Foreign Minister Penny Wong has announced Australia will contribute $1.9 million to set up a new Israel-Palestine peacekeeping fund with the United Kingdom and Canada.
Ms Wong and her counterparts Yvette Cooper and Anita Anand said in a joint statement this week the International Peace Fund for Israelis and Palestinians would help “establish the conditions for a lasting peace”.
The foreign ministers said the Peace Fund would “strengthen the voices of moderates and marginalise the extremists, including Hamas”, and make peace possible through “sustained dialogue and vital grassroots engagement”.
Each country will contribute initial seed funding equivalent to £1 million over three years, and the Fund will then be open to further contributions from international partners.
“As we have learned from other entrenched conflicts around the world, peace cannot be achieved through political and security measures alone. It also requires sustained effort to rebuild trust, to strengthen cooperation, and to highlight the shared humanity of people,” the ministers said.
“The Peace Fund will invest in programmes that advance a two-state solution, help reduce division, strengthen civil society, and support dialogue and cooperation within and between Israeli and Palestinian communities, building the foundations for peace.
“The Fund will complement existing diplomatic, humanitarian and development efforts by helping to build the relationships, confidence and shared understanding needed for successful negotiations.”
Ms Wong made the pledge during a visit to the UK and Europe with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, which she said would “strengthen and diversify Australia’s relationships”.
The trip comes after the foreign minister, who is a Malaysian-born Chinese lesbian, sparked anger by claiming Melbourne was built by aboriginals and new migrants in a video lashing out at the Coalition’s values-based immigration policy.
Header image: Penny Wong during her trip (Foreign Ministry).
The post Penny Wong hands over $1.9M to Israel-Palestine ‘peace fund’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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