NSW Labor Israel Action Committee endorses Albanese and Minns’ opposition to BDS
NSW Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) formally welcomed and endorsed statements by Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese and NSW State Labor leader Chris Minns opposing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.
Byron Danby and Israeli Labour leader Merav Michaeli
At a July meeting, LIAC passed a number of resolutions to be submitted for debate at the forthcoming State Labor conference.
In total, the group passed five formal resolutions; four of them related to Israel and the Middle East.
The LIAC resolutions followed a July 13 zoom meeting hosted by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry where Mr Albanese condemned antisemitism, boycotts of Israel and the apartheid slur and reiterated support for a two-State solution.
Mr Albanese also endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
On May 11, Mr Minns told State Parliament’s Legislative Assembly that he opposed the BDS movement.
The LIAC resolutions related to adopting the IHRA definition; calls to list the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation in Australia; and affirming support for a two-State solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
The fifth resolution expressed formal support for Aboriginal issues including constitutional recognition; “truth-telling” and support for a treaty with First Nations.
Resolutions were lodged before the July 31 deadline for the forthcoming October 9-10 NSW State conference in Sydney,
LIAC secretary, Byron Danby said: “It was important to support the principled stands by Mr Albanese and Mr Minns and publically reject the vile and antisemitic BDS movement.”
“It was also important that we have strong and positive motions for debate at the forthcoming Labor party conference later this year,” Mr Danby added.
LIAC is a group within the NSW Labor Party which promotes a two-state solution and a balanced approach to Israel within the Labor movement.
NSW Labor has almost 20 action committees including Vietnamese Friends of Labor; Arabic Friends of Labor; Sub-Continent Friends of Labor; Irish Friends of Labor; Labor for Palestine; Labor for Treaty; and Hellenic Caucus.
The Federal patron is Dr Mike Freelander, MP for Macarthur in Southwest Sydney and the NSW patron is Walt Secord, the NSW Shadow Minister for Police and Counter Terrorism, the Arts and Heritage and the North Coast. Mr Secord is also the deputy chair of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel.
