Former-PMs Statement Discordant Morality

October 30, 2023, marks the publication of an epistle entitled Statement by Former Prime Ministers of Australia. This document was signed by six former Australian Prime Ministers; henceforth referred to as the former-PMs. Missing from the list of signatories was the name of one other living former-PM, namely Paul Keating who, when approached refused to put his name to this document.

In their commendable effort to bolster social harmony within the context of multi-cultural Australia the former-PMs express sentiments that most Australians would agree with. The aspiration that there be “…. no place in our country for racial or religious hatred,” and the “…. tenaciously evil race hatred” that is at the root of antisemitism.

So, they are correct in their declaration to “…. Speak for the vast majority of Australians, of all faiths and of none, when we say we stand with solidarity with Jewish Australians at this time…. Likewise, we stand too with the Australian Palestinian community whose families are dying and suffering in the terrible conflict.”

The former-PMs rightly condemn the “cruel and murderous attack on Israeli families” when Hamas on October 7, 2023, invaded Israel and “…kidnapped and murdered 1400 Israelis, young and old, women and men, children – not even babies were spared.”

As the former-PMs state the intension of Hamas most likely was to “…. intimidate the people of Israel, shaking that nation’s faith in its technology, its military, its government.”

With respect to the plight of the inhabitants of Gaza the former-PMs moral indignation takes a strange twist that can be construed as absolving the Israeli Government’s actions in Gaza since October 7 of any taint of immorality.

They place sole moral culpability, without specifying the nature of the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza strip on Hamas which “... sought to provoke into a reaction that would kill countless innocent civilians in Gaza…. They want Israel to invade and bomb Gaza. They want to be able to point to thousands of Palestinian casualties from Israeli military action.”

Well, it appears that the former-PMs expect the Australian people to believe the Israeli government, lacks any moral agency of its own and no other choices open to it simply let itself be used by Hamas.  The former-PMs don’t seem to appreciate the morally dark and humanitarian debacle that the Israeli Government and Hamas, in their deadly dance have got themselves into.

We can agree that Hamas’s war criminality on October 7 represented a “grotesque act of cruelty and violence comparable to ISIS.” Surely, we can say the same when we look at the Israeli government vengeful deployment of its military technology entrapping millions of Gazan innocents in the same light.

The former-PMs make the remark: “If our hearts are filled with hatred, then we will be doing the terrorist’s work.” It is justifiable to say that in a perverse way the Israel government led by Mr. Netanyahu is doing the terrorist’s work.

As if to ameliorate the moral confusion of their stance the former-PMs advise the Israeli Government, in pursuing their “legitimate objective of defeating Hamas” must “protect” the civilian population of Gaza. The former-PMs rely on “promises” on the part of Israel that “… it will do all it can to avoid civilian casualties.”  In this regard the former-PMs “urge” Israel to do this with “humanity and skill”. The indiscriminate carpet bombing and destruction meted out on the Gazans reveal the naivety or ethical blindness of the former-PMs suggestions.

The former-PMs in blaming Hamas for the death and destruction meted out to the Gazans absolve the morally skewed Israeli Government and its terrible punishment of Palestinian people.

The former-PMs make no mention of the speech made by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on October 28, 2023 which reveals to the world the moral and religious bankruptcy underpinning the attitudes of the Israeli Government. As this speech had been broadcast to the world and subject to much media discussion it is hard to believe that the former-PMs were unaware of it when they published their statement.

I draw your attention to an article published by the Jewish News of Northern California that discusses the mind set inherent in the Israeli Government whose actions the former-PMs in whom they trust will humanely avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. The article written by Joshua Krug discusses the effects of conflating religion with politics and how the moral confusion arising from this will, in the end hurt Israel.

With regard to PM Netanyahu’s use of biblical examples in his speech Mr. Krug wrote:

“His linguistic choice is cynical, manipulative and dangerous in a time of war when many people worldwide are listening to his words and — wrongly, to be clear — now adding this data point to their ammunition in allegations that Israel is committing genocide.

Stripping Prime Minister Netanyahu of his religious pretentions Mr. Krug continued:

“Netanyahu is a political authority, not a religious leader. Managing hostilities in an ongoing war does not necessitate giving a D’var Torah. Furthermore, public argumentation by Israeli leaders referring to biblical sources has the potential to be misunderstood by secular media outlets and audiences. The stakes for proper word choice are high.”

I suspect that the former-PMs of Australia can be included in this audience as well.

With respect to the goals of the Israeli Government for the war in Gaza Mr. Krug made the following pertinent points concerning PM Netanyahu’s speech quoting him as saying that the goals are “…. destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and bringing the captives back home.” and “…. eradicating this evil,” and “destroying the murderous enemy and ensuring our existence in the land.”

Mr. Krug then pointed out that “Some of those goals appear at odds.” He then asked: “Do Israel’s (and America’s) leaders know what the practical outcomes of each one will be?

Following Mr. Krug I ask, and I am sure many Australians are thinking as well do Australia’s former-PMs and for that matter the current PM and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Marles understand the outcomes Mr. Krug is alluding to.

The former-PMs invoke the worthy words of the 34^th Psalm “seek peace and pursue it” but offer no practical suggestions. I am inclined to understand Mr. Keatings concerns about group think and why he refused to heed requests to add his name to the Statement.

Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) reported this as follows:

“Paul Keating has explained his decision not to back a letter on the Hamas-Israel conflict, signed by all other living former prime ministers, saying: ‘I can do better than groupthink’.

The former-PMs in their Statement “… call for sustained humanitarian access to ensure essential supplies can reach innocent Palestinians.”

