Image: Protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Sydney December 3, 2023. Palestine Action Group, Facebook.
by GRACE JOHNSON
City of Sydney has proudly joined the thousands of people calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In the final council meeting of the year, on Monday 11 December at 5pm, Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore put forward a motion requesting the support of the council in calling for a ceasefire.
Cr Ellsmore spoke to City Hub, saying “In the face of the ongoing conflict and huge number of civilian deaths in Gaza, it was really important that Council added its voice to the calls for a ceasefire right now.”
The motion, titled ‘Support for a Ceasefire,’ notes that the Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s Mayoral Minute calling for a path to peace was unanimously passed on October 23.
At the time, the Mayor said, “I hope that leaders can find a path to peace where the cycle of violence in this region is ended and neither Israelis or Palestinians have to live in fear and at risk of harm or death.”
“Now more than ever it is vital we reflect our values of diversity, solidarity and inclusivity. There is no place for violence, discrimination or expressions of hate in our city.”
The Lord Mayor also declared then that the City would not display any partisan symbols associated with the current conflict, effectively blocking Liberal Councillor Shauna Jarrett’s motion to “Stand for Israel”.
In the motion, Cr Ellsmore wrote “there can be no path to peace without respect for human rights and international law”.
The motion thus called on Council to “join with the tens of thousands of people marching on the streets of Sydney in urging the Australian Government to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as the only pathway to achieving lasting peace in Israel and Palestine.”
The final motion passed was as written:
It is resolved that Council:
(A) Notes that the Mayoral Minute calling for a path to peace was unanimously passed by the City of Sydney Council on 23 October 2023;
(B) Reaffirms that there can be no path to peace without respect for human rights and international law; and
(C) Urge the Australian Government to support international efforts for an immediate, sustainable and humanitarian ceasefire, to enable peace negotiations and a pathway to achieving lasting peace.
It was passed by all Councillors, with the except of Councillors Lyndon Gannon and Shauna Jarrett (the two Liberal Councillors).
In the weeks since the initial Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, and the lighting of the Sydney Opera House with the colours of the Israeli flag, thousands of protestors have taken to the streets in support of Palestine.
Yet the government has remained silent, despite growing pressure to call for a ceasefire. 40 Labor party branches in New South Wales have reportedly passed motions calling for a ceasefire, meaning greater pressure from within to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
