Council meeting abandoned amid abusive behaviour from Greens-linked protesters
'The extremist Greens political party and the radical anti-Israel movement is a mortal threat to our democracy'
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) on Wednesday expressed its shock and horror following unprecedented scenes at an Inner West Council meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night when the behaviour of ostensibly pro-Palestinian protesters supporting a Greens motion to boycott Israel led to police being called and the meeting being abandoned.
The motion moved by Greens Councillor Dylan Griffiths – echoing the now defunct Marrickville Council’s ill-fated attempt to do the same in 2011 – called for the Council to investigate cutting ties with Israeli companies.
Griffiths had promoted the Council meeting ahead of time to attract the protesters, who hurled insults, heckled Jewish speakers and behaved in a manner that meant police had to be called to escort the Councillors out of the building when Mayor Darcy Byrne was finally forced to prematurely end the meeting amidst the fracas.
“It is frankly shocking and horrifying that a substantial Australian political party like the Greens continues to be complicit in violent protests targeting and designed to intimidate our elected representatives, as well as Australia’s Jewish minority,” AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said.
“The scenes at Sydney’s Inner West Council last night, where a crowd, apparently organised with the participation of Greens Councillor Dylan Griffiths, shouted down and launched slurs at Jewish community members and were so aggressive toward elected Council members that police had to escort them to safety, were ones I never expected to see in Australia.
“They clearly show for all to see how far the Greens have descended towards lawless extremism since October 7.”
Rubenstein said the major parties “need to continue to do everything possible” to marginalise the Greens and “call out their pernicious actions and complicity with violence”.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip called it “an ugly Greens-led anti-Israel protest which endangered Council staff, the general public and elected councillors”.
“We thank Mayor Darcy Byrne and his non-Green councillor colleagues for their courageous leadership in the face of this threatening conduct,” he said.
“We also commend the local residents – both Jewish and non-Jewish – who bravely exercised their democratic right to advocate against the Greens’ motion.”
Ossip said it was “now beyond any doubt that the extremist Greens political party and the radical anti-Israel movement is a mortal threat to our democracy”.
“All people of goodwill need to protect our democracy and social cohesion by uniting against their dangerous, divisive and anarchical behaviour,” he said.
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