A public forum organised by Australians for Humanity brought together legal, political and human rights experts to examine why international law must be upheld consistently – from Gaza to Australia.

Bob Carr’s paper was a ‘cry for the children of Gaza’ – the slaughtered, maimed, starved and orphaned – his incredulity at such cruelty compounded by governments’ failure to intervene, even by a failure to admit these were not only crimes against humanity but also genocide.

Chris Sidoti transported international law from UN/international relations to citizens’ local responsibilities towards First Nations people, asylum seekers, and people with disability – hence his question “how can international law be taken seriously if an Australian government only respects international law when it suits?”

Rawan Arraf described the political economy of the Israeli apartheid State. The whole country, not just the Netanyahu government, promotes settler destruction and murder. Rawan described herself as baffled by the reluctance of European diplomats to condemn Israeli, and dismayed by the impunity for Australians who commit war crimes by fighting with the IDF.

Ben Saul listed examples of worldwide brutality, as though a ‘might is right’ pandemic stretched around the globe, from Somalia to Myanmar, Sudan to Ukraine, and Iran to the dangerous peace-wrecking USA. Ben found signs of optimism in some UN deliberations, such as the Security Council rejecting Germany’s application for membership, a ‘welcome outcome’ given that Germany has been a generous arms supplier to Israel.

Two themes ran through those brilliant presentations.

1. International law will have little influence if the means of implementing ICJ and Geneva Convention rulings are seldom discussed. It is long overdue that international law rulings be coupled to the theory and practice of intervening to protect individual rights: when and how to act, and how to evaluate the benefits of doing so.

2. Courage to stand up to bullies whose cruelty influences their country’s foreign policies. Way beyond sanctioning Israeli settlers, the Australian government needs to rediscover courage, otherwise its supposed human rights convictions flutter away like meaningless rhetoric.

There are other things to say about the organisation of the event, such as Cathy’s clever online coverage, Phil’s engaging publicity and Jenny Leong’s generosity in promoting the event, but I’ll leave all that for another memo.

This is a summary of a public forum organised by Australians for Humanity held at the NSW parliament’s theatre on June 4 2026.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.