Dreyfus’ trip to Israel makes a mockery of Labor’s foreign policy
By Greg Barns
Jan 9, 2025
“The role of the attorney-general in Australia, even in these partisan times, is to uphold the rule of law,” as the former Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason said. So how can it be in any way compatible with that duty for Mark Dreyfus, the current holder of the office, to head to Israel and meet with a government that is committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity?
This is a regime headed by a Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who, along with his erstwhile Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, is under threat of arrest via the mechanism of International Criminal Court warrants issued against them last year. A government that has murdered men, women, and children in Gaza in a grossly disproportionate response to the horror perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October 2023. A government that is starving a population, and destroying healthcare, including critical life-saving facilities.
If Dreyfus was going to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, there would be an outburst of hysteria among members of the political class, the media and community groups.
But Putin’s conduct in the Ukraine is mild when viewed in the context of the evil of the Netanyahu regime.
For Dreyfus to sup at the table of alleged war criminals is unconscionable. He is meeting the Netanyahu Government despite the existence of the ICC warrants. And inspite of his knowing of the activities of the Israel Defence Force’s thoroughly documented, hideous and inexcusable slaughter in Gaza.
And Dreyfus heads to Israel with the knowledge the International Court of Justice is being asked by countries such as South Africa and Ireland to rule on whether Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide under international law.
Dreyfus also knows the court has already, last year, issued several measures which have been completely ignored by Israel. The court ruled that the IDF must improve access for the people of Gaza to additional means of life such as food and medical assistance. It also said Israel must increase points of access to Gaza. Israel simply thumbs its nose at the orders and requests.
Put it this way, Dreyfus is, in effect, rewarding Netanyahu and Gallant who are on the record as indicating they will refuse to comply with the ICC warrants. And Dreyfus is prepared to meet, as an Australian Government representative, a nation that flouts the ICJ.
To distill what is happening is simple. What Dreyfus is doing is making a mockery of the purported policy of the government of which he is a member, that it is fully compliant with the international rule of law.
This is illustrated by the fact that only seven weeks ago, on 15 November, Dreyfus addressed a colloquium run by his department on international law.
He told the colloquium that the department’s “Office of International Law… is part of the Australian community of international law practitioners, which, despite being physically distant from the traditional centres of international law and practice, is respected internationally for consistently influencing the practice and development of international law”.
Feel like your boss is undermining your good work by shaking hands and breaking bread with a government that has zero regard for international law?
And then there was this — obviously made for rhetorical purposes only — statement by the AG to the troops that, “it remains critical that we use international law to counter the injustices of everyday life and to influence those trends which, obscured and challenging as they may be, underpin the good of all”.
You couldn’t make this stuff up. Dreyfus’ comments on 15 November should have included this warning: “Be aware that none of my statements about the importance of international law apply to Israel.”
So how does one make sense of an Australian attorney-general doing what, in the case of, say, apartheid South Africa, would have been unthinkable. That is, meeting with a government hell-bent on breaching international law and, therefore, the rule of law.
It can only be explained by one thing – politics. The spinelessness of successive Australian Governments when it comes to the cajoling, threats and bullying of the Zionist lobby and its friends such as The Australian, which should really be called the “Netanyahu Times” so absurdly partisan its stance on the Gaza issue.
Australia’s purported commitment to the rule of law and a rules-based international order comes a distant second to garnering votes and caving in to a powerful lobby. That’s right, isn’t it, Mr Dreyfus?
Greg Barns SC is National Criminal Justice Spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance
https://johnmenadue.com/dreyfus-trip-to-israel-makes-a-mockery-of-labors-foreign-policy/
American-Israeli bombs destroy Australian food aid in Gaza
By Helen McCue
Jan 9, 2025
Last Sunday, (5 January) an American-Israeli guided missile deliberately attacked and destroyed an Australian-funded food aid storage facility in the area of Deir al-Balah in Gaza. It is, in effect, an attack on Australia. Where is the government’s condemnation?
