Letter

In response to Usman Khawaja urges Albanese to sanction Israel over Gaza genocide

Will the Albanese Government listen?

I commend Usman Khawaja for his principled stand on Gaza. Given his elevated position in the Australian sporting firmament, he managed to gain an audience with senior members of our current government. To his great credit, he did not waste this chance.

Will the Albanese Government listen? The short answer is no. Thinking in Canberra has been captured by the Australia/Israel Jewish Affairs Council. This is a great shame, especially as better advice is readily available from the Jewish Council of Australia, an organisation founded in February 2024 specifically to represent non-Zionist Australian Jews and to counter, or at least offer an alternative to, the influence of AIJAC.

Will the Albanese Government realise that the advice they are receiving from AIJAC will render them complicit in genocide, complicit in documented and undeniable crimes against humanity? Please listen to the alterative voice, Mr. Albanese, before you, and by extension all Australians, get painted into an indefensible and criminal corner.

— Hal Duell from Alice Springs