Rates, roads, and the Middle East: Inner West Council in push to condemn Israel, call for ceasefire

A local council notorious for its social justice activism will vote Tuesday night on whether or not to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, 14,000km away.

A local council notorious for its social justice activism will vote Tuesday night on a Greens-led motion on whether or not to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, 14,000km away.

The motion, brought by Greens councillor Dylan Griffiths, calls on the council to advertise on behalf of a Gazan relief charity and “call on the Australian government to urge for a ceasefire and peace negotiations”.

The proposal also moves “that Council write to Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese to notify them of this motion and to express our support for peace in the region”.

While the motion explicitly criticises Israel’s “attack” on Gaza, it makes no mention of Hamas or its October 7 attacks on Israel which saw more than 1200 civilians slaughtered and around 200 more taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists.

Inner West councillor Dylan Griffiths.

Inner West Council has a long record of getting involved in both foreign and domestic affairs, despite repeated calls for the body to focus on the needs of residents.

Marrickville Council, which became part of the Inner West Council at an amalgamation, once voted to boycott Israel in a controversial motion.

In 2010, Marrickville Council – which was later amalgamated into the new Inner West Council – passed a motion in support of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

In 2021 another Greens councillor, Colin Hesse, made an unsuccessful attempt to change the name of the council’s Victoria Rd because of its links to Queen Victoria and the British Empire.

More recently the council declared that it was “all in” for the Yes campaign to support the Voice to Parliament.

Despite this activism, Inner West locals have often been less than enamoured with the council’s services with a recent attempt to push residents to recycle food scraps in the name of fighting climate change widely panned and plagued by missed collections and overflowing bins.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein called on “sensible” councillors to reject the motion, saying calls for a permanent a ceasefire play into the hands of Hamas.

“If you were going to move a motion, it should call for Hamas’ unconditional surrender, a handing over of all weapons and the release all 240 hostages and the end of the misery it is inflicting on Gazans it callously abuses as human shields as well as on Israelis.

“But really councillors should serve their ratepayers by sticking to the basics – rubbish, recycling bins and road repairs – rather than dabbling in international affairs.”