Merri-bek Council’s Gaza ceasefire motion slammed by Anti Defamation Commission
A Merri-bek councillor has had death wished upon him for voting against a motion condemning Israel in a council debate where parallels were drawn between Israel and Nazi Germany.
Victoria
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A local councillor who voted against a controversial motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of Israel has been subject to violent threats against him and his family.
Merri-bek Council in Melbourne’s inner-north has approved a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to lobby for the Australian Government to cut all ties with the state of Israel until “it complies with its obligations under international law”.
The motion – which was slammed by the Anti-Defamation Commission as divisive and intimidating when it was proposed – was passed by a vote of six to four in the council chambers Wednesday night.
Oscar Yildiz was one of the four councillors to vote against the motion, arguing the council should stick to local issues instead of getting involved in the international conflict.
On Thursday he said that he and his family had been subjected to “serious” threats since the vote.
“They are making it personal, attacking my family, which I don’t think is acceptable,” he told 3AW.
“I’m talking about really serious threats... stuff about my family, I hope the plane you are on crashes... you pig, you dog, you rat.
“I am going to be going to the police station today. It is getting out of hand.”
Mr Yildiz said the conflict in Gaza was harrowing but the council should focus on local issues.
“Local residents voted for us to focus on local issues,” he said.
“This motion, if anything, will cause anxiety and fear.”
Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday slammed Merri-bek’s decision to involve itself in the Middle-East conflict.
“This complex global situation is being negotiated right now by world leaders, not by local governments here in Melbourne,” she said.
“The situation in the Middle East is an incredibly complex one.
“It’s an incredibly distressing one (also) for many, many Victorians who have lost loved ones, who have families in the Middle East who are being directly affected right now.
“Our responsibility here in Victoria is to ensure that the people who are directly affected since those terrorist attacks on the seventh of October are provided with love and care and support, and that there’s a particular focus on making sure that people in our community feel safe here in Melbourne.
“That has been the focus of our work and that will continue to be the focus of our work.”
Ms Allan also called out the “disgraceful and disrespectful” graffiti plastered at the Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre.
The words ‘Free Palestine’ were written over a poster of hundreds of images of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
“There is absolutely no place here in Melbourne or Victoria for that kind of hateful language, and for that kind of hate speech to be inflicted on a community that is grieving.”
Councillor Sue Bolton, who put up the motion, appeared to compare the Israeli military campaign to eliminate Hamas to Nazi Germany and the Rwandan genocide during Wednesday night’s council debate.
“Are we prepared to go as far as Rwanda where over 400,000 people were killed?” she said.
“Are we prepared to go as far as Nazi Germany with millions of people killed?
“How far is the world prepared to go to watch what’s happening in Gaza?”
Ms Bolton said the international conflict was a local issue for the Merri-Bek community.
“Peace is everybody’s business,” she said.
Cr Bolton defended the motion on Thursday, saying she was against the killing of any civilians but said she believed Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinians.
“I condemn all actions that lead in the direction of any kind of genocide,” she said.
“I think what is happening in Gaza fits the definition of genocide.
“The actions of the Israeli government are stoking prejudice against Jews. I am against any prejudice against Jews.”
Ms Bolton said a ceasefire was the immediate priority to stop the killing but international political effort was needed to guarantee more rights for Palestinians living in the state of Israel.
“In terms of a long-term solution, the only long-term solution has to be working out a system where everybody who lives in what was historically Palestine has equal rights,” she said.
“There will be no peace until you have equal rights for all.”
Merri-bek Mayor Angelica Panopoulos told Wednesday night’s meeting she condemned all the loss of life in the conflict but said “one atrocity doesn’t justify another”.
“When does the right to defend yourself turn into killing 10,000 civilians?
“When does the right to defend yourself turn into bombing schools, hospitals and refugee camps?
“It is never, ever, justified.”
Ms Panopoulos said she should use her role as mayor of a local council to advocate for peace on the international stage.
“I will not stand here in this position of power and privilege (as mayor) and abstain on such an important vote,” she said.
“Nor will I pretend that this conflict has nothing to do with council business because it does. We stand up for human rights issues both locally and internationally all the time.
“I will not pretend that this is policy on the run or that I am not informed enough because I have empathy and I actually have a degree in international relations.”
Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence on Thursday lambasted the “completely one-sided” Merri-bek motion, noting it had failed to recognise the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas, Israel’s many attempts at peace and the trauma inflicted on Australian Jews.
“This is clearly a completely one-sided motion fuelled either by ignorance or malice, as evidenced by the fact that there is no mention of Hamas, let alone any specific condemnation of the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas last month,” he said.
“There is no mention that Israel accepted the creation of a Jewish State and an Arab State back in 1947, but this was rejected by the Arab world.
“There is no mention of the rejection by the Palestinian leadership of any of the various very generous peace proposals that have been put forward since that time.
“There is no mention of the Hamas charter which calls for the eradication of Israel.”
Mr Lawrence, who added that there was “no mention of the relentless rocket campaign perpetrated against Israel” or “the trauma experienced by members of the Jewish and Israeli communities on these shores” said those that support the motion “ought to be ashamed of themselves for burying their heads in the sand and ignoring reality.”
Calls to Boycott Aussie businesses with links to Israel
Jewish leaders have blasted a pro-Palestinian group for calling for Australians to boycott local retailers with links to Israel, calling the attempt “something out of the Nazi playbook in the 1930s”.
Stand For Palestine Australia posted to social media on Wednesday demanding that its supporters boycott Spotlight, Anaconda, Mountain Designs and Harris Scarfe – owned by The Spotlight Group.
“Spotlight Foundation is a proud sponsor of Zionist activities in Australia and abroad,” the post read.
“The Spotlight Foundation itself is a propagator of Zionism and its ideology!”
It then pushes for its 3735 followers to post negative Google reviews for the stores and sign an online petition.
The Spotlight Group, which runs the charitable Spotlight Foundation, was founded by brothers Morry Fraid and Reuben Fried, whose parents were from Israel.
The activist group, in their social media post, told followers to cut lies with the brands because Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, is the director of the Spotlight Foundation.
Mr Leibler told the Herald Sun the “open and flagrant attempt” to boycott Jewish businesses was “something out of the Nazi playbook in the 1930s”.
“The BDS campaign have demonstrated what most of us already knew – that the movement is fundamentally antisemitic,” he said.
“It has little to do with Palestinian rights or opposition to Israel and everything to do with classic unadulterated antisemitism.
“All decent minded Australians can see this for what it is.”
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement has also previously sought to boycott Dominos, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s Pizza, due to donations made to Israel.
Merri-bek Council to debate Gaza ceasefire motion
An inner-north Melbourne council has been slammed by the Anti-Defamation Commission for a motion on the conflict in Gaza.
The Merri-bek Council motion, to be debated on Wednesday night, put forward by Cr Sue Bolton, states that the “constant bombing and total siege of Gaza is traumatising for many Merri-bek residents”.
The motion also goes on to condemn “the words of senior Israeli politicians and military officials that seek to dehumanise Palestinians in Gaza to justify their war crimes” and calls on the Australian government to “end all military, economic, political and diplomatic ties with the state of Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law”.
Anti-Defamation Commission Chair Dr Dvir Abramovich said, if the motion is passed, it will represent a new low in local politics and demonstrate that Jewish lives do not matter.
“It is hard to believe that anyone with a shred of humanity and compassion could propose such a vicious, heartless draft that engages in a denial of the murder of 1500 Israelis and which spits on the memory of the Israeli victims and their families,” Dr Abramovich said.
“This (motion) presents a one-sided and grossly distorted picture of the current conflict, laying all the blame at Israel’s feet and excusing the evil of Hamas.”
“At a time of a surge of antisemitism in our nation, when young Jews are being harassed and victimised for simply being Jewish or because of their association with Israel, this hatchet job is the last thing we need, and will do nothing to advance the cause of harmony here except set it back.”
Dr Abramovich said Jewish community members living in Merri-bek would feel let down by their local council.
“This divisive (motion) will only push apart local communities and will sends a painful message to Jewish people living in the area that they cannot count on some councillors to stand up for them and represent their concerns,” he said.
The motion also calls for the council’s flag policy to be amended to allow Merri-bek council to fly the Palestinian flag at the Coburg Civic Centre and the Brunswick Town Hall until a ceasefire is declared in Gaza.
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