To: 'senator.wong@aph.gov.au' Subject: Palestine

 To: 'senator.wong@aph.gov.au' <senator.wong@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Palestine

Dear Senator Wong,

This is not a happy New Year for the Palestinian people of Gaza or the West Bank.

We now know that more than 80% of northern Gaza – homes, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, UNRWA facilities, mosques and churches have been seriously damaged or razed to the ground by the invading Israeli military forces. A New York Times article explains that this is worse than the WWII carpet bombing of Dresden. So much for all the reassurances, which you have been happy to support, that Israel is using the utmost restraint and seeks to avoid civilian casualties.

You must know that this is nonsense. What is unfolding is a deliberate act of genocide, a serious attempt to eradicate the Palestinian population of the Gaza strip. Most of the population has now been displaced. Nowhere is safe. We now have Israeli ministers calling for the remaining Palestinians to be expelled from Gaza, and for colonist Jewish settlers to take their place. This is illegal under international law, just as it is illegal for more than 600,000 Jewish settlers to take over and settle on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

We now know that more than 1% of the Palestinian people of Gaza have been killed, that thousands lie buried under the rubble, and that more than 50,000 have been injured. Just imagine for a moment if that were to be replicated in Australia, where our population is ten times greater than that of the Gaza strip.   That’s 300,000 people killed, 500,000 injured, and 50,000 buried under the rubble, most of them women and children. What, do you think, would be the international response?  Would we continue to supply the enemy with weapons, whilst urging the invading forces to show a little restraint? I think not.

It's beyond time for a reality check.

Israel needs to be finally held to account for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, which has been ongoing since 1948. The illegal settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem need to be abandoned and handed to the Palestinian people, on whose land they have been built. The international community needs to insist that the Israeli government complies with UN resolutions, or face international sanctions.

Mike XXXXXXXX