Indifference, criticism and frustration: How Palestinian-Australians feel about Labor’s move

Palestinian Australians have reacted with indifference, criticism and frustration at the federal government’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state, dismissing the gesture as “just words”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next month, adding that he believed a “two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East”.

But to educator and community organiser Ziyad Serhan the move is “insulting” to the Palestinian community.

“We need more. The community sees right through this rhetoric by the government, at the moment they see this as a continuation of their lack of action. Recognition is not going to bring about accountability.

“We want to see meaningful action. In light of the thousands that are dead and the utter destruction of Gaza, this is just insulting in how little it matters. Recognition is the easy way out here, we need maximum pressure [on Israel].”

Serhan said he felt largely “indifferent” to the government’s announcement, saying it was just “validating our right to exist”.

“I think the overwhelming majority of people, as they witness the genocide that’s taken place over the last 22 months, want action. They don’t want words and I don’t think the rage, the grief and the loss will be affected by mere recognition and the government needs to know this.”

Serhan is one of the organisers behind the Shifa Project, a community initiative that seeks to provide mental health support and resources to those affected by the war in Gaza.

One of their next events will be hosted by Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, a writer and researcher at Macquarie University, who told the Herald recognition of a Palestinian state was just “theatre”.

“Recognising a Palestinian state is mere diplomatic theatre. It’s not a breakthrough, it’s a deliberate avoidance tactic from Australia and Western states to avoid their obligations under international law,” she said.

“Palestinians urgently need states to impose sanctions, arms and trade embargoes to stop Israel committing its genocide.”

But the move has not been welcomed by all, with members of the Jewish Australian community expressing dismay at the government’s decision.

Amanda Gordon is a Sydney-based psychologist who says her community is “profoundly sad” at the decision to recognise Palestinian statehood. She said most in the community would have preferred such a move only if Hamas was no longer in control of Gaza.

Gordon said she would “have preferred the government to say we continue to support the idea of Israel being the Jewish homeland, and that there will be a Palestinian state when the Palestinian leadership can recognise the right of Israel to exist”.

“This will only be exacerbating the community’s feeling of total abandonment. People are beside themselves, there is sadness, there is some hopelessness, the sense of the worst is to come.”

Gordon said she believed the government had made the move in an attempt to address issues with social cohesion.

“There is such poor social cohesion, and the government is hoping that if they show some leadership, no matter how poorly thought out, it’s better than no leadership on this issue,” she added.

The move by the Albanese government comes after at least 90,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on August 3, protesting against Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, its targeting of journalists and its reported usage of starvation as a weapon.

Israel has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, among them mostly women and children, as well as 237 journalists, according to Gaza Health Ministry officials. The Israeli military campaign has left much of the territory in ruins, amid reports of a growing famine in the enclave due to what international aid agencies say is a deliberate plan by Israel to restrict aid.

Israel’s campaign began after the October 7 attack, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killed 1200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Amal Naser, a spokesperson for Palestine Action Group, the organisers behind the Harbour Bridge march, dismissed the government’s move to recognise a Palestinian state, saying it was not “born out of principle, but out of political heat that has come out from the mass movement, particularly the historic march over the Harbor Bridge”.

“We’ve been clear from the get-go that recognition of the Palestinian state has never been a demand of the movement. We cannot recognise a state that Israel is actively seeking to destroy.”

Naser described the measure as coming “very late” into the conflict, adding that she believed the government has so far “dismissed the Palestinian movement as a fringe movement in this country.”

“As a result, they haven’t really felt pressured to take any action against Israel,” she said.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network criticised the announcement, and listed what it believed the government should be doing, which included sanctions of Israel and Israeli individuals, arms embargoes and a suspension of trade agreements.

APAN’s president Nasser Mashni said the announcement was a “cynical political smokescreen” that was “designed to shield Australia’s economic, military and diplomatic ties, protect Israel and enable this rogue state to continue its deadly war crimes with impunity.”

In a statement, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry called the move “a betrayal and abandonment of the Israeli hostages” and that it gives the hostages “no hope for release”.

They said the Jewish community was not surprised by the announcement, but that it does not “lessen our disappointment”.

“Australia is now committed to recognising as a State an entity with no agreed borders, no single government in effective control of its territory, and no demonstrated capacity to live in peace with its neighbours.”

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