Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for International Aid and Global Justice, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has called on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to take urgent action to protect the more than 50 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which are carrying vital, lifesaving aid for the victims of Israel\u2019s genocide and forced starvation. Seven Australians are on board the Flotilla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Faruqi is calling on Minister Wong to uphold her recently launched \u2018Declaration for the protection of Humanitarian Personnel\u2019 at the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for International Aid & Global Justice:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now, hundreds of people on the Flotilla are risking their lives to deliver food, water and medical supplies directly to the people of Gaza, who are being deliberately starved by Israel. Minister Wong must honour her commitment to those delivering humanitarian aid and guarantee the Government will do everything in its power to protect the Flotilla and its mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust last week, the Foreign Minister said we must protect aid workers who deliver the food, water and medicine that civilians need to survive. Now is the test of whether she actually meant it, or whether it was just more of the empty words we have come to expect from this Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no place more dangerous to be an aid worker than Gaza, where Israel\u2019s bombardment of Palestinians has also targeted health workers, journalists, and aid workers, yet these courageous people from across the world are sailing to Gaza to deliver urgently needed aid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMinister Wong has touted her commitment to aid personnel on the world stage, and this will be the first test of whether the Australian Government will stand up to Israel and demand free passage of humanitarian aid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Labor Government allowed the Israeli Government to whitewash the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom with a sham investigation. Zomi\u2019s killers continue to walk free, and not a single person or entity has been sanctioned for her killing. The time for impunity is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am also deeply concerned to hear that the Government has all but abandoned consular support for the Australians on the Flotilla and their families. This is unacceptable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the Labor Government recognises the State of Palestine, it must also recognise the genocide Palestinians are experiencing under Israeli occupation. The Albanese Government must sanction Israel and support every effort to break the illegal Israeli blockade that is killing Palestinians every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe live in hope that Minister Wong will finally do something tangible and take action to stop Israel\u2019s genocide and war crimes. The Genocide Convention requires it, international law requires it, and her conscience must require it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe flotilla represents the best of humanity\u2014ordinary people stepping forward where governments have failed. The Labor government must break its silence and publicly support and protect this humanitarian mission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for International Aid and Global Justice, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has called on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to take urgent action to protect the more than 50 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which are carrying vital, lifesaving aid for the victims of Israel\u2019s genocide and forced starvation. Seven Australians are … Continue reading “Labor Government must uphold its declaration to protect workers and support the Global Sumud Flotilla”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35169,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35168\/revisions\/35169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}