TRANSCRIPT
Labor party senator Fatima Payman has criticised the Prime Minister, and her own political party, over its response to Israel.
She is the first Labor parliamentarian to break ranks by describing what is happening in Gaza as a genocide.
"My conscience has been uneasy for far too long. And I must call this out for what it is. This is a genocide and we need to stop pretending otherwise."
In a veiled criticism of her party leader, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Senator Payman criticised Australian leaders for what she calls performative gestures.
"I see our leaders performatively gesture, defending the oppressor’s right to oppress, while gaslighting the global community about the rights of self-defence of the armed jailers against the prisoners… of the dominators against the subjugated… of the well-fed against the starving."
In January, South Africa brought a case to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel strongly rejected. The case is ongoing.
Payman had originally intended to deliver the speech at a rally outside federal parliament on Wednesday where dozens had gathered to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the 'Nakba', which is Arabic for 'catastrophe'.
Instead, she delivered it to a small group of journalists, including SBS News, at Parliament House.
Ms Payman says she had no option other than to voice her concerns.
"We can no longer shy away from decency from having the moral clarity to stand up to face evil and declare ourselves in opposition to it. And the system that keeps feeding it until it's so diseased with it, that we can no longer distinguish between the good and the bad."
Senator Payman directly addressing the Prime Minister.
"I ask our Prime Minister and our fellow parliamentarians how many international rights laws must Israel break for us to say enough? What is the magic number? How many lives need to be lost before we say enough? What is the magic number? How many mass graves need to be uncovered before we say enough? How many images of bloody limbs of murdered children must we see?"
Senator Payman ending her remarks with a call to action.
"I asked you to join me to continue to call for freedom from the occupation, freedom from the violence and freedom from the inequality. From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free."
That last phrase is considered by some Jewish communities as a call for the destruction of Israel, while Palestinians consider it as a call for freedom.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously criticised the chant.
"We support a two state solution. The solution in the Middle East is for Israel to continue to be able to be a successful state that it is living within secure and stable borders and able to have prosperity for its citizens. But it's also for Palestinians to have the right to live in peace and security with prosperity as well. I think with some of the reduction to simple slogans without any understanding of history, is not appropriate."
Now, Mr Albanese has told Triple J the position of the government has been fair.
"The Middle East is a conflict, where the government has had a very clear position of our opposition to what occurred, the terrorist atrocities of October 7… but also our calling out of Israel for actions, and saying that how it defends itself very much matters as well."
SBS News has contacted the Israeli embassy in Canberra for comment.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has also sharply criticised Senator Payman for the use of the phrase From the River to the Sea.
They've issued the following statement.
"It is an old Arab supremacist slogan calling for the destruction of Israel and the ethnic cleansing of its Jewish population. This is why it has been denounced as antisemitic by both the White House and our prime minister. The senator should immediately apologise for stoking hatred in such a vile way. If she can't refrain from using racist slogans at a time of extreme tension in our society, she should consider her position."
But another Jewish group - the Jewish Council of Australia - a coalition of Jewish academics, lawyers, writers and experts on antisemitism and racism- has a very different view.
They have issued the following statement.
"The Jewish Council of Australia sends Fatima Payman a big mazel tov** for her courage in breaking with the party line and strongly speaking out against Israel's genocide. It should not be controversial to use this terminology as it is in line with the finding of the International Court of Justice that Israel's action's constitute a plausible genocide.”
** mazel tov= an expression amongst Jewish people meaning “congratulations” or “Good luck”
