Australia's living prime ministers, except for Paul Keating, make a rare joint statement in solidarity with Jewish Australians, and urging Israel to use "humanity and skill" in its operation against Hamas in Gaza.
Thanks!
I’m with Mr Keating. I would not have signed it, either. There are a few problematic statements in it:
And there is no more tenaciously evil race hatred than antisemitism.
While technically true that nothing is more evil, antisemitisim is not especially special when it comes to hate. It’s all bad.
Our Australian Jewish community, directly affected by the terrible crimes of Hamas, not only has to endure the loss and suffering of their families in Israel, but now sees these events being used by some to spread ancient hatreds which have inflicted so much suffering on the Jewish people for thousands of years.
This one feels off. This paragraph feels like its trying to lump all Jewish people into one big group and say they’re all affected by the crisis, and they all have lost relatives in Israel. I’m not comfortable equating Israel and Judaism. It is possible to he Israeli and not Jewish. It is possible to be Jewish and not Israeli. Technically, both Palestine and Israel are the same nation at present.
It isn’t that I have problems with the overall statement. I agree that hostages should be freed unconditionally. I agree that Hamas is trying to provoke a larger conflict. I agree that if the IDF goes into Gaza with retribution as their goal, they’ll be doing Hamas’ work for them. I agree that humanitarian access for civilians needs to be maintained.
I just wouldn’t feel right signing it, personally. Some of the contents are being written from a perspective that is less neutral to how I feel on the conflict. And that’s bourne out by the headline ‘Former PMs express their support for Israel’. I think that this statement should have been made by a joint body representing both Jewish and Palestine people in Australia.
Where’s the actual statement they all signed? Weird it isn’t linked or quoted in-full.
The excerpts are not controvercial, but is that the whole thing?
OP shared the letter in the body text:
https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/statement-by-former-prime-ministers-of-australia
Thanks!
I’m with Mr Keating. I would not have signed it, either. There are a few problematic statements in it:
While technically true that nothing is more evil, antisemitisim is not especially special when it comes to hate. It’s all bad.
This one feels off. This paragraph feels like its trying to lump all Jewish people into one big group and say they’re all affected by the crisis, and they all have lost relatives in Israel. I’m not comfortable equating Israel and Judaism. It is possible to he Israeli and not Jewish. It is possible to be Jewish and not Israeli. Technically, both Palestine and Israel are the same nation at present.
It isn’t that I have problems with the overall statement. I agree that hostages should be freed unconditionally. I agree that Hamas is trying to provoke a larger conflict. I agree that if the IDF goes into Gaza with retribution as their goal, they’ll be doing Hamas’ work for them. I agree that humanitarian access for civilians needs to be maintained.
I just wouldn’t feel right signing it, personally. Some of the contents are being written from a perspective that is less neutral to how I feel on the conflict. And that’s bourne out by the headline ‘Former PMs express their support for Israel’. I think that this statement should have been made by a joint body representing both Jewish and Palestine people in Australia.