Statement - Welcoming Australia’s Announced Recognition of the State of Palestine
Official Statement
Welcoming Australia’s Announced Recognition of the State of Palestine
The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific welcomes the principled decision announced by the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, for Australia to formally recognize the State of Palestine this coming September.
At this critical moment when the fundamental human rights and continued existence of the Palestinian people in their homeland are under systematic attack, it must be understood that recognition of the State of Palestine is not only a moral imperative – it is a necessary foundation for a future defined by freedom, sovereignty, human dignity, and a just and lasting peace in the region.
Australia’s recognition of the State of Palestine marks a significant and historic step towards achieving justice, peace, and the long-overdue realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and sovereign, independent statehood.
This decision affirms Australia’s commitment to international law, the international rules-based order, and to a political resolution in accordance with the two-state solution and relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.
It also marks an important and meaningful first step by Australia towards confronting the ongoing systematic Israeli crimes of mass killing, forced displacement, weaponised starvation, colonial settlement expansion, and annexation being committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The General Delegation of Palestine underscores that, while it is a vital starting point, recognition alone will do nothing to change or alleviate the unbearable human suffering of our people on the ground in Gaza unless accompanied by concrete actions to protect Palestinian civilians and human dignity, and to ensure the full and equal application of international law.
The Australian government is urged in this context to impose comprehensive, government-wide sanctions on Israel, in accordance with the rulings of international justice mechanisms – including the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the ICJ – to compel this extremist far-right Israeli government to immediately halt its genocidal assault against the Palestinian people, its use of starvation as a weapon of war, and its recently-confirmed plans to illegally take over the Gaza Strip.