2021-06-19
The 19 June 2021 meeting of the State Delegates Council of The Greens NSW unanimously endorsed the following proposal, and urged its delegates to the Australian Greens National Council to raise the proposal at National Council.
The Greens NSW condemns the bombing of Gaza
The Greens NSW:
A: condemns the bombing of Gaza, including the Gaza media centre on 15 May 2021;
B: supports the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance “Statement on freedom of expression at SBS” and condemns media outlets for putting pressure on journalists in their employ not to sign a public statement regarding the conflict in Israel and Palestine;
C: calls for accurate and balanced reporting by the Australian Media on the Israel Palestine conflict;
D: notes that Human Rights Watch recently defined the situation in Israel and Palestine as 'apartheid' and
E. calls on Australian Media outlets to use this language when reporting on it.
Background information:
A: UN Human Rights Council has launched an investigation (with a 24-9 vote, and 14 abstentions) into human rights violations, including the bombing of the media centre. Targeting journalists and civilians are war crimes.
B: It is important that no media outlet pressures journalists to refrain from signing a public statement on any conflict. This is a violation of their right to free speech. See this link for more information. https://theintercept.com/2021/05/27/israel-palestine-australia-journalists/
C: Australian media outlets have used language which implies symmetric fault and heinousness in the Israel-Palestine conflict, despite there being an order of magnitude in difference between Israel’s acts of violence towards Palestinians compared to the violence perpetrated by Palestinians against Israelis. This can be seen in the wildly different death tolls experienced by each side. It can also be seen by the exercise of Israeli state power, over those living in the West Bank (forced evictions and exclusion from society) as well as those in the Gaza Strip (blockades preventing vital supplies reaching over a million Palestinians who live in poverty). Language which seeks to obscure this reality by implying both sides are equally at fault is doing a disservice to public education.