Political sparring mars anniversary of October 7 terror attack as Greens accuse Israel of war crimes

Emotions ran high as the nation’s Jewish community and supporters marked the first anniversary of the devastating October 7 terrorist attack on Israel against a backdrop of rising anti-Semitism and a political slanging match over support for either side of the conflict.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a commemoration in Melbourne on Monday evening while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attended a similar event in Sydney.

But the Greens used the anniversary of the Hamas attack, in which 1200 Jewish people were slaughtered and 250 hostages seized, to blame Israel for war crimes and genocide.

In a statement only attributed to the Australian Greens rather than any MPs, the left-wing party called for a complete cessation of Israel’s military activities while also labelling the October 7 attacks as “truly horrific”.

“The very same commitment to compassion, honesty, peace and justice required of us in response to those attacks of Hamas requires us as Greens to call out the war crimes and genocide that is being carried out by the State of Israel right now in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories and the bombing and invasion of Lebanon,” the statement read.

The statement refers to the “extremist Netanyahu government” and ends with calls for the Albanese Government to sanction Israel.

“We must never forget that in war it is always civilians who pay the highest price and peace must always be the goal,” the Greens said.

It comes as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the rise in anti-Semitism since the October 7 terror attack has been “truly shocking”.

The cabinet minister, who is the most senior Jewish MP in the Federal Government, has also condemned the “very ugly” weaponisation of the conflict in the Middle East for political gain on both sides of politics.

His sentiments are echoed by Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who said Sunday’s pro-Palestinian protests showed that even where laws were enacted in an attempt to wipe out hate speech, people found ways to skirt them.

Mr Dreyfus broke his near-silence on the Middle East conflict with an opinion piece published in The Guardian on Monday, saying despite everything, he still had hope for Australia and its Jewish community.

But, he wrote, something had changed over the past year.

“The rise in anti-Semitism in Australia after the Hamas attack has been truly shocking. Equally shocking has been the reluctance of some on the left to call out Hamas’ behaviour for what it is — an attempt to kill as many Jews as possible and inflict harm every day since,” he said.

“The failure of many, including the opposition, to show empathy and compassion to people fleeing Gaza has also been inexplicable.

“The weaponisation of prejudice and hate for political gain is always ugly, and the last 12 months have been very ugly.”

Mr Leeser said Monday’s anniversary of the Hamas attack would be a highly emotional day, and urged the whole Australian community to reflect on the response here as well as the conflict in the Middle East.

“Today is a very particular day for grief about the events of the seventh of October, and it’s about also reflecting on the country that we are given the anti-Semitism that we’ve seen this country over the last year,” he said.

“What we’re seeing in this country is anti-Semitism unanswered by too many people in positions of leadership who’ve turned a blind eye to it.

“Where politicians have been equivocal, where police have failed to arrest and prosecute people, where there’s support for the actions of Hamas on campuses that we’ve seen around the place. We need leaders to set and enforce norms of behaviour.”

The Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah on Monday praised Australian protesters who turned out at pro-Palestine and pro-Lebanon rallies on the weekend.

Ed Husic, the first Muslim MP to be in cabinet, said that the weight of pain and grief people bore from the October 7 attacks should be acknowledged every day, and urged people to work together for peace.

“We feel deeply for all those who lost loved ones in the terror attacks, and for others waiting to be reunited with those held hostage, innocent people who must be released… Together we mourn the tragic loss of all innocent life on that day and in the days since,” he said.

His colleague Anne Aly posted a poetic call for peace, saying war was “neither a defeat nor a victory”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a commemoration in Melbourne on Monday evening.

Mr Albanese had earlier released a message marking the anniversary, saying Jewish Australians had felt “the cold shadows of anti-Semitism” over the past 12 months and the nation must reject “all prejudice and hatred”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has been highly critical of the Government’s position on Israel, said the October 7 attack and Israel’s response in Gaza and now Lebanon “awoke and exposed an anti-Semitic rot afflicting Western democracies”.

Mr Dutton told a Jewish community vigil in Vaucluse the millions of Australians who knew right from wrong needed to stand up in the face of anti-Semitism.

