Australia’s broad sanctioning of Russia has been highlighted after Anthony Albanese downplayed his ability to persuade Israel to stop its war in Gaza.
The prime minister said Australia did not have a lot of influence in the Middle East, after hundreds of thousands of people rallied in 40 cities and towns on Sunday, calling for more pressure to be applied on Israel.
“Australia is, of course, not a major power in the Middle East,” he told ABC Radio National on Monday.
“In spite of some of the rhetoric which is out there, Australia, for example, does not provide arms to Israel.”
Mr Albanese said Canberra would lobby diplomatically for a ceasefire, the delivery of aid into the blockaded enclave, the release of hostages and the disarming of terrorist-listed Hamas.
Amal Naser, an organiser of Sydney’s largest pro-Palestine rallies, said the government was shirking its responsibility under international law.
“Australia is also not a major power when it comes to Russia and Ukraine but it has enacted a wide range of sanctions against Russia,” she told AAP.
Australia sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers in June – Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich – but Ms Naser urged it to go further, by withdrawing from the international supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet and imposing crippling economic sanctions.
“People around Australia are sick and tired of seeing the Gaza Strip being absolutely annihilated and Israel being able to break every rule of law with full impunity,” she said.
More than 50,000 people turned out on Sunday to produce the largest pro-Palestinian crowd in Brisbane’s history, organisers said.
No attendees were arrested but a police investigation was triggered on Monday as footage emerged of a Hamas flag being displayed in Brisbane.
“That individual can’t get away with that because that is provocative,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told reporters on Monday.
“It’s inciteful, it’s anti-Semitic, and it’s the kind of behaviour that we don’t stand for in this state and this nation.”
Police said they were investigating the display of a terrorist organisation symbol.
“We’re taking that matter very, very seriously,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Rhys Wildman said.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she was pleased with the peaceful nature of the Melbourne protesters.
But opposition leader Brad Battin claimed the weekly pro-Palestine rallies are making people less safe, pointing to the need to divert officers for “babysitting” demonstrators.
Organisers are aiming for another national day of action on October 5, to mark two years since the violence began.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed including 18,000 children in the ongoing assault on Gaza, according to the United Nations.
The retaliatory action came after militant group Hamas killed 1200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border attack on October 7, 2023.
The UN has recently confirmed a full-fledged famine is occurring in parts of the Gaza Strip for the first time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the famine declaration an “outright lie”.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
