At a rally last month, Naser advocated for “armed resistance” to win Palestinian liberation. She also said rebel senator Fatima Payman was misguided to support Palestinian statehood because that step was part of the “failed” two-state solution.
“We will fight and we will resist until Israel is completely de-recognised,” she said.
Pro-Palestine protesters at Parliament House on July 4.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Naser told this masthead that her call for armed resistance was consistent with the “International Court of Justice [finding] Palestinians may legally use force to resist Israel’s illegal occupation”. Asked on Channel Nine on October 20 if she supported Hamas, she said: “No”.
Labor and the Coalition have sought to portray the Greens as a pariah in the parliament over the minor party’s approach to the Palestinian issue.
In May, Greens leader Adam Bandt dodged questions about whether he supported a two-state solution – a position backed by most pro-Palestinian figures – and Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have accused the Greens of either ignoring or fanning antisemitism.
Larissa Payne, a staff member for David Shoebridge, during an Extinction Rebellion protest in 2020.Credit: Extinction Rebellion
The Greens deny the claims and say the major parties were distracting from their support for Israel’s killing of tens of thousands of Gazans and an ongoing occupation deemed illegal by a top United Nations court last weekend.
Another staffer for Shoebridge, Larissa Payne, posted on Instagram about her love for “precious comrades” who breached security to get onto the roof of Parliament House, from which they draped banners accusing Australia of war crimes and displaying an inverted red triangle, which Hamas uses to signal a military target.
Payne, who has worked for the Extinction Rebellion climate action group, was asked by one of her followers how the group had evaded security, responding: “a convo for signalz heh, so very good.” This appeared to be a reference to the encrypted messaging app Signal on which people can communicate secretly.
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A spokesman for Shoebridge said his office was “in no way involved in the protest”.
“That Greens staff have contacts with activists is hardly news. In this case, however, there was no such contact beyond a single public comment on an Instagram post,” the spokesman said.
The same staff member also claimed the widely condemned attack on Labor MP Burns’ office was not violent.
“Paint across the building and smashed windows of an ‘Israeli’ occupation-supporting MP isn’t violent,” she said.
Shoebridge’s spokesman said Payne “was not aware of the fire when the post was made”, and was under the impression the damage related to broken windows and paint.
Bandt criticised the incident at the time, saying “damage like this [is] completely unacceptable”.
The Melbourne office of Jewish MP Josh Burns was vandalised in June.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Victoria Police charged two people on Thursday in relation to two incidents involving vandalism of MPs’ offices - one on Barkly Street, St Kilda, on 19 June and the other on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, on 17 July.
An 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy were charged with burglary and two counts of criminal damage.
The 18-year-old Melbourne woman was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 11 October.
The 17-year-old boy will face a children’s court at a later date.
The first incident occurred at an MP’s office on Barkly Street in St Kilda around 3.20am on 19 June.
This masthead last week reported Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong was gradually strengthening Labor’s criticism of Israel. Cabinet sources said there was minimal pushback when Wong suggested steps to toughen Labor’s position, including on key UN votes.
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