Thursday, 20 June 2024

Middle East conflict

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (10:17): Earlier this month I had the opportunity to be part of the study visit delegation to Israel coordinated by AIJAC, the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, in company with my colleagues David Southwick, David Davis, James Newbury, Chris Crewther and Dr Renee Heath. Visiting the beautiful city of Jerusalem, rich in culture and religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we walked the whole city, touched the Western Wall, visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and visited the Islamic holy site on Temple Mount. We visited the Anzacs and paid our respect to the fallen Anzacs, visited the MPs of Israel’s Parliament and had a conference with Palestinian officers in East Jerusalem. But nothing prepared us for the visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we viewed a 45-minute clip of the October massacre and walked around the Supernova music site where masked terrorists slaughtered over 260 partygoers and captured 40 hostages. We visited the kibbutz community in southern Israel, just south of Gaza, where Hamas terrorists shot the elderly, kids and even dogs, wiping out entire families – in some situations two generations of the same family. In the midst of darkness, there is a glimpse of hope. During our time there was the rescue of four hostages by the Israeli defence force after eight months of capture. I thank AIJAC for organising the tour.