There is very partisan criticism of Hamas for firing home-made rockets into Israel. But the core problem is not rockets. It is the occupation of Palestine by Israel and the imprisonment of two million Palestinians in a sliver of land called ‘Gaza’.

I often think how we should or could respond if our country was occupied by a foreign power. Surely there would be resistance to that occupation. That is fundamentally what the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is about.

In a speech given at Parliament House, Canberra, on July 16, Professor Ben Saul, says

‘The root cause of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the near fifty year occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel and the illegal colonisation of Palestinian land. Violence to liberate Palestine is inevitable unless Israel withdraws and complies with international law. Australian governments have failed to understand that there will never be peace unless there is justice.’

A link to Professor Ben Saul’s speech is below.  He is the Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney.  John Menadue

​ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-25/saul-its-about-time-australia-put-pressure-on-israel/5623530