VMIAC is part of a mental health consumer and survivor movement grounded in human rights and social justice.
We hope for a community where people can stand proud, live a life with choices honoured, rights upheld and these principles embedded in all aspects of society. This vision applies at home and abroad, and we oppose discrimination, violence and coercion in all forms.
VMIAC is appalled and dismayed at the violence, trauma and rising death toll in Gaza. The combination of the scale of the violence and its affront to human dignity, the moral urgency of action, the presence of inaction by Australian governments and the impact this is having on the wellbeing of people in Australia drive VMIAC’s response. We recognise the delay in our call for justice and human rights on this issue and apologise to those impacted. We call for a ceasefire, an end to hostilities and a return of hostages.
We acknowledge and share the growing concern of international human rights institutions, including:
- The International Court of Justice judgment on 26 January 2024 that there is a ‘real and imminent risk’ of the Israeli Government causing irreparable harm to the right of Palestinians to be free from genocide[1]
- The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories report on 25 March 2024 that concluded the onslaught on Gazans leads to reasonable grounds for believing the Israeli Government’s actions meet the threshold of genocide [2]
- The UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on 5 April 2024 criticising both Hamas and the Israeli Government for possible war crimes[3]
- The ICC Prosecutor’s 20 May 2024 request for arrest warrants for both Hamas and Israeli Government leaders for war crimes, including crimes against humanity[4], and
- The International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion found that the ongoing settlements in Gaza and other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory are unlawful[5].
We condemn all breaches of international human rights law, including the attacks of 7 October 2023 and the actions by the Israeli Government in the months since. Since the 1189 deaths[6] of Israeli citizens on 7 October, over 39 000 people have been killed in Gaza (15 000 of whom are children), with more than 90 000 people injured in a grossly disproportionate response by the Israeli Government. Credible estimates in the Lancet suggest that due to famine, ongoing violence and a breakdown of social and healthcare systems, the death toll could reach 186,000 people[7]. The ongoing mental and emotional trauma from this violence will be both profound and immeasurable.
Unchecked crimes against humanity erode our shared commitment to human rights and dignity. On this scale, with limited response by our governments, this brings the conflict home. We are aware that members of our consumer community and the broader Australian community are impacted by this war – Palestinian people, Jewish people, and Middle Eastern and Muslim communities.
The Israeli Government and Hamas leaders[AS1] must agree to terms supporting a ceasefire. We call on the Commonwealth Government to:
- Use all influence, pressure, diplomatic and sanctioning measures appropriate to secure a ceasefire
- End all military aid to Israel
- Substantially and immediately increase and sustain Australia’s levels of humanitarian aid to Gaza and
- Fulfill Australia’s obligations to support international law, including any measures to support international investigations into leaders of the Israeli Government and Hamas.
We also call on the Commonwealth to recognise and protect peaceful protest, including at universities. At the same time, we condemn protests that conflate religion with political ideology, including protesting outside Jewish synagogues. Conflating these communities and movements feeds antisemitism and also undermines efforts to address actions by the State of Israel.
As part of the Australian community, we reiterate calls to end discrimination and vilification of all kinds, including antisemitic, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobia.
VMIAC’s response to this moment is grounded in the consumer-survivor movement and the values that we have developed. Our work is underpinned by both social justice and relationality. Values of authenticity, human rights and integrity compel us to speak at this unique and tragic moment.
Our values of mutuality, curiosity, and hope help us accommodate people with profoundly different world views and experiences. We hope these principles will be broadly adopted to guide our actions towards social justice and our relations with one another.
We see the distress hostilities in Gaza are causing many people in our community, and we will continue to support our community at this time while the impact of these hostilities continues.
[1] ‘Order of 26 January 2024 | INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE’ <https://www.icj-cij.org/node/203447>.
[2] ‘A/HRC/55/73: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967 – Advance Unedited Version | OHCHR’ <https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5573-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-palestinian>.
[3] UN Human Rights Council, ‘Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and the Obligation to Ensure Accountability and Justice – Human Rights Council Resolution (A/HRC/RES/55/28)’, UN Human Rights Council (online, 5 April 2024) <https://www.un.org/unispal/document/hrc-resolution-5aor24/>.
[4] ‘Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for Arrest Warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine | International Criminal Court’ <https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state>.
[5] International Court of Justice, ‘Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, In’ (19 July 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/case/186>.
[6] ‘Israel Revises Death Toll from Oct. 7 Hamas Assault, Dropping It from 1,400 to 1,200 | The Times of Israel’ <https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-revises-death-toll-from-oct-7-hamas-assault-dropping-it-from-1400-to-1200/>.
[7] Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee and Salim Yusuf, ‘Counting the Dead in Gaza: Difficult but Essential’ The Lancet <https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext> (‘Counting the Dead in Gaza’).