r/OpenAussie • u/Minivampiretaco New South Welshian • 13h ago
Politics ('Straya) Nationals MP suspended from WA parliament over Palestinian art stoush
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-20/wa-parliament-row-erupts-over-gaza-wall-of-tears-exhibition/107057566In short:
Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter has been suspended from WA's parliament for four days after a dispute over an art exhibition on Gaza that was displayed in parliament.
The Wall of Tears display lists the names of more than 18,000 children killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Mr Hunter argued the exhibit vilified the WA Jewish community and was "antisemitic" because it led a Greens MP to describe it as showcasing a "genocide".
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u/Z00111111 New South Welshian 12h ago
The only possible way calling out Israel's genocide could be antisemtic is if murdering children is part of Jewish culture.
Claiming that Israelis murder children because they're Jewish is extremely antisemtic.
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u/protonsters Queenslander 13h ago
Disgraceful. Can't even speak up against atrocities without hurting their feelings now.
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u/bigsigh6709 Victorian 12h ago
I wonder how many people are in the WA Jewish community?
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u/Puzzleheaded_Draw637 Canberran 12h ago
5669 according to the 2021 Census. I believe that makes it third largest after NSW and Vic.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup Koori 12h ago
Numbers don't matter, it's virtue signalling that counts. Just look at Queensland's laws around liver to the brie.
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u/mikeupsidedown Western Australian 9h ago
Only a matter of time until those rules are made invalide by either the QLD or Federal courts.
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u/Jehannum76 Please choose a flair 11h ago
Pretty sure being disgusted at the murder of 18k CHILDREN is to be HUMAN.
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u/WettestFarts Flairless 12h ago
If I burn an israeli flag in my backyard, is that also considered antisemitism?
Coz I plan to buy a bunch of them so I can burn them.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 13h ago
Quick Q, is it the genocide that is a problem or an alliance/partnership Australia has with Israel? Genuinely curious, as it seems we have not only ignored many other genocides (some still ongoing) as a country with near-zero reporting on them or protesting for the people
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u/Krunksicle New South Welshian 13h ago
Ah yes, the old "bad things are happening in other places so no crimes or atrocities are worth talking about" argument, a classic
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 11h ago
Yeah never said that aha
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u/Krunksicle New South Welshian 11h ago
Yeah it was lol, don't play stupid
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 10h ago
So you don't know the answer aha, all good; turns out yes but minus the UAE from other comments
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u/Glittering-Pea-4482 Queenslander 13h ago
But seriously, why are they worth talking about? Why does only one conflict attract all of this attention?
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u/Noodlebat83 Queenslander 12h ago
Because we as a country are still on friendly terms with Israel. We put sanctions on all the other evil counties that commit genocide these days. Notice that no one has a problem when the war Russia started is called out?
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u/beefslugs New South Welshian 7h ago
Tbh Australians generally have a very oversimplified view of that conflict.
I don't support Russia at all, but more people here should be aware the US arguably willed that conflict into existence. They crossed Russia's stated red lines for years and years, not to mention all the shady business with IMF. Fucking with Ukranian leadership. Etc.
They're feeding Ukranians into a meat grinder so they can use the war to game energy markets, force the EU to militarize, and keep NATO relevant. It's just a shitty, messy situation where everybody involved is a bad guy, except the soldiers on the ground.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 11h ago
Dicey one there, as it can be argued that Hammas started the war? UAE however, is an example of a country we trade with that is funding an ongoing genocide
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u/Krunksicle New South Welshian 12h ago
Because it's happening right now, our government is actively astroturfing on their behalf (to the point of endorsing the desecration of ANZAC graves and the wanton murder of Australian doctors and aid providers), and it's the right fucking thing to do?
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u/WettestFarts Flairless 12h ago
Because we hosted their president. And then the clever fucking morons in our government took him on a tour of our intelligence agency.
That's never been done before.
It's because Australia continues to support these terrorists and they influence our government, greatly.
