CANBERRA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- An Australian senator has broken ranks with the ruling Labor Party to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Fatima Payman, a Labor senator representing Western Australia, on Wednesday criticized Australian leaders for what she described as performative gestures defending the oppressor's right to oppress and called for Australia to end trade with Israel and immediately recognize a Palestinian state.
"My conscience has been uneasy for far too long. And I must call this out for what it is. This is a genocide, and we need to stop pretending otherwise," she told reporters at Parliament House.
"I ask our prime minister and our fellow parliamentarians: how many international rights laws must Israel break for us to say enough? How many lives does it take to call this a genocide?"
It marks the first time a federal Labor parliamentarian has described the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a genocide.
Payman, who was born in Afghanistan before migrating to Australia in 2003, was elected to the Senate at the 2022 general election and became the first hijab-wearing Muslim and first Afghan-Australian to serve in the federal parliament. ■
