‘Our actions must align with our principles’: Australia Senator quits ruling party over Palestine
Australian Senator, Fatima Payman, Thursday quit the ruling Labour Party, calling on the government to match its words with actions, Anadolu Agency reports.
“Our actions must align with our principles,” said Payman, who was suspended by Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, from parliamentary work after she supported a movement to recognise Palestine as an independent State.
The Opposition Greens Party had moved the movement last month, the second since May. Both were voted down.
“When history looks back, it must be seen that we stood on the side of humanity, even when it was difficult,” she said in a statement.
Some 145 nations recognise Palestine as an independent State, with several European nations joining the growing number of UN member states amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
Payman said she had lost “all contact with her caucus colleagues”.
Stressing that she does not believe her principles “align with those of the leadership of the Labour Party”, Payman added: “I announce my resignation from the Australian Labour Party.”
‘Intimidation by Labour party’
Payman will now sit as an independent, requiring the government to secure an extra vote in the Senate to pass legislation if it is not backed by the opposition.
“The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. It is a crisis that pierces the heart and soul, calling us to action with a sense of urgency and moral clarity,” she said, and noted: “Witnessing our government’s indifference to the greatest injustice of our times makes me question the direction the Party is taking.”
But Payman also revealed that the Labour Party was pressing her to “conform to caucus solidarity and toeing the line”.
“I see no middle ground and my consensus leaves me no choice,” she added.
Payman told ABC News that she experienced “intimidation … on many fronts”.
On broadside at Albanese over summoning her to his residence last Sunday, Payman said: “I purely remember being given the option of you either staying and you toe the party line, or you giving up the position because you don’t believe in caucus solidarity.”
Albanese has said he “had not” been intimidating towards Payman.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.
Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.
Source: Middle East Monitor
