Contributed by Jim Hayes

West Australian Senator Fatima Payman has landed herself into trouble. The Labor Senator has been indefinitely suspended from the party caucus for crossing the floor in parliament and voting for a motion put up by the Greens to recognise the Palestinian state. Fatima acknowledged this after having been spoken to by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

This affair is awkward for the Labor Party because by being outspoken in her support for Palestine, Fatima Payman has become the conscience of the party and the government. It’s pro=Israel stance doesn’t sit well within its own ranks and political support base, and it comes across as the product of either political cowardice or compliance with the large scale murder being waged in Gaza.

In contrast, Fatima’s stands out as an act of courage against lack of principle. She will not quieten down or leave Labor. In doing this she will continue to make life difficult for her leaders. She challenges other Labor parliamentarians to examine their consciences sand join her.

 Suspension from caucus means being denied the right to participate in meetings and take part in other procedures of Labor members of parliament.

The issues at hand are the failures to take a stand against the holocaust being caused by the Israeli authorities. This is what there is an objection to. Fatima’s detractors insist that she went about it the wrong way and should have patiently put her view forward in =side the caucus and wait until someone on the future she has won people around.

Photo from AFP/Getty: The anguish of the killing by Israel is an ongoing nightmare in Gaza  

But his denies the fact that tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have already been killed and many more are on the brink of starvation. The matter can’t wait. It denies the reality of financial donations and other inducements from groups related to the Israeli state and Zionist movement that bribe Australia’s politicians into its service.

Labor is worried because its failure on Gaza is costing considerable political support. Australia has a large [population with a Middle Eastern background, and younger voters across the board are sympathetic to the Palestinians. This will cost Labor votes at the next election.

By opposing to recognise the Palestinian state, the government is taking the road of acceptance of Israel’s control over Palestinian lives under an apartheid state. It denies self-determination. This is codified in posing support for the two-state solution as a substitute. There is a pollical consensus with the opposition Coalition with this. The only difference is that under Peter Dutton, the Coalition is even more pro-Israel.

The two-party solution is unfeasible. It’s precisely this that has imprisoned a population into surrounded islands within a hostile state, supported their gradual erosion, collective punishment, and eventual military occupation. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians want this to continue. The two-party solution is dead, and continuing to advocate it means effective support for a single state apartheid system, where one ethnic group is favoured, and another denied basic rights. Support for a two-party state, amounts to encouraging the present slaughter, because Palestinians are deemed to be less deserving.

What is wrong with a state where Jews, Palestinians, and others can live together as equals? Isn’t this what we expect everywhere else? Nd for those who do not realise it yet, this is exactly what the Palestinians are calling for. This is the content of the slogan “from the river to the sea.”

Senator Fatima Payman deserves the support of Australia for having the courage to stand up for principle.