Killing Aid Workers: Australia’s Muddled Policy on Israel
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was distraught and testy. It seemed that, on this occasion, Israel had gone too far. Not too far in killing over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza, a staggering percentage of them being children. Not too far in terms of using starvation as a weapon of war. Not too far in bringing attention to the International Court of Justice that its actions are potentially genocidal.
Israel had overstepped in doing something it has done previously to other nationals: kill humanitarian workers in targeted strikes. The difference for Albanese on this occasion was that one of the individuals among the seven World Central Kitchen charity workers killed during the midnight between April 1 and 2 was Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom.
Frankcom and her colleagues had unloaded humanitarian food supplies from Cyprus that had been sent via a maritime route before leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse. The convoy, despite driving in a designated “deconflicted” zone, was subsequently attacked by three missiles fired from a Hermes 450 drone. All vehicles had the WCK logo prominently displayed. WCK had been closely coordinating the movements of their personnel with the IDF.
In a press conference on April 3, Albanese described the actions as “completely unacceptable.” He noted that the Israeli government had accepted responsibility for the strikes, while Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu had conveyed his condolences to Frankcom’s family, with assurances that he would be “committed to full transparency”.
The next day, the Australian PM called the slaying of Frankcom a “catastrophic event”, reiterating Netanyahu’s promises from the previous day that he was “committed to a full and proper investigation.” Albanese also wished that these findings be made public, and that accountability be shown for Israel’s actions, including for those directly responsible. “What we know is that there have been too many innocent lives lost in Gaza.”
Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, restated the need for “full accountability and transparency” and Australian cooperation with Israel “on the detail of this investigation.” She further acknowledged the deaths of over 30,000 civilians, with some “half a million Palestinians” starving.
Beyond an investigation, mounted and therefore controlled by the Israeli forces themselves, nothing much else can be hoped for. The Albanese approach has been one of copybook warnings and concerns to an ally it clearly fears affronting. What would a ground invasion of Rafah do to the civilian population? What of the continuing hardships in Gaza? Push for a humanitarian ceasefire, but what else?
Australian anger at the government level must therefore be severely qualified. Support roles, thereby rendering Australian companies complicit in Israeli’s military efforts, and in ancillary fashion the Australian government, continue to be an important feature. The F-35, a mainstay US-made fighter for the Israeli Air Force, is not manufactured or built in Australia, but is sustained through the supply of spare parts stored in a number of allied countries. According to the Australian Department of Defence, “more than 70 Australian companies have directly shared more than $4.13 billion in global F-35 production and sustainment contracts.”
The Australian government has previously stated that all export permit decisions “must assess any relevant human rights risks and Australia’s compliance with its international obligations.” The refusal of a permit would be assured in cases where an exported product “might be used to facilitate human rights abuses.” On paper, this seems solidly reasoned and consistent with international humanitarian law. But Canberra has been a glutton for the Israeli military industry, approving 322 defence exports over the past six years. In 2022, it approved 49 export permits of a military nature bound for Israel; in the first three months of 2023, the number was 23.
The drone used in the strike that killed Frankcom is the pride and joy of Elbit Systems, which boasts a far from negligible presence in Australia. In February, Elbit Systems received a A$917 million contract from the Australian Defence Department, despite previous national security concerns among Australian military personnel regarding its Battle Management System (BMS).
When confronted with the suggestion advanced by the Australian Greens that Australia end arms sales to Israel, given the presence of Australian spare parts in weaponry used by the IDF, Wong displayed her true plumage. The Australian Greens, she sneered, were “trying to make this a partisan political issue.” With weasel-minded persistence, Wong again quibbled that “we are not exporting arms to Israel” and claiming Australian complicity in Israeli actions was “detrimental to the fabric of Australian society.”
The Australian position on supplying Israel remains much like that of the United States, with one fundamental exception. The White House, the Pentagon and the US Congress, despite increasing concerns about the arrangement, continue to bankroll and supply the Israeli war machine even as issue is taken about how that machine works. That much is admitted. The Australian line on this is even weaker.
