BDS quashed by Marrickville Council

The controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel supported by Marrickville Council was overturned at Council’s meeting on April 19.

 In a mammoth three-hour meeting, Council’s support for the BDS was quashed eight votes to four, with only the mayor Fiona Byrne, Greens councillors Marika Kontellis and Cathy Peters, and independent Dimitrios Thanos supporting its continuation.

 A separate motion by the mayor, to retain in-principle support for the boycott, was rejected with only Cr Thanos, Cr Peters and Cr Kontellis supporting it.

 Cr Byrne said that although the BDS had been reversed, the Council had put the issue on the national agenda.

 She also lamented her colleagues’ change of heart in a mere five months, a swing which she attributed to attacks from state and national leaders, and the mainstream media.

 “I personally don’t understand why a sledgehammer was used to smash the little egg we’ve created here,” she said.

 After the failure of the BDS was confirmed, Cr Kontellis moved that Council staff write to “the newly-elected Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister Anthony Albanese on behalf of Councillors outlining that their public comments including threats of being sacked, and that dealing with the GBDS is not our responsibility were inappropriate and misrepresented the issue.”

 The motion was carried by the mayor’s casting vote.

 The scene within the Council chambers was extraordinary. Police waited outside the building while hundreds packed the foyer, stairwells and function rooms, trying to get into the chamber proper. Within the chamber itself, placards and flags waved, the crowd jeered and booed, cheered and applauded as the 12 councillors and 15 members of the public addressed the meeting.

 The speeches were varied, with some calling for Spartan-like resistance, while others implored harmony.

 Father Raymond Minniecon addressed the crowd and pleaded for peace amongst the community. “My plea is that as residents you think about what you are doing here – you are dividing yourselves,” he said.

 Dr Peter Slezak said that with the amount of vilification being thrown the Council’s way, it could only mean that they were doing something right.

 Spot-fires of violence threatened to break out on several occasions, and several members of the audience were removed, one forcibly, screaming “Resistance!” as he was dragged out of the building. Another left of her own volition, calling the councillors who did not support the boycott “f—ing cowards”.

 Antony Lowenstein, a Jewish blogger and pro-Palestinian rights activist, alleged being spat on and called a pig.