Motion condemns antisemitism and intimidation
Liberal councillor for Randwick Daniel Rosenfeld successfully moved a motion recognising antisemitism as a distinct form of hatred directed at Jewish people.
Liberal Councillor Daniel Rosenfeld has successfully moved a motion during the recent Randwick Council meeting condemning hate-based antisemitism and intimidation.
The motion recognises antisemitism as a distinct and historically persistent form of hatred directed at Jewish people as Jews.
“I moved this motion due to the large rise in antisemitism and I am pleased that it was passed and is now a council resolution,” Rosenfeld told The AJN.
“Randwick Council is making a clear statement that antisemitism is not going to be tolerated.”
The Greens’ Philipa Veitch moved an amendment to add Muslims, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the LGBTQIA+ community, but it was defeated 12-3. Only the three Greens councillors voted for the amendment, before the original motion was supported by the council unanimously.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Waverley, mayor Will Nemesh said the council’s formal honouring of the Bondi terror attack victims at Tuesday’s meeting created “a solemn space for remembrance, reflection and collective mourning”.
Councillors and general manager Emily Scott, alongside NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Michele Goldman and Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed, lit 15 candles in honour of the victims of the December 14 terrorist attack in which 15 were killed. Candles were also lit in recognition of survivors and first responders.
The gallery on Tuesday was reserved for family members of the victims, while survivors of the attack were also invited. Reuven Morrison’s daughter Sheina Gutnik joined the meeting via video to recite a tribute for her father.
“There is not a day that passes that we do not question this reality,” she said.
“Even in death, his life speaks.”
Nemesh told The AJN that the reading of 15 obituaries allowed the council to honour each victim individually and remember them “for the lives they led, the love they gave and the love they received from family, friends and their communities”.
The meeting also heard from Jordan Vic, who presented a petition with over 22,000 signatures calling for Bondi Park Playground to be renamed Matilda Bee Playground in honour of 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim of the attack.
Matilda’s mother Valentyna Poltavchenko commented on the petition, saying it was “a beautiful idea”, according to the Daily Telegraph. “Matilda was the only child whose life was taken during that attack. She deserves to be remembered,” she said.
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