Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Deputy Leader and International Aid Spokesperson, has condemned new Israeli legislation labelling UNRWA a terrorist organisation and restricting its operations, and has called on the Albanese government to sanction Israel.
Senator Faruqi:
“Israel just keeps reaching new levels of depravity while the Australian government watches on. If committing a genocide wasn’t enough, now they want to effectively block the main UN agency from providing relief to desperate Palestinians.
“Undermining and stopping UNRWA from providing aid to Palestinians has been a long term goal of Israel and it’s outrageous that now they are even closer to achieving this because the world has refused to take action to stop them.
“Israel is only proving to the world that it is a rogue, genocidal state that has no regard for international law or institutions.
“The Labor government has been ‘urging’ Israel to abide by international law for a year, and all we’ve seen is its war crimes and genocide escalating.
“Enough with the weasel words. It’s time for Albanese and Wong to impose sanctions and expel the Israeli ambassador.”