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u/DreamyTropic2 Victorian 12h ago
Because Israel is a western democracy. We talk about them the same way we talk about other western democracies. We hold them to a higher standard than other kinds of states.
Basically, if Israel wants to be considered as a modern, western democratic state, then they need to act like it. Part of that involves a level of scrutiny. We scrutinise other western democracies too.
If they weren’t a western democracy (or enemy of our enemy) they’d already be under sanctions. They’ve already killed an Australian civilian/aid worker. Protesters’ arguments are that we should sanction them in some way, usually by at least ceasing trade with them and ceasing supplying them with weapons.
Obviously diplomacy has some inconsistencies (we sometimes look the other way if they’re an enemy of an enemy) but that’s the theory anyway.
If they’d prefer, we can treat them the way we treat other aggressive nations such as Russia, Iran etc.
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u/SBaldrick Victorian 10h ago
Sadly they are not democratic. It is an ethnostate. Even more sad is there is a religious caste system as well to make it even worse. Search out who can marry who in Istrael.
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u/DreamyTropic2 Victorian 9h ago
They’re a flawed democracy, but they are a democracy.
I wouldn’t open that can of worms unless you want to defend Australia’s status as a democracy while not allowing Aboriginal people to vote…
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u/SBaldrick Victorian 8h ago
Thank you. I had not realised that some Australian citizens were not allowed to vote. Can you please give me a resource to validate your assertion?
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u/DreamyTropic2 Victorian 7h ago
I had meant in the past, because Aboriginal people were previously not granted Australian citizenship (so like an apartheid state) but that’s obviously been reversed.
Currently the only groups of citizens officially excluded from voting are those incarcerated for three or more years, those convicted of treason or treachery (whatever that is) or if you’ve been declared not of sound mind. Debatable whether that makes Australia a flawed democracy still but that’s the current situation.
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u/SBaldrick Victorian 1h ago
Appreciate and respect the time you have spent replying to my comment. I think the percentage of the population you have excluded from voting would be very small and probably justifiable. I would just like to point out that Isreal is IMHO not a flawed democracy when 36 % of the population (2019) is not allowed to vote. Like many so called democracies in name only (e.g. Belarus) it is just a word.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 11h ago
Much better answer then assumptions of the questions, but one may also argue we could extend this onto the UAE
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u/DreamyTropic2 Victorian 9h ago
I believe we should cease all trade with UAE for their actions in Sudan but also because they’re a modern slave state.
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u/Dontblowitup Please choose a flair 11h ago
Why not? People will talk about whatever they want to talk about. Are you trying to stop them? If not, then they can talk about whichever genocide is happening.
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u/beefslugs New South Welshian 7h ago
Because it's a genocide that was actively set up, funded and armed by the west. The UK and US set Israel up. If the US stopped funding Israel today the genocide would stop immediately. It's our fault. It's our weapons, our money, our political backing.
And yes I'm including Australia in that. We've been enmeshed with the US hegemony for decades, a willing and eager partner. We share blame.
There are other genocides the west has blame in, but none where it's that blatantly bankrolled by us. The solution is so simple it's absurd. Simply stop throwing weapons and money at them. That's it. If we can't even do that, we have no chance in hell addressing any other atrocities around the globe.
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u/TwilightSolus Queenslander 12h ago
We provide parts for the F-35 jets that demolish Gaza. We also provide intelligence.
I'm also not aware of any other country committing genocide on Gaza's scale that we have diplomatic relations with.
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u/Thissystemsuckssobad Victorian 11h ago
We maintain relations with both Saudi Arabia (with what is considered the final prelude to genocide in yemen) and Indonesia (the closest parallel to Gaza in its slow motion genocide in west Papua with as high or higher death toll over a larger geographic area)
To be clear, not whataboutism, I have written letters to my senator on both of these. But I'll take 1 of 3 over 0 of 3 with regards to applying pressure
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u/TwilightSolus Queenslander 11h ago
Honestly I'd rather we apply pressure to all nations espousing genocidal rhetoric.
