It is long overdue for the United States of America to assume its responsibility, hold Israel accountable and force it to respect international laws and resolutions and recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Dear Anthony,
On the eve of your meeting with US President Joe Biden, the Australian people you represent and people around the world are looking to you to speak truth to power and to be the Australian voice of fair dinkum, the voice of peace to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people based on international law and United Nations resolutions, to achieve a just peace and stability in the Middle East.
To tell Mr Biden that seventy-five years of Israel’s occupation, ethnic cleansing of 70% of the Palestinian people, deprivation of their legitimate rights to freedom, return to their homeland, and self-determination is more than enough. It is long overdue for the United States of America to assume its responsibility, hold Israel accountable and force it to respect international laws and resolutions and recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
I have known you since you were a student activist and leader in the mid-seventies; you stood on the side of the oppressed. You have been to Palestine, Israel and countries in the region, you visited Palestinian refugee camps and met with Palestinian, Israeli and Arab leaders including the late President Yasser Arafat. And I know that you know the root cause of the Palestine question and conflict in the Middle East. Therefore, you are well equipped and capable of telling the truth to power to achieve justice for the Palestinian people, without which there will never be peace in the Middle East.
You know, as well as Mr Biden, Israel is the longest military-occupying power in the world today. It occupies all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, and parts of neighbouring Syria and Lebanon, building illegal Jewish-only colonies, grossly violating international law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, refusing to comply with tens of UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, threatening the region’s security, and preventing the Palestinian people from exercising their right to freedom and self-determination.
Anthony, do not disappoint the peace-loving Australians you represent.
Ali Kazak, a Nakba survivor and former Palestinian ambassador.
Ali Kazak is a former Palestinian ambassador and head of delegation to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific region. He is an expert in Australian-Arab relations and affairs, and author of “Australia and the Arabs”. (In Arabic).
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