A group of Israel-haters – led by the Greens – have hijacked a Sydney Inner West council meeting, forcing the meeting’s abandonment when the vote did not go the way they wanted.
Police were called to a Sydney council chambers on Tuesday night after a Greens-led pro-Palestine protest turned ugly, forcing the abandonment of the meeting amid safety concerns after Jewish speakers were targeted, before officers escorted out staff and councillors.
The protest, co-organised by Inner West Greens councillor Dylan Griffiths, had been weeks in the making and designed to whip up frenzied support for his Boycott, Divest, Sanction motion, described previously as a “campaign ploy” before September’s local government elections.
It comes after Anthony Albanese’s criticism of the party’s inflammatory rhetoric, and The Australian’s special report, ‘Greens Extremes’ which revealed how its grassroots members had prioritised “revolution” over rates, roads and rubbish at a council level.
About 100 protesters took to the Inner West Greens council’s final pre-election meeting on Tuesday in Ashfield, which was adjourned three times due to the partisan crowd, before eventually being abandoned.
Decked in keffiyehs, speakers – of whom were all allowed to speak by Labor mayor Darcy Byrne, a break in protocol in an olive-branch move – included those behind the Prime Minister’s electorate office picket, and hurled epithets including “baby killers” and “Nazis” toward councillors.
The mayor was forced to abandon the five-hour-long meeting about 11pm after the motion, which sought to investigate cutting council’s ties companies or products associated with Israel, was voted down, prompting 10 minutes of pro-Palestine chanting of “river to the sea”, shouts of “shame”, and swear words.
Labor’s seven councillors including the mayor, who voted against the motion, were forced to stay in chambers – as were council staff and elected colleagues – before the police arrived and escorted them out to their cars, given safety concerns with the large and angry crowd.
One pro-Palestine activist rubbished concerns and the experience of anti-Semitism described by one Jewish resident who spoke against the motion, before she then evoked the mayor’s deceased parents, which drew an emotional call to order by a taken aback Mr Byrne.
The few speakers who spoke against the motion, understood to all be Jewish residents, were booed by members of the gallery and one was called “Ms Netanyahu” for saying that while she supported Palestine she felt a BDS policy would worsen local social cohesion.
Others waved Palestine flags in the faces of Jewish residents speaking against the motion while some gallery members made a triangle symbol with their hands, eyewitnesses alleged, which is often associated with Hamas’ inverted triangle symbol.
On Wednesday, Mr Byrne said the actions and behaviour of the gallery, and organising group Inner West 4 Palestine, were “extreme”.
“The intimidating and abusive conduct of this group was unsafe, dangerous and undemocratic,” he said.
“The harassment and abuse of Jewish citizens who attended the meeting was appalling and completely unacceptable.
“There is no place for racism or religious vilification of any group in the Inner West.
“Overrunning the council chamber and preventing democratic decision making from taking place is not a political tactic that should be normalised in Australia.”
It had been the longest public gallery in the history of the council and the BDS motion meant council’s anti-racism strategy was unable to be discussed or voted on.
The Greens’ new slate of candidates for September’s election were also involved, pictured seated in the front row as activists hurled abuse at councillors.
ALP insiders have previously said the Greens would routinely stoke tensions and encourage targeting of electorate offices and other forums, like seen at Inner West Council, before wiping their hands clean of any responsibility.
“They go ‘That’s nothing to do with us, we had no idea’,” one Labor source said.
The mayor and police subsequently spoke about what had transpired:
In a statement on Wednesday, mayor Darcy Byrne said police were called after protesters refused to allow the meeting to proceed.
He said officers needed to escort councillors and staff out as they were not able to leave the building safely.
“The intimidating and abusive conduct of this group was unsafe, dangerous and undemocratic,” Cr Byrne said.
In a statement, NSW Police said officers were called to Liverpool Rd in Ashfield in relation to a public event.
“Officers attended and were told a number of members of the public had yelled at attendees and had left before police arrived,” a spokesman said.
To get an idea just how rabid this mob were, I went through video of the meeting and distilled some of the more relevant parts. Besides the jeering of the Jewish speakers – including the young Jew who had been bullied at school and a pro-peace Greens member who happens to think BDS is ineffective – note how Green protest co-organizer Dylan Griffiths mentions a “global intifada,” as well as the general intolerance of these people.
Yet another example of just how sh*tty these people – who claim to care about human rights – are.
Not to mention how anyone who votes for the Greens has to have rocks in their head.
