Cr Tina Kordrostami on putting humans first

When City of Ryde councillor Tina Kordrostami left the Greens last year over the party’s handling of the Middle East crisis and its failure to condemn the Iranian regime or terrorist groups including Hamas and Hezbollah, the backlash was swift.

She was removed from community groups she had spent years supporting, from refugee advocacy to LGBTQIA+ organisations, homelessness services and domestic violence networks.

Overnight, she found herself politically and socially isolated.

But an unexpected hand reached out. Lynda Ben-Menashe, a constituent of Kordrostami’s, got in touch to talk about the work of National Council of Jewish Women Australia (NCJWA) and floated the possibility of working together.

Kordrostami said that the idea had never occurred to her.

“Our generational trauma as Iranians has led to this mentality of an us and them,” she said. “So even though I’ve been raised in Australia, I never really viewed myself to be anything but an Iranian. I wouldn’t even give myself the permission to reach out to other communities or get involved.”

But when the invitation came, she seized it.

“I immediately took it and told her I’ll do whatever I can.”

Now, Kordrostami is preparing to attend the NCJWA’s national conference in Sydney in August, the latest step in a growing alliance between the Iranian-Australian activist and the Jewish community.

Kordrostami grew up in the Ryde area and was raised with connections to the Baha’i faith through her mother, and to Kurdish heritage through her father. Both groups face well-documented persecution in Iran, and Kordrostami said that personal history underpins her broader approach to human rights.

She said the philosophy driving her advocacy is simple.

“I didn’t come out and speak up about any community other than the Iranian community. But within that process, within this journey, I’ve come across so many different communities. I have always said that my politics is to put humans first.”

That means refusing to make human rights conditional on political alignment. “If we only speak up about any topic when it aligns with our politics, we’re saying human rights are conditional, and I don’t believe in that.”

Kordrostami drew strong parallels between the Iranian and Jewish diasporas, pointing to a shared experience and an emphasis on passing down culture across generations.

“One area in which the Iranian and Jewish community can really identify strongly is the importance of preserving culture,” she said, adding that both communities understood what it meant to be “not only isolated, but constantly under attack”.

She said the two communities had also shown up for each other. The Jewish community, she noted, had actively covered and supported Iranian diaspora protests, while Iranians had increasingly stood alongside the Jewish community at public events and through advocacy work.

For Kordrostami, that physical presence matters more than words.

“People have become so opportunistic,” she said. “They’re willing to just say whatever they need to, and then a few months or few years down the track, they’ll completely speak against it. I think when you show up in person, you’re choosing to really commit yourself to something.”

It was at one of the first Jewish community events she attended that the weight of that commitment became clear. She was told the gathering could not be promoted on social media beforehand and would only be shared publicly afterwards, for security reasons.

“That was a big deal to me because up until that moment, every other event that I was involved in, the biggest conversation about the event was its promotion,” Kordrostami said. “I had to take a seat and really think about that, and that made me realise I need to be a lot more involved, but also a lot louder about my involvement as well.”

Being louder has drawn criticism, but she said that only reinforced her resolve. “I need to show up for people and not just speak about my support for them.”

Asked what message she would give to the Jewish community, Kordrostami urged people to lead with empathy, even when it feels impossible.

“We can acknowledge different perspectives while standing together against hatred and violence,” she said. “If we can somehow maintain that mentality of prioritising empathy, trust and relationships, I do think we will see a change for the better.”

She closed with a reflection on resilience, a quality she said both communities sometimes wore as armour when they needed to set it down. “It’s okay to not be in that fight or flight mode all the time, and take a minute for ourselves, for our family, and for our community, and prioritise what’s best for us.”

Cr Tina Kordrostami will be appearing on a panel at the NCJWA National Conference, August 22-24.

For more: ncjwa.org.au/conference