The former-PMs highlight at the end of their letter their “endorsement” of the “enduring support” that the Australian government has for a “two-state solution as the basis for long-term lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinian peoples.”

This Statement made its appearance in the Australian media several days after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution advocating a humanitarian truce in Gaza. Australia’s representative abstained. The open letter does not mention this abstention.

Little is said by the former-PMs about what the Australian Government can do to alleviate the plight of the Palestinians now.  The former-PMs could have asked why Australia abstained from the recent UN GA resolution, based simply on the wording of the resolution not condemning Hamas. What takes precedence wording of resolutions or the more immediate concerns of saving lives?

In their Statement, the former-PMs should have encouraged the Australian PM to pursue a more assertive and less ambiguous role in the UN and encourage a lasting ceasefire, return of hostages and final political settlement.

It looks as though there is no way out of this impending debacle in the Middle East as long as politicians like the former-PMs in Australia’s case adhere to a narrative that is morally stilted, one that sees the suffering imposed on Palestinians but not acknowledging that Israel is also morally culpable and unable to offer a way to the final resolution of their suffering.

The Australian Labor PM, Anthony Albanese has told the Australian public that his government is working with other governments to ensure humanitarian access to the Gaza strip by establishing a safe corridor in Egypt. They are told that his Foreign Minister Penny Wong had phone calls with the Red Cross as well as the foreign ministers of Lebanon and Egypt. Assuming that the inhabitants of Gaza avail themselves of such a corridor they may very well never be able to return to their homes. Both these politicians and the former-PMs seem unaware that in suggesting this they may be lending support to possible ethnic cleansing.

Despite all of this PM Albanese’s Government’s UN representative, James Larsen after reiterating the discordant and confusing narrative concerning Hamas’s immoral actions, and Israel’s right to self-defence and the need for a two-state solution abstained from voting on a resolution put to the UN General Assembly. This resolution was sponsored by Jordan calling for an immediate and permanent humanitarian pause in the fighting. Fortunately, 120 countries, including Lebanon and Egypt voted for the non-binding resolution and it was passed. As this is a non-binding resolution it looks as though the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza will continue with, at the time of writing, according to Al Jazeera at least 10,022 dead of which 4,104 of them are children. 

The former-PMs, if they really want a humane solution to the War and the overall situation in the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, instead of offering a series of platitudes should have advocated a proper actual ceasefire, not just a vague “sustained humanitarian pause to ensure essential supplies can reach innocent Palestinians”.

It is clear, that the longer this Israeli-Hamas war continues indications are that it will get worse for Gazan civilians and Israeli soldiers as the fighting with Hamas will involve intense bombing and then house-to-house fighting. This will coincide with a Gazan population cut off from food and water and energy. The potential immorality and war criminality of this Israeli action is not mentioned by the former-PMs.

Sooner or later, something will snap and we will in the end get a cease fire anyway. The former-PMs, should have pointed out the historical context behind the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the failure of US diplomacy to bring about a two-state solution.

The former-PMs should have, in their letter advised PM Albanese to push hard for a decisive UN vote demanding a cease fire, return of hostages and a real international negotiation to expedite a two-state solution. This negotiation to be truly international must not be left to the US and Europe but be done under the auspices of the UN bringing together the Arab World, Russia, China and the BRICS and the Global South.

A diplomatic off-ramp that could have been suggested by the former-PMs is provide by UN Resolution 377 (V): Uniting for Peace. This resolution “…. states that where the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the General Assembly shall seize itself of the matter.”

Adam Bandt, one of the few politicians in the Federal Parliament of Australia with the courage to point out, in a post on X the moral dissonance in the narrative pushed by many of Australia’s politicians writing:

As Israel & its military attempt to act with complete impunity, our gov doesn’t even have the courage to tell them to ‘stop’. Last night, Australia abstained from a vote at the UN General Assembly for a humanitarian truce…. As Israel & its military attempt to act with complete impunity, our gov doesn’t even have the courage to tell them to ‘stop’…. How many more thousands of people must be killed for Labor to join the call for a ceasefire?”

On November 6, 2023, The Daily Mail Australia published an article entitled Scott Morrison reveals why he has suddenly popped up in Israel with another famous political figure. One of the former-PMs who signed the Statement, Scott Morrison visited, alongside former UK PM Boris Johnson Israel.

Sarah Liversidge who wrote this article reported that “…. former prime minister said he was grateful to be joined by his UK counterpart in a 'demonstration of solidarity' and revealed the real reason why he decided to make the sudden trip overseas.”

Ms. Liversidge quotes Mr. Morrison as saying: “I'm here because I believe I should be here,”.

Ms. Liversidge continued her report by relating to her readers of Mr. Morrison’s visit to “…. kibbutz Kfar Aza, where militants killed 57 Israelis and kidnapped 17 people.”

She quotes the former-PM as saying:

“You can't help but be overwhelmed by the sense of that where we're standing was once, a month ago, a place of innocence and now has been desecrated beyond comprehension,”

There is no reference in Ms. Liversidge’s article to Mr. Morrison lamenting the loss of life and limb of the innocent children, woman and elderly in Gaza being subject, as I write to of the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by the Israel I military.

According to Ms. Liversidge:

“Mr Morrison said he backs Israel's refusal of a humanitarian ceasefire in an address to the media while sporting a bulletproof vest.”

Ms. Liversidge ends her article quoting a sentence Mr. Morrison wrote in an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper:

“I know I no longer speak for Australia and nor do I pretend to,”

This pretty much sums up the moral dissonance inherent in the Statement by Former Prime Ministers of Australia.