After Sweden, Australia makes move to recognise Palestine as a state

SHAH ALAM - There is a genuine concern in Australia that there are calls for its government to recognise the state of Palestine.

University of South Australia Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) director Professor Mohamad Abdalla said this was a rising movement to help the people in Palestine who were suffering from injustices under the Israeli occupation.

"The world talks about diplomacy and there are a lot of talks about ending the war in Russia and Ukraine, and that's rightfully true we should end these wars and conflicts.

“But not the same is said about the Israel-Palestine conflict, unfortunately," he said.

Mohamad said most rank-and-file members of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) were urging Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to recognise the state of Palestine.

The concern, he said was wide and they needed to recognise the state of Palestine and do more to help the situation.

Mohamad said the International Community should understand that what was happening in Palestine was not about religion as there were Muslim Palestinians and Christian Palestinians and they were fighting the same hegemony.

"They're fighting a Zionist hegemony that has occupied their country, but I think it's a lot of political interests and self-interests.

"Israel plays a strategic role for certain western nations, including the United States, Australia, Canada among others, where they continue to support it blindly.

"The international diplomacy issue has to do with strategic interests, economic interests and so forth.

"Well, it's very heartbreaking. I have family in Palestine, and it's heartbreaking to see. The aggression of the Zionist regime and the Israeli government on these Palestinians, it’s almost a common occurrence, sadly," he said.

It was recently reported that the current Australian government was seen to be moving away from the strongly pro-Israel position of its predecessor.

Following genuine concerns in the country, it may soon recognise the state of Palestine.

In October 2014, Sweden became the first European Union (EU) country to recognise Palestine as a state.

Palestinians and their supporters welcomed Sweden's decision, viewing it as a significant step towards achieving international recognition for Palestine.