Mr Burke will propose a resolution at conference expected to mirror that put at NSW Labor conference last July. It stated if no progress was made towards a two-state solution “and Israel continues to build and expand settlements, a future Labor government will consult like-minded nations towards recognition of the Palestinian state”. To know where Tony Burke is coming from: Labor frontbencher Tony Burke, for instance, represents the Sydney seat of Watson, which now has an astonishing 20 per cent of Muslim voters. In fact, of the 20 seats with the most Muslim voters, many in western Sydney, Labor holds all but one.
It shows. Two years ago, the Gillard government dropped support for Israel in the United Nations after foreign minister Bob Carr spent an hour with prime minister Julia Gillard, as The Australian reported, “explaining the electoral problems in Sydney”.
Added The Sydney Morning Herald: “Many MPs in western Sydney, who are already fearful of losing their seats, are coming under pressure from constituents with a Middle East background.”
Last September, the Mufti of Australia even wrote to Labor members warning that union boss Paul Howe had a “bias” towards Israel, and if he became a senator, Labor would lose the Muslim votes that helped “successfully retain the majority of ALP seats in Western Sydney”. Howes was stopped. To know just what Tony Burke will say to win Muslim votes at an Australia Palestine Advocacy Network Fundraising Dinner:
If you are serious about justice, then we need to acknowledge and acknowledge the truth, that all Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal. If we’re serious about speaking the truth then we must unequivocally be able to say that East Jerusalem is occupied…
For those who are political advocates within Palestine itself, I will never know the bravery that comes with putting your life on the line and at risk, in engaging in politics in different ways.
I’d bet many of Burke’s audience heard that as an implicit endorsement of Palestinian terrorism.
Jewish members of Labor should be fighting like fury against this dangerous pandering. Where are they?
