Lee Rhiannon, former Greens Senator: Leila Khaled would be a valuable participant in the Ecosocialism 2024 Conference to held Perth later this year. The Australian government should grant her a visa and not be swayed by the Zionist lobby.
The push to deny Khaled a visa is a display of extreme hypocrisy. Israel’s record over more than seven decades of massacres, ethnic cleansing and home evictions is incomparable to Khaled’s participation in a 1960s protest for Palestinian self-determination. She was part of a hijacking team that took over two aircraft. No passengers or crew - no one - died in either of these hijacks.
The governments bias is compounded by their decision to grant former Israeli army major-general, Doron Almog, a visa to visit Australia in March this year. Almog is linked to serious and credible allegations of his involvement in war crimes in Gaza between 2001 and 2003.
Even if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can’t bring himself to align Australia with the 139 member nations of the United Nations (out of a total of 193) surely his government can be even handed when it comes to issuing visas.
