Published: 18 July 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
In Zoom meting with Australian Jewish community leaders, the federal opposition leader also said a future Labor government would endorse the IHRA definition of antisemitism
OPPOSITION LEADER Anthony Albanese has rejected the BDS campaign and the use of the term “apartheid” in relation to Israeli society, in a meeting with Jewish community leaders.
In a Zoom event on Tuesday night hosted by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) with 70 community leaders, Albanese said he regarded the BDS campaign “as one that is based upon a racial targeting of a group, in this case Israel.
“I pledge to you our ongoing opposition to the BDS, and as well, to recognise that with the rise of antisemitism and racism, be it the rise on the extreme right but also on the extreme left, that there is a need to provide increased support for the community, including schools and places of worship.”
As for moves by former Labor Foreign Minister Bob Carr to put forward a BDS resolution at the upcoming ALP NSW conference, Albanese said: “I assure you that there is no prospect of the NSW conference carrying any resolution like that and there’s no support for it from any significant figures who hold current positions in the Labor Party.
“There isn’t a single member of my caucus that supports that position, not one,” he said in response to a question by ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim, who moderated the event.
There isn’t a single member of my caucus that supports BDS, not one.
With regard to the use of “apartheid” in relation to Israel, Albanese said “the use of terms like apartheid is not only inappropriate for describing the Israeli political system and structure, it also cheapens the struggle against apartheid that occurred in South Africa.
“It’s a dangerous thing when people look for simplistic terms that are ahistorical because they are not only offensive to the people and structures to which they’re directed, they’re offensive to where the terms originated.”
Asked for his views about the new Israeli government, Albanese said: “I think the new government… makes the prospect of annexation of various areas of the West Bank, that had been flagged at various times, retreat further – which is a good thing.
“If we’re going to have a two-state solution, then one of the states has to be the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, and to have annexed part of that would have seen that disappear.
The use of 'apartheid' is not only inappropriate for describing the Israeli political system, it also cheapens the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
“I’ve always been very concerned about those, including some on the Left, who argue we can have a one-state solution…. in my view a single democratic secular state will be a recipe for an ongoing conflict as well.”
Asked whether a future Labor government under his leadership would automatically recognise the state of Palestine, as was suggested at the recent ALP national conference, Albanese was more circumspect.
“There has been some misreporting of what occurred at our national conference. That’s not about the Middle East; that’s about internal dynamics of the Labor Party.
“I hope to be leading a Labor government at some time within the next 12 months, and at some stage during that period we would give consideration to those issues but there would be debate and we wouldn’t do it without consulting organisations and other nations across the board, including the Jewish community, Israel and the Palestinian community.
“I don’t see it as a major issue at the next election.”
As for the recent resolution passed by the Queensland branch of the ALP, in June, that condemned Israel for the “ongoing Israeli annexation by stealth of Palestinian land” and the “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through the expansion of illegal settlements”, Albanese said he agreed strongly with statements made at the time by Senator Penny Wong, Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson.
The firing of rockets into Israel indiscriminately endangers lives and makes it more difficult to advance dialogue…as does some of the reactions of Israel in responding aggressively to that.
Senator Wong said the motion was counterproductive and that viewing the conflict from one perspective would not advance the cause of peace.
Albanese told the ECAJ meeting: “The firing of rockets into Israel indiscriminately undermines peace, and endangers lives, and is counterproductive as well, because it causes fear, which makes it more difficult to advance dialogue.
“As does some of the reactions of Israel as well, in responding aggressively to that. They feed off each other. What we need is less of it from both sides.
“I have been critical of settlements, of some of the actions in East Jerusalem, that have occurred, as well. We need to recognise that if you have aggression resulting in more aggression…then what you get is an escalation of conflict.”
The Opposition leader also reaffirmed that a future Labor government would endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism. “Yes, that is a very clear answer,” he said in reply to the question about the IHRA definition, which has been increasingly debated in recent years over its alleged equation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
“I think it is critical that there be leadership on those issues and against any form of racism. Silence doesn’t work when it comes to racism.”
OPEN LETTER TO ANTHONY ALBANESE FROM JEWS AGAINST THE OCCUPATION
Photo: Anthony Albanese in Parliament House, June 29 (AAP/Lukas Coch)
