Editorial: Australian Greens jettisoning Israel won’t help Palestinians

The Greens "Resolution on Justice in Palestine and Israel" is a resolution for Palestinians against Israel.

Like many progressive political parties around the world, the Greens in Australia have long held a position of sympathy with the Palestinian people and expressed vocal opposition to Israel’s occupation of post-1967 territories.

This is as it should be. The Palestinian people are victims of an inequitable and tragic situation and, whatever one believes about the causes, it is appropriate that a party concerned with human rights, equity and justice should have their needs on its agenda.

It is also to be expected that in the context of Israel’s far-right coalition government, increased settler violence and more Palestinian deaths at the hands of the Israeli army, the Greens would harden their support for Palestinians and their concerns about Israeli policies.

So, no one should have been surprised when last week, the Greens passed Resolution on Justice in Palestine and Israel - June 2023 updating their former policy, Resolution on Israel/Palestine - March 2010.

Most of the 31 points and 16 steps enumerated in this extensive policy would be endorsed by those on the left of the spectrum in Israel, and by many Diaspora Jews, among them demands for the removal of settlements, the protection of Palestinian human rights, and the condemnation of right-wing extremism.

Several points are controversial or naive and will be offensive to those who are concerned about Israel’s rights and security. Among these are calls for boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, the claim that Israel is “practising the crime of apartheid” and, for some, the rejection of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which categorises denying the right to a Jewish state as a form of antisemitism, particularly without subscribing to another definition.

But what is most telling about this policy is what is absent. The 2010 policy begins with two framing clauses supporting in turn, “the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people to live in peace and security in their own independent, sovereign state” and “the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Israeli people to live in peace and security in their own independent, sovereign state.”