Mr ALBANESE (9:52 AM) —I rise to draw the Main Committee's attention to the answer to a question I put on notice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Downer), No. 2701. That question concerned the expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967. I think that what we see at the moment with the breakdown and impasse in the Middle East peace process is a tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians, and indeed for everyone in the region and the world.

At a time when we see peace being advanced in Northern Ireland and on other most difficult questions such as Cyprus, in the Middle East the expansion of these settlements is against the interests of both the Israeli population and the Palestinian population. They have a legitimate aspiration to have a state of Palestine created within the borders which have been occupied since 1967. Whilst there are no doubt legitimate concerns for the security of Israel and I certainly support the right of Israel to exist within those secure borders, the settlement activity is a breach of the prospect for peace in that region.

I am particularly concerned that perhaps Australians are playing a bad role in the settlement activity. I am concerned at the possibility that tax exempt funds from Australia are being used to assist settler groups in these occupied territories. In the city of Hebron, for example, where there are 400 Israeli settlers and where settlements continue to expand in a very provocative way, the massacre of 27 people occurred in the mosque last year. I am concerned to find that there is almost a shrine to that mass murderer in the settlement area of Hebron. It is that sort of provocation which does nothing to advance the cause of peace in the region.

There is a need for the extremists on both sides of the debate, whether they be Israeli or Palestinian, to be sidelined because unless the Oslo peace accord is proceeded with and peace advanced there can be no security for either Israelis or Palestinians in the region.