Contributed by Jim Hayes

Israel’s attack on the Palestinian population of Gaza can’t be justified in any way. The fact that some are doing this, including the Australian Labor prime Minister and his government is disturbing, and a signal of how far the moral compass has fallen.

Witness the small gatherings of supporters of Israel, and you can’t help but notice the racism. The killing of Israelis is eval. The killing of Palestinians in huge numbers is all right. The pretence that this represents all Jews must be challenged. It doesn’t. Many Jews in Australia, around the world, and in Israel, have had the courage to speak out and support the people of Gaza.

Turn to the major media outlets and it’s the same story. The deaths of the Israelis are a tragedy. The deaths of Palestinians is of little consequence. A pro-Israel narrative is manufactured, where support for Israel is given the spotlight and support for the Palestinians is downplayed.

Palestinians had their human status ripped away turned into a threat to be exterminated.

Photo from the South China Morning Post: Lines of bodies in the street have become a frequent sight in Gaza. The morgues are full.

The killing of both Israelis and Palestinians is a terrible tragedy, and people with humanity in their hearts know this. They want the killing to stop. but there is a difference. The killing of Palestinians is on an industrial scale by comparison, takes the form of collective punishment of a population, and continues years of constant killing. This doesn’t justify the killing of innocent Israelis. But account must be taken of the difference in scale and decades of brutal treatment of residents in Gaza, the world’s biggest prison.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry an estimated 8,000 Gazans have died so far and 2913 of them are children. This amounts to a crime against humanity.

Australia’s Prime Minister has failed to do the right thing by going along with the war propaganda fiction and taking the stand that Israel must be defended at all costs.

Photo from Sky News: Anthony Albanese has defended the killing of Palestinians in the name of Australia

In doing this, Albanese is signalling total obedience to Washington’s geopolitical interest in maintaining a foothold in the Middle East, which is dependent on backing its Israeli surrogate all the way, even to the extent of providing weapons for mass murder. Albanese is looking like a toady without moral compass.

Just days ago, the Australian representatives at the United Nations carried out their instructions and abstained from a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire. At least the United Sates and former Middle East colonial powers were honest enough to vote no.

A big problem for Albanese and Labor is that unquestioning support for Israel and ignoring the plight of the Palestinians runs against the wishes of the party membership and damaging the legitimacy of the leadership. There’s a threat of escalating dissension and instability, made all the more intense by shifting public opinion to the opposite pole.

Witness to the scale of this are the huge marches of tens of thousands in each of Sydney and Melbourne over the last few weeks. The same is happening in other cities around the country. Each march is bigger than the last. Such a quick rise and growth of a movement hasn’t been seen for a long time and is the likely reason why Australia abstained at the United Nations.

Tens of thousands march in pro-Palestinian rallies in Australia and more across the world 

Video from the ABC

The above marches were the first ones and subsequently they have continued to grow in size. note that the ABC has joined in much of the media under estimation of the numbers and avoidance footage that testifies to the actual size.

London gripped by mass pro-Palestine rally

Video from TRT World

By abstaining, Labor provided the opposition with an opportunity to go on the offensive. Their position is even more strident support for Israel. Their leader Peter Dutton was given the ammunition to call Anthony Albanese weak and accuse him of a lack of leadership.

To their credit, the Greens have stood out from the other parties represented in the parliament by standing with the Palestinians from the beginning. 

To do the right thing the Albanese government must change its stance and join the call for an immediate ceasefire. It should add weight to the fact that securing lasting peace means ensuring the Palestinians get justice through the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. as a prelude to a new nation where all can live as equals.

Israel and its supporters will eventually be confronted with the reality that the attack will fail. The Palestinian will to resist will only strengthen with the suffering inflicted on them, and Israeli troops could easily be left in a quagmire on land they can’t control and a mounting toll.

Even worse, there is the danger of war on multiple fronts plunging the region and world into a much bigger conflict. Shouldn’t every effort be put towards avoiding this?