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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Jasper Lindell

Greens' motion calls for Gaza ceasefire support, ACT divestment

The ACT Greens will push ACT Labor, their senior coalition partner, to dump government investments in companies linked to settlements in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

The party will use a motion in the first Legislative Assembly sitting week of the year to force a debate on support for a ceasefire in Gaza, the reinstatement of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and an end to Israel's "apartheid" against the Palestinian population.

Andrew Braddock, the Greens' spokesman on anti-racism, said his party was seeking the Legislative Assembly to join calls for an immediate and permanent Gaza ceasefire.

"What we are seeing in Gaza is not only the loss of tens of thousands of lives, but more broadly a tipping point after generations of displacement, dispossession and apartheid treatment of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel," Mr Braddock said in a statement.

"Indeed, the International Court of Justice has now recognised that this could be reasonably characterised as genocidal."

Mr Braddock said lasting peace in the Middle East required an end to the blockade of Gaza and Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

"The ACT cannot be complicit in the State of Israel's violations of international law. I am calling on Andrew Barr to implement his own responsible investment policy and divest from companies which resource these illegal settlements and exploit Palestinian resources," he said.

Andrew Braddock, the Greens' spokesman on anti-racism, whose motion will spark a Legislative Assembly debate on a Gaza ceasefire. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

The Greens want the government to divest its shares in nine companies which it said the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had listed as being complicit in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Greens' motion lists the following companies: Airbnb Inc, Alstom SA, Bank Hapoalim BM, Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM, Booking Holdings Inc, Expedia Group Inc, Israel Discount Bank Ltd, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd and Motorola Solutions Inc.

The motion calls on the Assembly to first note the "the Hamas attacks commencing 7 October 2023 involving the targeting and death of Israeli civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages, and widespread rocket fire into civilian area".

Then the motion notes "the immense loss of life and human suffering occurring in the Gaza Strip, including that of women and children due to Israeli military action".

The motion says "these events occur in the context of ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories, construction of illegal settlements, and the historic displacement and apartheid treatment of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel", and "that the International Court of Justice has ruled that all steps to prevent genocide in Gaza must be taken".

If adopted, the Assembly would voice its support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and political prisoners, the holding to account of all perpetrators in accordance with international law, and an end to the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and "apartheid against the Palestinian population".

The motion, to be debated on Wednesday, calls on Assembly members to condemn all forms of racism - including anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia - and voice support for Canberra's Palestinian and Israelia communities during "this challenging time".

ACT Greens cabinet minister Rebecca Vassarotti addressed a later pro-Palestine rally in Garema Place, describing the bombardment of Gaza as a war crime and saying the party called for a ceasefire.

"War crimes and crimes against humanity must stop. Hamas must release hostages. The State of Israel must stop its bombardment, stop its blockade and halt its plans for an invasion in Gaza," Ms Vassarotti said on October 20.

The Canberra Liberals last year criticised the ACT Greens for promoting a pro-Palestine rally.

Satellite imagery analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre shows that 30 per cent of Gaza Strip's buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

Israel's assault has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run territory. The assault was launched in response to attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel on October 7 in which 1200 were killed.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, last week said 17 of Hamas' 24 combat battalions had been dismantled.

The rest, he said, were mostly in the southern Gaza Strip, including Rafah, on the enclave's Egyptian border.

"We'll take care of them, too," he said, according to a statement from his office.

The United Nations International Court of Justice late last month ruled Israel must prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and do more to help civilians caught in the conflict.

But it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire and called for Palestinian armed groups to release hostages captured in the October 7 attacks on Israel.

- With AAP

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