Greens for Palestine preselection candidate survey for Palestine Working Group decided to ask preselection candidates for the NSW Legislative Council to specifically address the following issues: ● The Two State/One State dilemma ● Refugees and the Right of Return ● Status of Jerusalem ● The most effective way to bring to the negotiating table with a view to achieving a just peace, i.e. BDS or some other inducement ● Ensuring continued funding of UNRWA and its operations ● Israel is increasingly being charged with committing Apartheid by both Israeli and international commentators. Is Israel an Apartheid state? How do you, and how should the Greens respond? At the initial deadline, no candidates had responded, but with a short extension we have received three responses, and they are included below. They are detailed to varying degrees and all make good reading, so please study them if you have time and haven't already voted. If other candidates respond, we will endeavour to circulate them. Abigail Boyd It’s 70 years of the Nakba, there’s been inquiry after inquiry and condemnation after condemnation from the UN, and the situation is getting worse. Over the last month the government has killed dozens of people, including a journalist wearing a press jacket, and injured a further 800. The Israeli government is firing live ammunition at protesters for getting too close to an Apartheid wall, and we hear nothing from our major parties. Our government isn’t going to do anything about the injustices being visited on Palestinians, so we need to mobilise. The Greens have a responsibility to bring the issue to national attention and agitate for justice. The two-state solution has been on the table for so long and there’s been no respect for peace processes working towards that from the Israeli government. I don’t know if we can focus on that as a viable solution anymore. Too much Palestinian land has been cannibalised during the process of expanding the occupation via the settlement movement. The US’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is of huge concern and makes the prospect of peace look even further away. Palestinian self-determination is fundamental in the peace process, and ultimately it isn’t for me to say how to bring about a just and lasting peace. What isn’t at issue is the fact that all refugees have the right to return to their homes, including Palestinian refugees. The existence of the wall blockading the West Bank, checkpoints that are used to detain or allow people to move freely based on their ethnicity, fierce government support for and militarised defence of illegal settlements, and the discriminatory use of military courts to suppress protest are compelling evidence that the Israeli government is committing apartheid. A prime example of apartheid in Israel is the case of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi. After 4 months of being held on remand in a military prison, she was forced to accept a plea agreement with an 8 month jail sentence for slapping a soldier. In the courtroom where her mother was also being tried, a supporter of the Tamimi family, an Israeli-Jewish woman in her 40s, slapped a military prosecutor. The following day, a Jerusalem Magistrates Court rejected a police request that the woman be held on remand, and she was released. The Greens should respond to the injustices being perpetrated against Palestinians by taking action in and outside parliament and using our resources to help build capacity for effective protest movements. I support the principle of non-violent direct action to pressure other countries to change their behaviour. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, led by Palestinian civil society, is a credible option for pressuring the Israeli government to come to the table. We know that boycotts work, that divestment works, that sanctions work. They’ve worked against massive multinationals, they worked against Apartheid South Africa, they would probably work against Australia to stop our inhumane treatment of refugees and institutionalised discrimination against and oppression of First Nations peoples. We all know that there are war crimes and ethnic cleansing happening in occupied Palestine. Supporting and joining a non-violent, civil society-led campaign that simply demands basic human rights and dignity for people whose land is being stolen and colonised is entirely, unquestionably consistent with our 4 pillars. If we are truly to be a party of solidarity, peace and non-violence, we should fearlessly and boldly act on our principles. Fiona Byrne Thanks to the Greens 4 Palestine group for their query. I am wholly committed to the self-determination of the Palestinian people and support their right to return as well as their right to resist the illegal occupation by Israel through non-violent direct action. I support the call for adoption of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions globally against Israel until they comply with international law. It is clear that Israel is an apartheid state and adoption of BDS is supported by historical success of such measures in South Africa. I support the right of Palestinians to determine and negotiate the most appropriate solution whether One State or two State. I personally believe that the continued growth of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory has made the Two State solution unworkable. The push to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel is an aggressive and divisive political move and should be condemned internationally. I acknowledge the bravery of many Israelis who risk breaking the law themselves to oppose their government's treatment of Palestinians. The Greens must continue to support the work of citizens, communities, human rights activists and international humanitarian organisations who work tirelessly to shine a light on the human rights violations being perpetrated every day by the Israeli government, including ensuring international aid and funding continues to those agencies. I hope this answers most of your questions. Apologies that it's a bit rushed but I hope that my actions continue to demonstrate better than my words my commitment to maintaining Greens support for justice for the people of Palestine David Shoebridge Thank you for asking these important questions. My answers are as follows:

