Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like most people, I was appalled by the vile treatment of flotilla participants by the Israeli national security minister. The footage, showing bound and kneeling activists being taunted and harassed, is repulsive and inhumane. What it reveals, however, is not the exception but the rule of the Israeli government's brutal and dehumanising treatment of Palestinians, albeit this time deflected onto those seeking to deliver aid. The reality is that Palestinians in Israel and in occupied Gaza and the West Bank especially face this and far worse on a daily basis.

The International Court of Justice again confirmed the illegality of Israeli settlements in 2024, and in their ruling stated that governments and organisations were obliged to not recognise or lend any form of support to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. So you can understand why I'm regularly contacted by constituents who want the Australian government to do more, much more, to hold Israel to account. I am contacted by constituents who highlight the sometimes unexpected layers to this horrid matter, like how familiar platforms such as booking.com and Airbnb continue to list properties on stolen Palestinian land, whitewashing the illegal occupation of genocide and generating revenue that flows directly into the settlements. I again implore the government to take meaningful action to hold Israel to account— (Time expired)