Ending Apartheid: Think local, act global

Oct 29, 2024
Business concept. Against the background of the world map, a man holds a sign with the inscription - Think global act local Image:iStock/ Dzmitry Skazau

Boycotts, divestments and sanctions are back. Students are urging universities to reveal their investments and connections with Israel, and to end them. Local councils in Victoria and New South Wales have been quick to do the same.

In September, NSW local government elections were dominated in the inner city by questions about what priority councils should give to foreign policy, in particular the Israel-Hamas war. The deputy mayor of Waverley Council lost his position in October 2023 when he voted against a motion condemning the Hamas attacks. Since then, conflicting views on Israel and Palestine have caused turmoil in local councils across Sydney.

In December, the City of Sydney Council expressed support for an ‘immediate, sustainable and humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza with respect to ‘human rights and international law’. Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said the Council endorsed a lasting ceasefire, stating that ‘now more than ever we must use our voices to call for peace’. Six months later, the City of Sydney received a report recommending a review of its suppliers and investments in relation to Israel, to which Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) could apply. The Greens councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, who moved the motion, spoke of ‘the continued violence in Israel and Palestine’, explaining that BDS is one method of applying pressure and making a difference from abroad.

In response, the Algemeiner found an ‘excellent reason to boycott the City of Sydney. Let the terrorists in Gaza go there and support their anti-semitic mayor. A major Australian city may soon adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel amid a surge in antisemitic incidents there’.

In Western Sydney, the Canterbury-Bankstown Council was the first to fly the Palestinian flag, and since January the inner-west Marrickville Council, where the Prime Minister has his electoral office, has boycotted institutions that support the occupation of Palestine.

In Melbourne, three councils – Darebin, Wyndham, and Hume – passed motions in December calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. But in February, the City of Melbourne Council voted against a call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and later, Adelaide’s City Council voted against flying the Palestinian flag at its chambers.

The Darebin council resolution on the Israel-Palestinian war followed a motion by independent deputy mayor Gaetano Greco called ‘Palestine’. It was passed with the support of Darebin’s Labor, Greens and independent councillors. To the published disgust of Jewish commentators (Gaza vote set to impact local government elections), the motion states that the council ‘stands in solidarity with both the Palestinian and Israeli communities in the municipality’. It says the council supports the ‘Palestinian community who are calling for their basic human rights in the Occupied Territories to be respected in accordance with international law’. It condemns threats of eviction of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, and Israeli violence against worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan (in March-April 2024).

Before it was amended by councillors, Greco’s motion also called on the federal government to urge Israel to cease its occupation of Palestine, to ‘reverse the trend which points to Apartheid rule over Palestinians’, and to recognise the State of Palestine.

Meanwhile across the Tasman on 23 October, New Zealand beat Australia’s local councils by putting principles into practice and sanctioning Israel. The Christchurch City Council became the first in Aotearoa to exclude from its procurement policy companies that build and maintain illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Promising more steps to follow, John Minto, chair of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), deplored the ‘failure of Western governments to hold Israel to account which means Israel has a 76-year history of oppression and brutal abuse of Palestinians and stealing their land’. Building settlements on occupied land belonging to others is a war crime, he pointed out.

That, of course, is what settler colonisers did for centuries in the Americas, the British colonies, and many others before it became a war crime.

Some have made amends to those they colonised for the consequences.

But while Israel continues the modern colonisation process in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and now Lebanon, many citizens hope that their influence in acting local can stop violence experienced globally.

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