Party faces pressure to reinsert Hamas disarmament demand in party platform
Labor is facing calls to reintroduce the demand for the disarmament of listed terror group Hamas into its official policy platform, as factional heavyweights seek to avoid a heated debate at the party’s national conference.
The Israeli embassy in Canberra issued a lengthy statement on Monday criticizing Labour’s proposed policy platform, prompting accusations from pro-Palestinian advocates that Israel was inappropriately intervening in Australian domestic politics.
The final version of the draft platform condemned the use of violence, including by Hamas, although previous versions included an explicit reference that “Hamas must disarm and have no role in the State of Palestine.”
The removal of that demand in recent weeks alarmed pro-Israel advocates within the party.
Labor Party sources said intensive talks were ongoing behind the scenes ahead of the start of Labor’s national conference on Thursday, and the call for Hamas to disarmament could be reintroduced into the document as part of the compromise deal.
Announcing new $25 million aid funding for Palestine on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “This package demonstrates Australia’s practical commitment to the recovery, reform and institutional building of Palestine. Hamas can play no role in the State of Palestine.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly said Hamas should have no role in governing Gaza.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien said he was concerned about changes to the draft platform.
“If Labor no longer believes that Hamas should be disarmed and excluded from any future Palestinian state, it should explain why,” he said.
“The Labor Party was adamant that the Palestinian Authority had made commitments on elections and reform, and that Hamas would play no role in a future Palestinian state.
“Any attempt to water down these commitments reveals the folly of Labor’s premature recognition of Palestinian statehood and its desire to deceive the Australian people.”
Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, said the group was “deeply concerned by reports that the ALP draft national platform, due to be unveiled at the upcoming national conference in Adelaide, abandons clear calls for the disarmament of Hamas and reform of the Palestinian Authority, as well as calls for guaranteeing Israel’s security.”
“Hamas disarmament and Palestinian Authority reforms are not secondary issues; they were central conditions repeatedly expressed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as preconditions for Australia’s recognition of the Palestinian state,” Rubenstein said.
“Without them, any nominal vocal support for a two-state solution becomes effectively meaningless.”
The Palestinian delegation in Canberra welcomed the draft platform and called on the government to go further by giving practical effect to last year’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
“As a next step, we hope that the Australian Labor Party and the Australian government will consolidate recognition of the State of Palestine by establishing full diplomatic relations, including the exchange of ambassadors,” the delegation said.
Although the Albanian government recognized the state of Palestine last September, Australia has not appointed an ambassador to Palestine and the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic presence in Canberra is not listed as an embassy by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Nasser Mashni, president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, said the Israeli embassy was alarmed by attempts to change the draft platform to highlight settler violence in the West Bank and condemn new Israeli law expanding the use of the death penalty.
“There is an important distinction between diplomatic relations with the Australian government and a foreign state publicly seeking to influence the domestic policy-making processes of an Australian political party,” Mashni said.
“This is an extraordinary step and should concern every Australian, regardless of politics.
“Labour must not allow itself to be intimidated. Above all, this intervention shows why it is important for Australia’s foreign policy to be based on international law.”
Australian Zionist Federation president Jeremy Leibler said it was right for Labor to hold Israel to legitimate standards, but it should also insist on Palestinian governance reform and demand no role for Hamas in the party platform.
“These are not anti-Palestinian conditions, these are the foundations of a viable Palestinian state,” he said.
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