The feeble argument made by such watery types as Foreign Minister Wong focus on matters of degree and semantics. Israel is not being furnished with weapons; they are merely being furnished with weapon components.
Aside from ending arms sales, there is precedent for Australia taking the bull by the horns and charging into the mist of legal accountability regarding the killing of civilians in war. It proved an enthusiastic participant in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), charged with combing through the events leading to the downing of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 over Ukraine in July 2014 by a Buk missile, killing all 298 on board.
Any such equivalent investigation into the IDF personnel responsible for the killing of Frankcom and her colleagues is unlikely. When the IDF talks of comprehensive reviews, we know exactly how comprehensively slanted they will be.
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14 comments
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Teiresia -
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Teiresias
Return to home pageAt first we were told not to be antisemitic. Gradually we began to be upset about the deaths of citizens. And they were justified by Hamas killings on October 7.
But the Kitchen killings were too much,
Read also about Nakba – the ‘the disaster’ of the 1948 xfirst Palestinian War in which 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled. (Wikipedia The Palestinian War)
We hardly know the truth.
‘Israeli government had accepted responsibility for the strikes’. So there, that’s it! Problem solved. The Israeli government is responsible for the murders, but no one in that government will in any way suffer. If I as a car driver do so with gay abandon and kill or injure someone, all I have to do is say ‘yes, I did this and take full responsibility’ and therefore I will not be punished for my actions. Well I reckon that I’d find myself behind bars if there is even a semblance of justice. Jesus wept!
When considering the stance of our Foreign Minister, the great Australian expression: “Weak as p**s” comes to mind. Contrast her approach with that of the head of World Central Kitchen who was not so reticent – accusing the IDF of a targeted attack.
“I am heartbroken and appalled that we — World Central Kitchen and the world — lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF,” WCK’s CEO Erin Gore said.”
[ https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-promises-probe-as-slain-aid-workers-home-countries-demand-explanation/ ]
For my own part I recall thinking a while back that if our Government had the same fortitude as that displayed by South Africa and Ireland, it would have been appropriate to sever all ties with Israel, including booting out the Israeli ambassador.
Even with the unbelievably lame responses so far, one has to ask: of whom or what is Wong and others in the Govt, afraid? Clearly in this case it’s not Dutton, he’s just not worth it, so is it the Jewish lobby? Perhaps – although as Dr. Kampmark notes it is far more likely to be a case of not affronting our ally/s.
As to the incident in which the Australian aid worker and others were killed, what has become clear is that 3 separate missiles were used – one for each vehicle.
For those who may have trouble accessing the reference above, I believe that it’s worth quoting further from the same report:
“The three vehicles were targeted over a distance of around 2 kilometers…
…According to a report by the Haaretz daily, a Hermes 450 UAV fired three missiles at the convoy in quick succession despite the vehicles being clearly marked on their roof as being part of WCK. The decision was made by a unit guarding the aid transport route after troops earlier spotted what appeared to be an armed figure riding on a truck that entered an aid storage area with three WCK cars. The attack occurred moments after the three cars left the storage area, leaving the truck and the armed figure behind, according to the report…
…After a missile hit one car, those inside evacuated to the other two cars, and managed to report they had been attacked before a second missile hit another car. As the last unharmed car approached to evacuate the wounded, a third missile hit. All seven people who had been in the vehicles were killed, Haaretz reported.”
I submit that something more than weasel words is needed from our Government.
If the lesson delivered in the synagogue declares that killing is not a crime, and subject to punishment, then why do we attache so much significance to 6 million killed during war.
I no longer feel any guilt, and mock the idea that these folk are in any way exceptional.
They should certainly be caste out of Australian friendship status.
The Australian LABOR government’s responses continue to be shameful and sickening to behold. Just like the LP.
Australia and the world need to demand the release of all drone and other footage from before and during the attack.
Since when does the accused get to run the investigation into their alleged crimes?
@Teirisia there were many Palestinians who did not flee the Nakba. Watch Tantura on YouTube.
And yes you are correct, what we know doesn’t even make a scratch.