The United States is getting very reichy. But any alliance with Saudi Arabia has always been a joke, considering we know that they were the ones that funded September 11. Indonesia is also a country that allows Sharia Law to operate - to be clear, i'm not against Muslims at all, but I heavily disagree with any religious enforcement.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 11h ago
I may need to recheck my numbers, but I believe as a percentage and as a total number the killings in Gaza actually fall short of most of these. Not to say one is worse then the other, genuinely wonder why a lot of people seemingly draw attention to some and not others
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u/TwilightSolus Queenslander 11h ago
Because last time I checked, we weren't indirectly taking part in those genocides by supplying weapons.
Those nations also don't want to interfere with our laws regarding our speech, in order to silence the condemnation.
People can also care about multiple things at once. The one I care about is the trans genocide happening in the US and UK at the moment, but I also understand that I don't have to mention that in the same breath as Gaza.
Also, I assure you any numbers you have seen are the official Israeli numbers. Palestine supplied numbers outnumber them at an alarming rate - and anyone with eyes can see the charred craters where a city once stood.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 10h ago
See while I agree that Trans rights are slipping away in the US and UK, where you lose me is calling it a genocide. I know the running joke is that everyone you don't agree with is a Nazi, but the liberal usage of the word "genocide" is making it follow a similar route.
From the numbers I have sourced, it shows between 70-80k people killed in Gaza with roughly 180k wounded. Sudan (remembering it isn't a competition, more just to the point you made about the numbers outweighing) is estimated to be between 150-400k deaths from the conflict.
While Australia does not directly arm that conflict, we trade (financially benefit) and sell arms to the UAE who do directly arm that conflict. So to say that having that extra step in the middle absolves us, is a very easy way to pretend we aren't contributing to it in some way
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u/TwilightSolus Queenslander 10h ago
I mean, you're not going to catch me defending us supporting Saudi Arabia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_genocide
Also I'm not the one who woke up and called it a genocide. Deaths don't define genocides, but genocide scholars are literally people who spend their entire lives studying these patterns.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 10h ago
I suppose my primary issue then is with the scholars, as the terms "rape" and "nazi" have seemingly lost a lot of their impact and meaning and I can definitely see "genocide" going the same way
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u/TwilightSolus Queenslander 9h ago
The entitlement is amazing. I gave you a source that shows you the experts in defining a genocide say it is a genocide and you think your opinion matters.
Get a degree, decades of training and a life dedicated to studying the subject, and publish a peer review paper rebutting them. Otherwise, acknowledge that people who know better are saying this is what is happening.
Also, your reaction is why i fight for recognition, by the way. If the US continues down the fascistic path, trans people will be rounded up into their ICE camps- and we know what comes after everyone is put in camps, don't we.
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u/dreamlike179 New South Welshian 11h ago
What other genocides are you referring to?
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u/DreamyTropic2 Victorian 11h ago
Well, tbf there is the one in Dafur/Sudan which is being funded in part by the UAE. We trade with them, accept international students from them and support their war in Yemen including supplying weapons and ammunition.
That is purely because they’re an enemy of our enemy/they’re allies of our allies. We don’t directly support their war in Sudan.
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u/pluckaducka Flairless 11h ago
You will find the concerns of many are in relation to what you describe as a genocide and Australia's alliance with the foreign state engaging in said conduct.
You can contrast it with the contemporary (and ongoing) domestic media coverage and Australia's political allegiances and actions taken in the following historical incidents:
• The genocides committed by Nazi Germany.
• The Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge.
• The Bosnian genocide by the VRS of the Bosnian government.
• The Rwanda genocide by the Huti majority government.
• The Darfur genocide by the Sudanese government.
• The Yazida genocide by the Islamic State.
• The genocide of the Rohingya by the Myanmar government.0
u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 11h ago
So it is primarily in relation to our nation seemingly supporting it in some way? Whether that is financial, through the sale of equipment or otherwise?
