Ludovico Fabiano breaks silence after he was dumped as Waverley Council’s Deputy Mayor over Hamas motion

The Greens Deputy Mayor said he’s received “offensive and deeply unsettling emails” after he voted against a motion condemning the Hamas attacks.

The deputy mayor of a Sydney council has said he is “surprised and deeply disappointed” after his colleagues moved to oust him from his role for voting against a motion condemning the Hamas attacks in Israel.

Councillors at Waverley Council in Sydney’s east will gather for an extraordinary council meeting where they will call to remove Ludovico Fabiano as the Deputy Mayor.

This comes after Mr Fabiano, and his fellow councillor Dominic Wy Kanak, voted against a motion condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel.

The motion also expressed “sympathy and condolences” to the families and friends of the dead and injured, and acknowledged the civilian lives in Israel and Gaza “as a direct consequence of Hamas’s terrorist attack”.

Mr Fabiano and Mr Kanak also attempted to amend to motion to acknowledge “the

war crimes perpetrated by a right-wing Israeli government, including the bombing of Palestinian civilians,” and called “for all perpetrators to be held accountable,” however they were voted down.

Ludovico Fabiano said he was ‘surprised and deeply disappointed’ at the motion to remove his as mayor. Picture: Facebook

In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Fabiano said he was “surprised and deeply disappointed” at the plans.

“With this tragic conflict in Gaza and Israel, this is not the time for politicians to seek political mileage from this conflict on the other side of the planet,” he said.

“I have, and will continue to, condemn the attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians.

“I have, and will continue to, condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military.”

Mr Fabiano said he had spoken “extensively” about his “commitment to the wellbeing of our local Jewish community,” and said he “personally believed” the amendments to the motion “responded to the tragic events overseas”.

“At last week’s meeting of Waverley Council the Liberals and Labor jointly put forward a one-sided motion on the events in Israel and the crisis in Gaza. The Greens councillors’ attempts to have input to the draft motion prior to the meeting were ignored,” he said.

The deputy mayor said he has also received several “offensive and deeply unsettling emails and social media posts,” since voting against the motion, one of which has been referred to the police.

“Some of the emails have used threatening language,” the statement said.

“We have been shocked at the online attacks and hate speech we have received. Most people would be.”

Mr Fabiano’s statement said he’s received ‘threatening messages’ after him and fellow councillor Dominic Wy Kanak voted against a motion condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel. Picture: Facebook

Condemning the messages, Mr Fabiano said the behaviour did nothing to help his “hurting” community.

“This has taken a heavy toll on me and my family. A healthy democracy is not one where people feel at risk for doing their job,” he said.

“These attacks on me, seemingly for some sort of political power grab at our local Council are a complete distraction from the need for healing and understanding of each other’s viewpoints.”

According to agenda notes released for Thursday night’s meeting, Mr Fabiano and Mr Kanak could also be removed from several committees.

These include the Access and Inclusion Advisory Panel, Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Committee, and Multicultural Advisory Committee.

If the motion succeeds, it would declare the position of Deputy Mayor as vacant.