“ The feeble argument made by such watery types as Foreign Minister Wong focus on matters of degree and semantics. Israel is not being furnished with weapons; they are merely being furnished with weapon components”
Which of course means that anyone who criticises Penny Wong or her feeble argument can be condemned as anti-semantic!
Genocide has been redefined as the perpetrator’s right to defend themselves.
Interesting to know just where “our” money gets invested:
“Elbit Systems is Israel’s number one missile manufacturer. A significant proportion of the 32,000 dead have been killed by Elbit missiles yet the Future Fund, guardians of Australian public money, continues to invest in Elbit. “
[ https://michaelwest.com.au/zomi-frankcom-elbit-future-fund/ ]
From the get-go, it’s just the increasing stench of over-ripe gorgonzola and halitosis. Shared around the five eyes +, and their cling-ons.
Netanyahu, Likud and the IDF the current foundational stinkers of a plan going back 100 or so years. Perhaps it’s time to yet again spread the emanations north through western Arabia, the Levant and Fertile Crescent, Iran and Afghanistan right through to Kazakhstan. After all, Moscow is distracted to its south and west.
Diplomacy will have its pants full of shit.
Read statements this day 6/4/2024 in the Weekend Australian by Greg Sheridan. “The dark implication…has been that Israel kills civilians on purpose.There is no evidence for this.”
And other statements of this kind.
Film in Gaza is supervised by Hamas,
32,000 deaths is a Hamas figure.
What?
It is Murdoch speak.
And Murdoch speak about other events of importance in Oz society.
Why is it allowed?
@ Teiresias
Fair question T, and why is there likely to be no adequate response?
As for Mr. Sheridan, it’s difficult to see anything much with your head in the sand; plus, even if you were able to direct him to the references below, it’s likely it would be dismissed as fake news.
“…an investigation into the Israel Defense Forces’ use of a previously undisclosed artificial intelligence system found that the mechanism has replaced “human agency and precision” with “mass target creation and lethality.”
The journalist conducting the investigation was told:
‘…that the IDF was “not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity,” despite Israel’s persistent claims that they are targeting military outposts and other non-civilian infrastructure.
“On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option,” an officer identified as A. told +972 and Local Call.
“It’s much easier to bomb a family’s home…
The system is built to look for them in these situations.” [ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-ai-targets ]
Alternative reference: [ https://scheerpost.com/2024/04/04/idf-allowed-100-civilian-deaths-for-every-hamas-official-targeted-by-error-prone-ai-system/ ]
I hold Albanese and Wong totally responsible for the murder of a young and courageous Australian aid worker.
Albanese and Wong’s non evidenced based decision to cut funding to UNRWA left a void that needed to be filled. This young Australian showed true Australian values, unlike the pathetically timid Albanese government.
The Albanese government has proven it has no morals or values.
People were once proud to be Labor voters. Not any more. Labor stands for nothing but you need a backbone to stand.
In lieu of finding a better parking place for this essay by Fred Reed, I’ll link it here. Worth a read, IMHO. Fred can sometimes be a bit sermonising but given what he’s seen and been through it’s not a bad thing, more of a service to his audience. Make up your own minds as to this topic. Elsewhere, I’ve commented on the enormous social costs in this country of young men dying or being maimed in service to the wars of others, and I’ve seen how the living dead negatively impact everything they touch.
War is the greatest pathology man is capable of, and why we seem incapable of just stopping has to be one of the major questions that bedevil mankind given the paradoxical aspect of glorifying and praising life.
Enlisting in the Military: A Very, Very Bad Idea.
ajogrady
Bold and massive statements here, aj. Albanese and Wong are to blame for the deaths of Kitchen workers?
Yet other countries also demanded explanations and South Africa accused Israel of genocide.
Even in Israel Netanyahu is being criticised for his war crimes.
So how will all this come to an end? Court trials and fines?
Already countries surrounding Israel and beyond are expressing their anger and disgust, that the Israelis have done too much.
Right-wing people here in Oz are trying to blame Hamas, but does that justify genocide?
Your judgement of Albanese and Wong, aj, are no more valid than Israel’s killing of Kitchen people. The Israelis have admitted their guilt in that matter, but not all the rest of the war crimes which the whole world has seen.