“The streets are filled with rubble, smoke, fire and gloom. And a dark wind blows. Those around you are clutching children, and rubble, and hoping that they have survived whatever just happened. The buildings have been twisted and the skyline is ablaze. The car’s on fire and there’s no driver at the wheel. – Efrim Menuck
This quote summarises the experience of those found in the horrific crossfire of the Gaza war.
Throughout history, the brutal aftermath of battle leaves more than just winners and losers, there remains the common person stuck in the middle. They have no control over the fighting taking place in their home, they just endure the pain.
The Gaza conflict is something that at times feels so far away, but the amount of carnage the rest of the world sees on their phone or television is unfathomable.
While the Australian Government engages in trade with Israel, companies based out of Australia (with links to Port Kembla in the Illawarra) have active partnerships with Israeli defence organisations and companies.
At the start of this year, an Australian-designed weapon was trialled by the IDF(Israeli Defence Force), despite the federal government insisting no defence exports were happening between the countries since the current Gaza crisis had happened.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade statistics show that Israel is the second highest earner in “arms and ammunitions” exports since October 2023, around the time of the Gaza conflict began, with the United Arab Emirates being the highest.
The data shows that many middle eastern countries have received zero arms and ammunitions exports for the same period.
Source: https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/trade-and-investment-data-information-and-publications/trade-statistics/trade-statistical-pivot-tables
And while the United Arab Emirates is not currently at war or conflict with any nation or group, Sudan (which is another country in the middle east that has not received any arms or ammunitions exports since October 2023) has accused the UAE in funding forces in the current Sudanese civil war.
Source: https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/trade-and-investment-data-information-and-publications/trade-statistics/trade-statistical-pivot-tables
Those vocal in their support of Palestine have been the Australian Greens, calling for an immediate ceasefire and two party solution.
The Australian Government has also called for a ceasefire and two party solution.
However, Illawarra Greens councillor, Kit Docker said the government is not doing enough and that Australia has a legal and moral responsibility to act more assertively on the Gaza conflict.
“At a national level, the Greens continue to call on the Australian Government to meet its obligations under international law in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Mr Docker said.
“This includes adhering to the preliminary rulings of both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and upholding the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
“That means recalling our ambassador to Israel, expelling the Israeli ambassador, ending military and surveillance exports, applying targeted sanctions, and supporting global efforts to hold those committing atrocities accountable.”
Source: https://economy.id.com.au/wollongong/exports-by-industry?sEndYear=2023&exptype=3
Mr Docker said that all levels of government, including Wollongong City Council, must use every tool to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian community.
“We also support ongoing grassroots efforts, including peaceful protest and public pressure on companies like Bisalloy, who are complicit in arms supply chains,” Mr Docker said.
Wollongong City Council’s economic profile shows that 39.42 per cent of the Illawarra’s international export is from primary metal and metal product manufacturing.
Which also means that metal manufacturing contributes to 98.8 per cent of Wollongong’s international exports in the manufacturing sector.
Source: https://economy.id.com.au/wollongong/exports-by-industry?sEndYear=2023&exptype=3
This is not the first time there has been civil unrest in our region relating to exports of metal, famously, the 1938 Dalfram dispute which occurred in Port Kembla, can be seen as a good link back to this debate.
The political industrial dispute occurred when members of the Waterside Worker’s Federation of Australia refused to load pig iron on a shop headed to Japan. This was during the second Sino-Japanese war and was famous for increasing friendly relations between Australian and Chinese people culturally and contributing to the breakdown of the white Australia policy.
This also presented the gifting of then attorney-general Robert Menzies nickname to “Pig Iron Bob”.
Sir Menzies went on to become the 12th Prime Minister of Australia.
While wanting to be more ‘civil’ or not involved in other conflicts, Australia is a key ally to Ukraine, as our federal government has been very outspoken in how we want to empower Ukraine and condemn Russia.
Source: https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/ukraine/ukraine-country-brief
The Australian Centre for International Justice was unavailable to comment at this time.