Dear Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Wong,

We, the undersigned, are writing to you in the hope of seeing a change in Australia's stance on the humanitarian crisis in Palestine to uphold international law and condemn war crimes being committed by Israel against innocent civilians. 

We all have a moral obligation to speak out against the violation of basic human rights and war crimes. We express our disappointment about the decision to abstain from the UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel Hamas.  

 Israel has constantly circulated pamphlets to displaced civilians in Gaza warning them of a pending Nakba (i.e. catastrophe or cataclysm). This is a direct threat to all Palestinians, civilian or otherwise.

The disproportionality of the measures Israel has taken, and threatens to take are obvious for the entire international community to see.

Thousands of Palestinians are stuck under rubble, rescue teams have been brutally attacked by the Israeli forces, and many hospitals where thousands of Palestinians were being treated have been attacked. White phosphorus continues to be thrown at defenceless civilians. More than 10,000 children have been killed in this mass genocide. Netanyahu cannot justify that the deaths of these children are a legitimate exercise of self-defence.

Australian citizens are concerned by the loss of life in Gaza, and many Australians are grieving the loss of lives of their relatives, some of whom are signatories of this letter. We hear first hand accounts of family members who are stuck in apartments that may be bombed anytime. Their only hope that at the very least, if they do get bombed, they die together.

Contact with over 2 million Palestinians has been lost as they have been forcibly disconnected from all forms of communication. What Israel did to Palestinians prior to the blackout was horrendous enough; who knows what horrors they now face.

What other atrocities must occur before an immediate and permanent ceasefire is agreed and to bring Netanyahu to justice?
Netanyahu should not be using this war and the Palestinians as human shields to cover up for his political failures inside Israel.

Lebanon and Syria have also both attacked, and Egypt is also at risk. This needs to stop before it escalates and is too late.

Last weekend over 50,000 Australians from various cultures, religions, and all walks of life, were out on the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth protesting for a cease fire to stop the genocide. Shouldn’t this be enough for the Australian government to recognise that this prosocial mass gathering in the name of peace to warrant immediate action taken by the Australian Government to represent its people?

We voted for the Labour Party because we share common values and principles. Please Ministers, as citizens of Australia we need to know that our system has not failed us, has not failed Humanity. We urge you to show the people of Australia and the world what Australia really stands for and to call for an immediate ceasefire. We urge you to call for a meeting with international leaders to implement an action plan which will give Palestinians hope.

Regards,