DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇱 Israel /Elections & Politics

Fringe anti-Zionist group leads campaign pushing Australian parliament to sanction Israel

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources New plan
  • The Jewish Council of Australia is leading a campaign urging parliament to adopt sanctions against Israel under a proposal called the Red Lines Package.
  • The campaign's supporters say Australia should not fund, arm or invest in illegal settlements, war crimes or genocide.
  • The article disputes the campaign's interpretation of an International Court of Justice ruling and highlights the group's links to pro-Palestinian organisations.

A campaign urging Australia's parliament to sanction Israel is being led by the Jewish Council of Australia, a group the article describes as a far-left fringe organisation with close ties to Australian Palestinian groups.

Australia doesn't fund, arm or invest in illegal settlements, war crimes, or genocide

· Red Lines Package campaignThe campaign's stated legislative goal for Australia.

Called the Red Lines Package, the initiative is launching this week. It seeks legislation backed by the Greens and independent senators to ensure that Australia "doesn't fund, arm or invest in illegal settlements, war crimes, or genocide." The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network and other groups that supported pro-Palestinian marches after October 7 also back the campaign.

The article argues that the initiative relies on a misreading of an International Court of Justice ruling. Its architects claim the court found a plausible case that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The article says the court's January 26, 2024 order instead found that the rights of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from genocide, and South Africa's right to bring the case, were plausible.

didn't decide that the claim of genocide was plausible

· Joan DonoghueThe former ICJ president's explanation of what the court decided in its January 2024 order.

Joan Donoghue, who was the court's president at the time, later told the BBC that the ICJ "didn't decide that the claim of genocide was plausible." Chris Sidoti, an Australian lawyer on a United Nations commission of inquiry that has accused Israel of genocide, is also involved in the initiative. The article says Sidoti has described Israel as "a settler colonial apartheid state" and quotes him as saying Jews "throw around accusations of antisemitism like rice at a wedding."

a settler colonial apartheid state

· Chris SidotiThe description of Israel attributed to the Australian lawyer involved in the initiative.

Founded in February 2024, the Jewish Council of Australia says it has 2,500 supporters in a Jewish community of more than 100,000, according to the article. It has campaigned against the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism in public institutions and healthcare, as well as against inquiries into antisemitism. The article also says its leaders and members have attended rallies where crowds called for Israel's annihilation and displayed posters of Hamas leaders and the group's flag.

throw around accusations of antisemitism like rice at a wedding

· Chris SidotiA 2022 remark attributed to Sidoti at a UN human rights panel.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog