Former immigration minister Tony Burke says Labor is unequivocal in its view that East Jerusalem is "occupied" by Israeli forces.
Speaking on the steps of the Lakemba Mosque on Monday, Mr Burke said he was concerned about a worsening human rights situation in Gaza where a 20-day war had already cost more than 1000 Palestinian and Israeli lives.
To cheers and applause, Mr Burke criticised the Abbott government's decision to recalibrate its policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by referring to East Jerusalem as "disputed" rather than "occupied".
The senior Labor MP, whose seat of Watson in Sydney's southern suburbs is home to a large Muslim community, said the Labor party was in no doubt that "Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal".
"There is a limit to what we can do as a nation, but we can speak the truth and we must speak the truth about Palestine," Mr Burke told a large crowd gathered in front of the mosque to mark the end of Ramadan.
"We must speak the truth about the need for a Palestinian state, we must speak the truth that East Jerusalem is occupied."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, after representatives from 18 nations, including Indonesia, protested against the use of the word "disputed", has said his government had made a "terminological clarification".
Mr Burke's comments in relation to East Jerusalem also come after the NSW branch of the Labor party at the weekend adopted a resolution critical of Israeli settlements and which reinforced support for a Palestinian state.
"The Liberal government has been changing Australia's position on Palestine in a very big way at the exact same time that the rest of the world is becoming increasingly horrified by events in Gaza," Mr Burke later told AAP.
The resolution delivers a message "loud and clear" that Labor believes the issues of human rights in Palestine are deteriorating, Mr Burke said.
"Labor believes that human rights arguments there are only getting stronger and our position is not going to shift," he said.
More than 1000 Palestinians and about 40 Israelis have been killed since fighting broke out three week ago.
Share
