Last December our local Council - Marrickville Council - took the courageous step of voting to support the
Palestinian BDS Campaign. '
BDS' stands for
'Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions' ...That:
- In particular recognition of its sister city relationship with Bethlehem and the strong support for this relationship from local progressive faith communities and other community members, Marrickville Council support the principles of the BDS global campaign and report back on any links the Council has with organisations or companies that support or profit from the Israeli military occupation of Palestine with a view to the Council divesting from such links and imposing a boycott on any future such links or goods purchases.
- Marrickville Council boycott all goods made in Israel and any sporting, institutional academic, government or institutional cultural exchanges.
- Marrickville Council write to the local State and Federal ministers (Carmel Tebbutt and Anthony Albanese) informing them of Council’s position and seeking their support at the State and Federal level for the global BDS movement.
... Councillors who both proposed and supported the resolution have come under enormous pressure from multiple angles! Party members are being put under pressure by senior officials, others are being taken to court, threatening emails and phone calls have poured in to the Council offices, etc.
...
In response to all this, my friend Jennifer Killen has started a campaign of support for our local Councillors, and she's written an
Open Letter and is looking for more signatories. Happily, letters of support are now pouring in from all sectors of the community, including from local clergy and other community leaders.
