Wednesday, 19 June 2024

Middle East conflict

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:06): (972) Terrorism and the modern left were not a coalition we were expecting to see, yet we are. Just about every day we hear members in this Parliament from the Greens stand up and call for genocide. Make no mistake: when they chant ‘From the river to the sea’ that is exactly what they are calling for. The boundary of Israel is the Jordan River, and it goes to the Mediterranean Sea, therefore they are calling for the annihilation of Israel, a genocide of the Jewish people and a second Holocaust. This is extremism of the worst possible nature. The Greens have not hidden this. After the terrorist attack on 7 October – which was not an attack on disputed territory; it was an attack on Israel proper – by a known terror group called Hamas, they backed it. When this chamber honoured the victims with a minute’s silence, they walked out in protest. How disgraceful!

I watched the 47 minutes of footage from 7 October, and let me tell you, it was absolutely horrific. It showed victims being beheaded with hoes, having their heads cut off with serrated-edge kitchen knives. It showed murderers blowing up children in their own homes. It showed terrorists hacking innocent people to death. I heard a terrorist call up his family and say, ‘Mum, Dad, I’ve just murdered 10 Jews. Your son is a hero!’ and them saying when he goes back he is going to be a hero in his home town.

We have heard for years sanctimonious lectures from the Greens on sexism, oppression, racism and inequality, yet the murder of innocent civilians, the brutal rape of women and hundreds of hostages being taken away were not even worth 1 minute’s silence for them. Why? Because they were Jewish. This is antisemitism on a level I have never seen in my lifetime. This is political support for terrorism that is completely unprecedented in this nation, and this is incitement to violence that I have never seen before. Last night their advocacy led to a targeted attack on the office of a Jewish Labor member of Parliament, Josh Burns. Let me tell you, Islamic extremism and the modern left are an unholy alliance built on deception and violence.

The action that I seek from the Premier is for her to tell us what she is going to do to stamp out this extremist and un-Australian behaviour. The last thing I want to say is to the Greens: isn’t one of your core values peace and nonviolence? Your words and your actions have consequences, and I am sick of seeing the violence that you are inciting.