The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) condemns the outrageous display of double standards and racism in the Australian Government’s latest sanctions on Iran.

In the midst of Israel’s continued genocidal assault on Gaza – where just yesterday, Israel bombed and incinerated refugees in their tents outside a hospital in Deir el-Balah, and following reports that it is committing a ‘genocide within a genocide’ in northern Gaza – Australia responds by imposing sanctions on Iran, while ignoring Israel’s unrelenting war crimes.

This blatant double standard is sickening. Israel’s year-long genocide and siege of Gaza, marked by systematic bombings and collective punishment of Palestinians, mass starvation, and the destruction of vital infrastructure, has killed what is conservatively estimated to be 186,000 people.

Yet the Australian Government has refused to sanction a single Israeli entity or individual responsible for these atrocities.

This lack of serious and useful Australian action against Israel, while it commits the very gravest of war crimes and its own series of “reckless and destabilising actions” in Lebanon and Syria, demonstrates that the Australian Government will go to any length to shield Israel from accountability, even at the cost of millions of Palestinian lives.

This move continues to make a mockery of Australia’s so-called commitment to human rights and international law. It perpetuates the impunity Israel enjoys, encouraging more bloodshed and deepening the suffering of Palestinians.

And it sends a message to every person of Palestinian, Lebanese or Arab ancestry on this continent that their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, are considered expendable.

APAN and people of good conscience across this continent demand immediate sanctions on Israel for its genocide in Gaza and its illegal occupation and apartheid across Palestine.

We also demand an end to the racist double standards that have allowed Israel’s decades of war crimes and international law violations to continue unchecked.

Comments attributed to APAN President Nasser Mashni:

“While Israel burns Palestinian refugees alive in their tents, the Australian Government remains silent on the genocide and instead sanctions Iran. This isn’t just about double standards – it’s about protecting Israel at the cost of Palestinian lives. Australia’s complicity in Israel’s crimes must end.

“Australia’s refusal to impose sanctions on Israel, while it systematically exterminates Palestinians, continues to make a mockery of Australia’s so-called commitment to human rights. Their inaction sends a clear message: they believe that Palestinian lives don’t matter.

“The numbers don’t lie: over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with other estimates putting that number at 186,000, yet Australia has not sanctioned a single Israeli official or entity for these grave atrocity crimes.

“If the Australian Government truly cared about human rights, it would have sanctioned Israel a long time ago. This is complicity in genocide, plain and simple.”