Melbourne inner-city council votes for BDS

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The inner-city Melbourne Darebin Council voted unanimously to seek ways to get out of contracts from suppliers supporting Israel.

Preston Town Hall

The motion was aimed at “companies and suppliers that support the illegal occupation of Palestine or profit from it, especially companies which supply equipment to the Israeli Defence Force’’.

Zeddy Lawrence, executive director of Zionism Victoria, responded by saying: “If the council considered ending contracts with companies, suppliers and organisations that facilitated the construction of Hamas terror tunnels and rockets as well as those they say ‘support the illegal occupation of Palestine’, this would certainly be a far less one-sided motion, and – given it’s solely targeting the Jewish State – perhaps lend more credence to the motion’s claim that it stands against anti-Semitism.

Endorsing BDS and flying the Palestinian flag while staying silent on the human rights abuses and relentless terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian groups hardly reflects Darebin Council’s pretensions to be a multicultural and multifaith community.”

Flying the Palestinian flag over Preston Town Hall was also proposed.

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria stated: ““The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign is a discredited, decades-old attempt to undermine a peaceful, two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. The Australian Government supports a two-state solution so this council motion is in direct opposition to Australian Government policy.”