made by a political party like yours in such a political forum,” he said.
Senator Wong described the alleged mistreatment as horrific and unacceptable.
Pressed by Senator David Pocock on whether he supported an independent investigation, the foreign secretary said his talks with his Israeli counterpart did not make him optimistic.
“We would like to have the most thorough investigation possible, but we are not the ones to determine what that investigation is,” he said.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi then asked the minister if she believed the allegations, and Senator Wong said she did.
However, Senator Faruqi was not satisfied and intervened, saying that he had “done nothing to support these women” and allowed “criminals to investigate their own crimes”.
The hearing was adjourned for lunch due to the chairman’s inability to control the hearing.
Earlier, Senator Shoebridge was seeking answers about whether the foreign office had produced paperwork allowing Australians to leave Gaza.
Senator Wong was appalled, accusing Senator Shoebridge of living in a “pretend universe” and “performing for social media”.
Officials say 415 Australian citizens, permanent residents or their immediate family members are being supported to leave the war-torn region.
This involved a labyrinthine process involving multiple Australian agencies, Israel and its occupying agency COGAT, and Jordan.
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