On October 7 the Australian Greens mourn those killed on this day two years ago and the hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed since. The Greens continue to call for peace and to end the cycle of violence that both predates and has intensified since October 7.
The Greens acknowledge the trauma, pain and grief that the whole community has been feeling over the past two years. On this day in particular, we extend our solidarity to the Jewish community impacted by the attacks.
The attacks on October 7, the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages were condemned by the Greens at the time and continue to be condemned today. After two years, hostages are still held by Hamas. There must be an urgent release of the hostages. These calls cannot be separated from the calls to end the ongoing genocide and occupation in Palestine.
Peace, non-violence and justice are core values for the Greens, and these values require both a condemnation of the attacks by Hamas and doing all we can to end the genocide in Palestine by the State of Israel - a genocide that is fuelled through a global collusion of countries that supply it with weapons.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza over the past two years. Unlike the brutal attacks by Hamas, the Australian Government is implicated in this genocide through its ties to the Netanyahu Government. That must end. Sanctions on the Israeli leadership and ending the two-way arms trade must happen now.
The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Criminal Court's interim ruling, the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion and numerous statements, resolutions and findings from leading human rights authorities make clear that the Australian Government must act to end the violence.
The Netanyahu Government has inflicted unjustifiable and disproportionate violence over the past two years on the people of Palestine and the surrounding countries. This must not be forgotten today.
The State of Israel's occupation of Palestine, the apartheid system in the West Bank, genocide in Gaza and attacks on neighbours are antithetical to peace. So too is hostage taking and violence against civilians.
The Australian Greens were founded on four key pillars, one of which is peace and non-violence. The Greens will apply this pillar universally as all violence is interrelated, all lives are precious and it is the only way to share this one small planet with justice