The Two State/One State dilemma Greens policy on Palestine/Israel is a two state solution based on safe and secure UN mandated borders of 1967, with both states sharing Jerusalem as the capital. The reality on the ground is that a two state solution is being destroyed by Israeli expansion and illegal settlements. If illegal settlements are able to be removed and the 1967 borders able to be respected then this could form the basis of a more just peace. However the likelihood of achieving this is fast diminishing to almost zero. I believe there is scope to explore a policy that is more in line with our values of democracy and equality and that address the core issues of the situation. There are brave Israeli journalists, human rights advocates and citizens who also recognise that the endless march of illegal settlements is destroying the chance for a stable or just two state solution. We must work across borders, and across politics wherever possible, to develop a workable roadmap for peace for both Israelis and Palestinians that takes into account how much continuing damage expanded illegal settlements are doing to the chance of a viable two-state solution.

Refugees and the Right of Return The Palestinian right of return was recognised in 1948 by the UN, and this right clearly outlines that is the right of Palestinians who were forcibly expelled from their homes and lands and their descendants. The recognition of this right - a core demand of Palestinians everywhere - is crucial to achieving justice for all Palestinians.

Status of Jerusalem I believe the status of Jerusalem needs to be resolved alongside the issue of statehood, taking into consideration the importance of the city for the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths. The rights of the inhabitants of the city also need to be recognised and upheld.

The most effective way to bring Israel to the negotiating table with a view to achieving a just peace, i.e. BDS or some other inducement As long as the human rights violations, and the daily humiliation and violence against the Palestinian people that is committed by the Israeli state, remains largely unchallenged by global powers there can be little chance of peace. History has shown that where nations fail, people can make a difference. The pressure of boycott helped to bring a peaceful end to apartheid in South Africa and that is a lesson of history that we must learn from. I am a strong believer in the ability of peaceful and non-violent actions to achieve justice. Civil society across the globe can and should place economic, cultural and diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian land. The strong student movement that is supporting the push to ban all military co-operation and military trade with Israel is an excellent example of this movement in practice. Ensuring continued funding of UNRWA and its operations I’ve visited UNRWA and seen it’s excellent work in practice. UNRWA is a crucial source of infrastructure and human rights oversight for Palestinian refugees living in difficult conditions in neighbouring countries. It provides education facilities, health facilities and employment for many thousands of Palestinian refugees. The UN and the international community was responsible for the situation that resulted in thousands of Palestinians being expelled from their homes and it is the international community that should shoulder the burden of providing basic infrastructure to Palestinian refugees. It should also be recognised that UNRWA is meant to be a temporary measure and not one that should replace a just solution. Until Palestinians are granted their full rights under international and human rights law, the Greens need to pressure our government to lobby in support of continuing the funding of UNRWA and its operations.

Israel is increasingly being charged with committing Apartheid by both Israeli and international commentators. Is Israel an Apartheid state? How do you, and how should the Greens respond? Apartheid is a system of state-sanctioned policies and practices that segregates, discriminates and oppresses a minority, or minorities, based on race or perceived race. There are international commentators, as well as courageous Israeli commentators, that have made that charge against Israel and it is made with the full knowledge of the laws and practices of the state. Palestinians living in the occupied west bank are under a different, harsher and less just, rule of law to Israeli settlers living in the same area. Military courts continue to deliver summary injustice to Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank while Israeli settlers are guaranteed full legal rights in a civil legal structure. That is an appalling discriminatory system and, worse still, it is state-sanctioned discrimination. It is not just a question of discrimination in the occupied West Bank, according to the human rights NGO Adalah there are over 65 laws that either directly or indirectly discriminate against Palestinians who are citizens of Israel or living under Israeli rule in the territories occupied in 1967. The Greens must recognise the full extent of the human rights violations committed by Israel and that should inform our campaign for social justice for the Palestinians. Thank you again for seeking candidates’ views.