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Amnesty International's new report reveals that Israel authorities are accelerating the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities from the occupied West Bank, which Israel intends to formally annex under Israeli law. Sign the petition calling on the Australian Government to act now.

Investigations reveal that entire communities in Area C of the occupied West Bank are now being uprooted or pushed to the brink of forcible transfer. Israel is committing grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the war crime of unlawful transfer or deportation and the crime against humanity of forcible transfer.  

What Australia can do

The Australian Government can impose targeted sanctions against directly implicated Israeli officials and ban trade, investments or financial assistance fuelling apartheid and unlawful occupation.  

Most states have deliberately failed to act on the ongoing violations of the rights of Palestinians - further emboldening Israel’s brutal system of apartheid and unlawful occupation.

Australia’s lack of meaningful action to stop Israel’s continuous crimes sends a dangerous message that Palestinian lives are not valued and that unlawful occupation, apartheid, including ethnic cleansing, and genocide are acceptable. Australia must act now to end this impunity.  

Australia has the power to use its voice and influence to help protect Palestinians and push for meaningful international action. Continuing to support Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing and system of apartheid risks complicity in crimes under international law. Lip service is willfully complacent in the face of Israel’s prolonged and increasingly brazen defiance of international law.  

Sign the petition now demanding the Australian Labor Government to take action to stop Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank.

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition
 

Senator the Hon Penny Wong 
Minister for Foreign Affairs  
PO Box 6100 
Senate 
Parliament House 
Canberra ACT 2600 

Dear Minister, 

We, the undersigned, urge you to take action to halt Israel’s escalating policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in the unlawfully occupied West Bank.  

Building on the 2022 investigations that concluded that Israel is committing the crime against humanity on all Palestinians whose rights it controls, Amnesty International’s recent report titled “Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel’s ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities”, documents how the Israeli government has made formal annexation an explicit policy objective. The report provides an analysis of the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing in Area C of the occupied West Bank between 2022 and 2025.   

Investigations reveal that entire Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the West Bank are being dispossessed and uprooted at an escalating pace.  Israel has driven forcible transfer, land confiscation, home demolitions, arbitrary movement restrictions and expanding settler violence, and facilitated the rapid growth of illegal settlements and outposts on their ancestral lands. These actions have devastated Palestinian lives and violated their rights under international humanitarian and human rights law. These crimes are part and parcel of Israel’s ongoing crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.    

You have a clear legal and moral obligation to urgently act now, to put an end to Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign, to prevent the further uprooting of Palestinian communities, and to allow a safe and dignified return for all those already illegally displaced.   

Continuing to ignore your obligations in the face of Israel’s egregious violations of Palestinians’ rights further emboldens Israel to entrench its brutal system of apartheid and unlawful occupation, believing that it will never be called to account.    

Continuing to support Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing and system of apartheid risks Australia’s complicity in crimes under international law. We cannot remain complacent in the face of Israel’s prolonged and increasingly brazen defiance of its international obligations.   

I urge you to stop enabling Israel’s flouting of international law and oppression of Palestinians by:

  • Imposing targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials directly implicated in Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign, by extending the existing sanctions against Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ministers Orit Strock and Israel Katz. 
  • Banning any trade or investment activity that contribute to or are directly linked to Israel’s unlawful occupation, system of apartheid including its ethnic cleansing campaign, and genocide in Gaza, including a total ban on defence exports to Israel.
  • Actively intervening through your diplomatic channels to monitor and support Palestinian communities to prevent their uprooting and facilitating the return of those already unlawfully or forcibly transferred;
  • Proactively pursue international accountability for the war crime of unlawful transfer and the crime against humanity of forcible transfer, as well as the crime against humanity of apartheid

Lack of meaningful action to stop Israel’s continuous crimes sends a dangerous message that Palestinian lives are not valued and that unlawful occupation, apartheid, including ethnic cleansing, and genocide are acceptable.

I urge you to act swiftly and publicly in solidarity with affected communities and in defence of justice, accountability and human dignity, or risk complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]