Consortium News: 30-04-2025,
AUS ELECTION: Israel has no right of self-defence against resistance in lands that are illegally occupied, says John Menadue.
Mother cries for her 4-year-old daughter, who lost her life due to malnutrition and lack of treatment, Aug. 14, 2024. (UNRWA /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
In the midst of an election season in Australia criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza has been muted under the weight of a bipartisan consensus enforced by fear of running afoul of the Zionist lobby. Few politicians, journalists or public figures have spoken out. The following is an exception. It is the text of a speech delivered by the author, a former Australian ambassador and cabinet secretary, at a Palestinian rally at the Australian National University in Canberra on April 27.
By John Menadue
Pearls and Irritations
I first visited Israel in 1963 with Gough Whitlam [Australian prime minister from 1972-75]. I was very impressed. It was a pioneering country, modest and with features of a democratic state.
When I returned, I inquired from the Israeli ambassador in Canberra about the possibilities of some of my children, when they were older, taking a gap year living on a kibbutz.
I visited with Whitlam again in 1967, after the Six-Day War. I changed my mind.
The expanded occupation of Palestinian lands brought with it the arrogance of an occupying power.