The Greens are not the problem

Israel is on track to become a pariah state. A politician’s slur in Australia merely reflects public thinking.

Ittay Flescher argued on this site recently that progressive Jews can no longer support the Greens. He and I were Greens members together and I respect him immensely but as he writes from Israel, I wonder if his perspective is based on a blurred memory of context.

 Like Ittay, I joined the Greens because of Australia’s treatment of refuges. My membership lapsed at about the time Ittay left for Israel and I carry no candle for the party. But I do not agree that its response on Gaza puts it beyond the pale.

The Greens provided an initial clear response to the October 7 massacre.

On 7 November the Australian Greens issued a statement that began, “One month after the terrorist acts by Hamas into Israel, the Australian Greens mourn the over 1400 innocent Israelis who lost their lives. There is no excuse, no justification and no celebration that can be found in attacks that deliberately targeted and sought to traumatise civilian communities. This was not an act of resistance, nor a legitimate military offensive. This was a terrorist act and we will continue to condemn it as such.”

Since then, the Greens’ positions on Israel and antisemitism have been more controversial, most recently with Jenny Leong’s reference to the “tentacles” of the “Jewish lobby”. Last week all four Victorian Greens MPs were removed from Parliament for holding placards accusing the Victorian government of arming Israel.