CANBERRA / PNN/ 

Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe has called on the Australian Government to recognize the sovereignty of the State of Palestine over the lands illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 and to call for the Israeli government to end the illegal occupation.

“This government must recognize sovereignty abroad and at home, recognize the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over all the land taken since 1967 and must call for the Israeli government to end the illegal occupation,” said Thorpe in a speech before the Australian Senate.

Senator Thorpe also welcomed the Australian government changing its language this week to recognize the occupation of the State of Palestine as illegal under international law, and called on the government “to continue on this path to truth.”

She condemned “the violent occupation of Palestine, the brutality of the colonial power that is Israel and their state-sanctioned murder of the Palestinians.”

“In 2022,” said the Australian Senator, “Israeli forces murdered more than 170 Palestinians, including 53 children. Since the start of 2023, 160 lives have been taken, including 35 children. Three of these murders happened only 4 days ago.”

She continued, “We know how it feels to be on the end of a slow pervasive violence that claims more and more lives as time goes on, with no one blinking an eye. We know about apartheid, and we know about being occupied by a power incapable of recognizing the truth.”

“Almost 140 nations including the Vatican have recognized Palestine as a state, but not Australia. Unsurprisingly, colonial powers are brothers in blood and have a common problem with recognizing sovereignty both at home and abroad.”