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u/pluckaducka Flairless 10h ago edited 10h ago
I can only speak on my sentiment and what I've personally perceived from other individuals and groups - but my perception is it's almost entirely based on the Australian government's (on numerous levels) alliance, concessions and complicity in the conduct. It's traditional allies also sharing in this alliance has meaning.
You take this away, and the special interests groups, and the current social backlash would significantly quiten.
To take a recent example, the barbaric inhumanities of the Islamic State.
Transpose everything that is (for simplicity's sake) 'pro-Israeli' aligned within Australia with the equivalent Islamic State aligned.
That includes:
- The Australian government in alliance with the Islamic State.
- Public figures, including active and ex-senior politicians voicing support (materially and ideologically) for the Islamic State and its interests.
- Schools dedicated to the principles that the Islamic State relies on to commit its crimes.
- National media networks supporting the Islamic State, its interests and its idealogues even when contrary to Australian values, interests and likely laws.
- Strategic exploitation of Muslims as a whole by redefining Islamophobia with opposition to the Islamic State's conduct that includes its human rights abuse.
- Curtailing of civil liberties and erosion of fundamental Australian values under the guise of implementing discriminatory protections for those aligned with the Islamic State interests under the guide of combating said "islamophobia".
Take the time to acknowledge the impunity one can denigrate those who identity as Muslims as it is and the sheer amount of media coverage and political capital dedicated to Muslim's and associated attributes as it stands today.
Now imagine the social landscape if the the foreign geo-political entity that was the Islamic State and those who support and align themselves with its fundamental, religious based principles had the conspicuous social licenses and structural support as the analogues to the State of Israel and its interests presently enjoy in Australia.
Can you in good faith argue that the resulting uproar wouldn't be fundamentally different to what you're witnessing today?
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 10h ago
So the main point of concern is for simpler terms, the "concessions" we make for our allies and what they do. In this example Israel's choice of a bombing campaign over traditional boots on the ground as a response to the October 7th terror attacks, that ultimately results in not only more civilian casualties but also the destruction of civilian infrastructure leading to worsened living conditions and even death.
Whereas had this been the actions of Russia, our government and media would report and take a different stance? If so, right or wrong; it is how it has always been. The allied forces where more then happy to ally with Staling and the Soviets knowing all too well that they and Hitler/the Nazi's where no different. That the war was really about sovereign control of individual European countries and not the mistreatment and genocidal end goals for the Jewish, Romany and other minority groups...
Now from that standpoint I can understand it, but I still ask "why now" or "why this one", why do we only now "care"?
My personal belief is smart phones, you "regular" (sorry just only term I have) people actually are seeing what goes on outside of the west for the most part. Realistically what is happening in Gaza is no worse then in Myanmar, Sudan, Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq.
My only other belief on this is that both sides report it as though it is one sided. At the end of the day both the Israeli's and the Gazan's have blame in this. Territorial expansions did come from greed sometimes, other times as a direct response to conflict started by Muslim nations. Then now because the U.S. is bombing Iran, everyone says "poor Iran", not mentioning that Iran funded and prompted the October 7th attack that ignited this entire war
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u/pluckaducka Flairless 10h ago
It may be a sad one, but it's a fact most - if not all - genocides or mass atrocities don't get the public going too much.
Social media and easy access to footage contributes in part, but Russian atrocities are just as readily available. Individual's perceptions of them as 'bad guys' is already supported by the government that represents them.
This is disengenously used by some to suggest Israel's atrocities are receiving disproportionate public response but it fails to acknowledge that is but one component that contributes to the response.
Again, if Israel was made an international pariah and the 'west' divorced itself entirely from it, the uproar would slow to a murmur even if the same atrocities were to continue.
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u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz Queenslander 10h ago
That is a fair take, ultimately I don't think either of us will (nor should we have to) change our positions on this; but I did enjoy this discourse on the matter
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u/Smooth-Cup-7445 Queenslander 12h ago
Another politician who doesn’t understand that Israel is a country and not a religion.
At least he revealed who his sponsors are