Dear Minister Giles,
Watching Senates Estimates this week, I was dismayed to learn that more that 3,000 Palestinians who were seeking to flee the Israeli onslaught in Gaza have had their visa applications rejected. Technically, of course, this is hardly surprising, given that they had only been offered the option of applying for six-month tourist visas.
Why is our humanity so selective? Many more Palestinians have been killed or wounded in the past eight months than in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Is it perhaps that the Palestinians are brown-skinned and mostly Muslim? Are there influential lobby groups who are intent on keeping Palestinians out of Australia?
This clear discrimination against the Palestinians, who are experiencing a genocide at the hands of the Israelis, and who urgently need our compassion and genuine support, is truly shameful.
I call on you to urgently review your policy in relation to visas for Palestinians. Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and the population is facing starvation. You know all this.
Please do the right thing and act urgently to issue 3-year visas to Palestinians, as you did to Ukrainians.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Griffin
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach, NSW 2448
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