“We would not tolerate such racism and discrimination toward any other section of society. Why are we being told it is acceptable against Jewish Australians?” he said.

“And I say to my fellow Australians now is the time to take an interest in this issue and now is a time to stand against anti-Semitism.”

He pledged to the Jewish community that the Coalition would always be “friends at your side”.

Senior WA Liberal Michaelia Cash attended a pro-Israel rally in Canberra in the afternoon, saying she wanted to pay respect to Jewish people across the world.

“We also stand here outside Parliament House in Canberra with like-minded friends to say we stand with Israel and with Jewish people and in particular to reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself,” she told The West.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon also made a surprise appearance at the event, ahead of hosting a commemoration at the embassy in the evening.

He told rally organiser Reverend Mark Leach and the handful of Coalition politicians who attended, “It’s good to know we still have friends.”

To media, Mr Maimon said that in days of grief, the Jewish community came together “because our strength is in our unity”.

“It is sad for me, for me as an ambassador, as an Israeli, as a Jew and as a human being. It is sad,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles, Trade Minister Don Farrell, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten and a host of shadow ministers — including Michaelia Cash and Andrew Hastie — were among the attendees at a October 7 commemoration ceremony at the Israel Embassy in Canberra.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon said Hamas’ October 7 was not just a terrorist attack but an attempt to “erase us”.

“This is not just another conflict - this is a battle between good and evil,” he said.

Mr Maimon said Israel would achieve its military objectives and bring home the 101 hostages who remain in Gaza.

“Israel will not and cannot allow this war to end with us in the same place we were on October 6.”

The attendees were shown a video that pieced together harrowing footage and still images from the October 7 slaughter with uplifting scenes of defiant Israeli banding together in the aftermath.

Labor’s Josh Burns, who is Jewish, said his community was entitled to mark the loss of life on October 7.

“Today, the Jewish community needs a bit of space. It needs time to reflect and to mourn and to mark the loss of life of family, of friends, of innocent people.

“I don’t think grief is a competition. I think it’s something where, as Australians, we have to hold space for each other and we have to seek empathy for each other, because if we don’t do that for each other, and if we don’t hold compassion and space for one another, how on earth can we expect people in the region to?”

Independent senator Fatima Payman, who quit Labor over differences in approach to the conflict in Gaza, said the anniversary of an attack should serve as a power reminder of the need to “renew our commitment to standing for justice and upholding human rights for all”, also labelling the conflict a genocide.

“As an Australian, as a Muslim, and as a humanitarian, the bloodshed of any human being is against the core principles of my identity,” she wrote on social media.

“Nothing justifies the killing of civilians. Nothing justifies the slaughter of 20,000 children. Nothing justifies apartheid. Nothing justifies occupation.”

Meanwhile, former prime minister Tony Abbott backed an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities as he warned a “new axis of dictatorships” was threatening mankind.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond to Iran’s missile attacks on his country as he continues battles in Gaza and Lebanon aimed at routing out Hamas and the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah.

US President Joe Biden said last week he did not back an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and also said they should look at alternatives to hitting oil fields, which would push up the price of fuel around the world.

But Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ridiculed this, saying Mr Biden’s response should have been, “hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later.”

Mr Abbott said no one seriously thought Iran’s nuclear facilities were not the precursors to nuclear weapons.

“Israel has every right to deny the means of a new Holocaust to a country bent on bringing it about and the world would be much better off if the Iranian nuclear program were terminated,” he said in a statement.

Mr Abbott later appeared at a pro-Israel rally in Canberra.

Asked whether he thought Mr Biden was wrong to tell Israel not to strike nuclear targets, the former prime minister said he wasn’t in the business of commenting on other people’s views.

“But if our country was under existential threat, the Australian government would be entitled to do everything that was necessary to keep us safe. That’s certainly right for Israel,” he told The West.

“There’s no doubt that Iran is up to no good.”

Australia has condemned Iran’s strikes on Israel and called in the Iranian ambassador last week to dress him down for praising Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

DFAT confirmed on Monday that Australia’s ambassador to Iran, Ian McConville, had been called in to the Iranian Foreign Ministry but said “Australia makes no apology” for its views on Iran’s actions.