Senate debates
Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Statements by Senators
Middle East: Occupied Palestinian Territories
1:33 pm
Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source
Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians. Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said the denial of food is a war crime and constitutes a situation of genocide. In Gaza, 2.2 million people are facing severe food shortages, and many are on the brink of famine due to Israel's genocidal chokehold. In Rafah, where Israel is now focusing its genocidal mission, five per cent of children under two are acutely malnourished.
In Newcastle, some very courageous children have written directly to the Prime Minister, and I would like to read their letters. One wrote:
Dear Prime Minister, I am a Palestinian child. In my country they don't have water, food and electricity. All of the people lost their family members and friends. All of them are losing body parts and DREAMS! We must make a ceasefire and end the genocide!
This is another one:
Please help palestine right now people are dieing we need to hurry before it's to late. You might think because I'm a kid rwiting to you that it doesn't meen anything, but it means more than you would think so please help.
And the last one is:
Dear Prime Minister
I am writing to you about the palestine situation. In palestine, thousands of palestinian people are getting killed per week. I am wondering why you aren't doing anything about it?'
So, Prime Minister, why aren't you doing anything? Do these people not matter? Do you not see them as humans?
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