Antisemitism row costs environmental group $285,000

The Ballarat City Council has upheld its decision to terminate a $285,000 grant to a local environmental organisation after the group initially refused to remove a board member who made antisemitic statements on social media.

Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions (BREAZE) lost the funding on February 20 when it declined to remove board member Mary Debrett, who had posted controversial statements deemed antisemitic by the council.

Among Ms Debrett’s social media posts were claims that “Israel is a stain on the planet,” that “antisemitism is a response to Jewish behaviour and a rejection of Jewish supremacy,” and that Israel was “a rogue nation committing genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

BREAZE President Peta Guy has strongly defended Ms Debrett, claiming the comments were taken out of context and “were in fact, speaking to the genocide, and the majority of the things … were actually directly in line with resolutions in force with the City of Ballarat.”

Guy insisted the statements had “not any intent to be antisemitic about it, with an intent to talk about the behaviours of people killing innocent people.”