Key Points
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton was criticised for suggesting pro-Palestinian protesters should be deported.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also called out for saying Israel had a "right to protect itself".
- ASIO raised concerns about pro-Palestinian protests accross the country.
Religious representatives have condemned the response to violence in Israel and Gaza by Australia's political leaders, accusing them of stirring up hate against the local Muslim community.
In a statement, the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his affirmation of Israel's bombing campaign on the Gaza strip.
"We stand by Israel and its right to protect itself," the prime minister previously told ABC radio.
The network said through his comments Albanese had sided with the occupying power and showed no support for Palestinians.
"Hundreds of Palestinian civilians also lost their lives," they said.
"(He has) denied many grieving communities public empathy or support".
It also called out Opposition leader Peter Dutton after he said the government should support Israeli retaliation without restraint, saying his stance was extreme and "outside the bounds of international norms and the rule of law".
"It also devalues Palestinian lives, putting them and anyone that is associated with them in danger in Palestine and Australia," the group wrote.
Dutton had called for non-citizens who preached antisemitic speech at the pro-Palestinian protests to be deported.
"People with that hate in their minds in their hearts - they don't have any place in our society," he told radio 2GB.
Such responses had sparked hate incidents against the Australian Muslim community and had detrimental effects for members' health, wellbeing and safety, AMAN wrote.
More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed and more than 2,700 wounded in a continuation of a 75-year-long conflict after militant group Hamas breached the fence enclosing Gaza on Saturday.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed according to Gaza's health ministry and more than 5,000 were wounded in retaliatory air strikes on Gaza.
The significant escalation is the latest boiling point in a long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas' stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
Among those killed in Israel was Australian grandmother Galit Carbone, 66, who died at the hands of the Hamas militants who attacked her village near the Gaza border.
With an estimated 10,000 Australians resident in Israel and even more there as tourists, repatriation flights will start bringing the stranded home from Tel Aviv on Friday.
But the Muslim community said this would not help Australians stuck in Gaza after the closure of border crossings and ongoing Israeli airstrikes made it effectively impossible to travel to Tel Aviv.
"The planned repatriation should include real support to those that are stranded in Gaza and the West Bank," Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Rateb Jneid said.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess said the national terrorism threat level remained "possible" but raised concerns about pro-Palestine protests set to go ahead in Australian cities,
"I remain concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning," he said on Thursday.
Burgess said ASIO was well positioned to detect threats to security such as politically motivated violence and would carefully monitor the situation.
