I fully endorse the remarks that Senator Baume and other senators have just made. Those of us who are associated with the Jewish community in some minor way feel the enormous loss that is, of course, associated with this vile act.
I, along with a number of my colleagues from both sides of this chamber and the House of Representatives, joined in a memorial service for Yitzhak Rabin in Melbourne last week. I do not think any of us could possibly come away from that ceremony without an enormous appreciation of the tremendous loss that has been experienced, as Senator Baume has said, not just by the Jewish community but by all people who are concerned about conflict and war, particularly in the Middle East. What struck me, when I listened to the reports coming out of Israel and the comments, particularly of Yitzhak Rabin’s family, was not only the tremendous suffering but also the enormous courage that is involved in the struggle for peace.
What strikes me particularly is that Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat and people like Gerry Adams share one thing in common—that is, the tremendous courage it takes to struggle for peace, particularly when you have been so involved in the struggle for war. It takes enormous courage to take up arms against a very powerful enemy to defend your community, to defend your country, as you see it, to defend your class, as you see it. It takes even greater courage to put them down and seek a resolution of conflict through negotiated political means. I fully endorse this motion.