The missle attack seriously injured three workers from the Ma’an Development Centre. This Centre has already lost six of it workers, murdered by the IDF.
Union Aid Abroad APHEDA has been working with this Palestinian development agency for 36 years and this project is partially funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs with Australian tax payers’ money. It is, in effect, an attack on Australia. Where is the government’s condemnation?
Over the past year unionists, members of APHEDA and the general public have raised more than $1.2 million to support aid efforts in Gaza. Union Aid Abroad APHEDA has called on the international community to “condemn this act, demand international law is respected and hold to account those who have bombed the facility”.
In a statement on 5 January, the MA’AN Development Centre stated that it,
“strongly condemns the criminal attack that targeted the Centre’s warehouse affiliated with the World Food Program. . . this attack constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, especially as the location’s co-ordinates were previously communicated to all concerned parties. It has become evident that humanitarian workers, medical staff, and journalists are repeatedly subjected to direct targeting through killing, bombing, and deliberate arrest, in flagrant violation of the protections afforded to these groups under international humanitarian law.”
Israel is not content with massacring nearly 46,000 innocent Palestinians, 70% of whom are women and children, injuring and maiming over 108,000 people, murdering doctors and medical staff and deliberately targeting and killing 320 humanitarian workers. Israel has completely destroyed most of Gaza’s hospitals, targeting and murdering 220 journalists, destroying sewerage and water infrastructure.
Israel is deliberately starving more than 2.1 million people, blocking aid so that people and babies are freezing to death and the list of war crimes does not end there.
These are horrific and unparalleled crimes against civilians. In the face of such horrific brutality Palestinians in Gaza ask, “why is the world so silent”, and we ask, why is the Australian Government so silent? In failing to condemn such genocide, Australia is complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last September, Foreign Minister, Penny Wong made headlines internationally by proposing and supporting a new UN Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel. What we want is action now, Senator Wong. Australians in their hundreds of thousands have been asking this government to take action against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid and land theft across Palestine and the wanton killings in the West Bank by fascist settlers supported by the IDF.
This proposed Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel has stated that it, “aims to be global in reach and application, reaffirming existing humanitarian law, and setting out practical and actionable steps to protect aid workers in conflict”. When the Fourth Geneva Convention already protects humanitarian rights we may well ask why is this additional Declaration needed? It is because 2024 was the deadliest year on record for aid workers in Gaza, with more than 320 killed. This year is on track to be even worse.
In a media statement on the proposed Declaration, Wong stated that “Gaza is the most dangerous place on earth to be an aid worker”. She went on to state that “The Declaration… will demonstrate the unity of the international community’s commitment to protect humanitarian personnel and to channel that commitment into action in all current and future conflicts”. APHEDA has stated that, “workers who stand with the victims of war are increasingly being targeted strategically to escalate the starvation and suffering of civilians. There has never been a more urgent time to implement this Declaration”.
Senator Wong, we are waiting for you now to take that action against Israel. We want you to immediately condemn the genocide in Gaza, to immediately implement the findings against Israel of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and the UN General Assembly Resolution of 18 September to implement the ICJ decisions.
We also want you to immediately place sanctions on Israel, ask the Israeli Ambassador to leave Australia and stop all weapons sales.
We are tired of hearing just words, it is now way past time for action, Senator Wong. Australia’s previous reputation for commitment to international humanitarian law is at stake.
The government needs to act now.
The views expressed in this article are mine alone.
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Dr Helen McCue AM is a former United Nations consultant, working in the Middle East with refugees and displaced. Dr McCue has been a strong advocate for Palestinian human rights including the rights of Palestinian refugees for over 40 years. She is co-founder of Union Aid Abroad APHEDA and co-founder of Rural Australia for Refugees (RAR). Dr McCue is the 2024 recipient of the Jerusalem Peace Prize.