As Israeli violence against Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank grows more ferocious, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has written an open letter appealing to all MPs, regardless of political affiliation, to intervene and demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
APAN has today sent a formal letter to all members of parliament in Australia, imploring them to “set aside your party politics and instead embrace your humanity” and end the genocide in Gaza.
It comes as APAN also urges community members to pen a second flurry of letters to MPs, after its first letter writing campaign saw almost 73,000 community members send more than 1.5 million emails to their elected representatives.
APAN President Nasser Mashni said the organisation was in despair over the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis that was enveloping the Palestinian territories.
“We’re feeling despair and frustration that the absolute urgency and horror of this moment seems to be lost on our politicians and government,” Mr Mashni said.
“More than 16,000 people have been killed in Gaza, more than 43,000 people have been injured, many of them with injuries that will change the course of the rest of their lives and some 7,600 buried under rubble and presumed dead.
“We are watching a genocide unfold in Gaza, and it’s our obligation as humans and moral beings, and as a party to the UN Genocide Convention, to stop it.
“As a society, as a nation, we cannot stand back and remain silent. We cannot continue to move at this glacial pace. We must act with speed, decisiveness, humanity.”
Mr Mashni said there were indications that the government’s lack of decisive action was turning the violence in Gaza into an issue that would affect its plight at the next election.
“A YouGov poll and a Roy Morgan poll in November showed that a clear majority of Australians supported the call for an immediate ceasefire, and that, in the case of YouGov poll, this support very clearly existed across political parties,” he said.
“Furthermore, 23 per cent of respondents to the YouGov poll indicated that they would be more likely to consider voting Labor, if the government called for a ceasefire.
“It’s clear that failing to act won’t just have an impact on the people of Gaza, but also on the electoral plight of those members of parliament who don’t speak up at this most critical juncture.”
About us:
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) works for Australian policy that supports Palestinian human rights, justice, and equality.
Contact details:
Lauren Salathiel
0491 941 253
lauren@apan.org.au