Labor must listen to 81% saying ceasefire

Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has always maintained that Labor cannot win popular support without conservative policies.

But the global movement for Palestine highlights how that could so quickly backfire, especially as Labor has backed Israel so solidly since October 7.

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The Palestine solidarity movement is shaking politics up: 81% are now calling for Israel to ceasefire and 53% want the government to take more action to achieve a ceasefire. The movement demands that Labor stop weapons contracts with Israel, restore its UNWRA funding, and stop putting conditions on any ceasefire call is gaining traction.

More than 100 lawyers have now referred Albanese to the International Criminal Court as an accessory to genocide in Gaza. This is the first Western leader to be referred to the ICC under Article 15 of the Rome Statute.

After more than five months of sustained mass action, tens of thousands are still marching in the streets every weekend. In addition, other pro-Palestine events are being organised in unions, among community groups, on campuses, in councils and elsewhere.

It’s an extraordinary time. Some anti-war activists say “Palestine is today’s Vietnam”.

Five decades ago, Vietnam’s anti-colonial struggle for independence — first against the French colonists and then against the US imperialists — sparked a deeper........

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