RUTHFULLY YOURS

Faced with the sack by New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell, Sydney’s Marrickville Council has backed down on its ludicrous and outrageous Greens-led BDS venture, but certain councillors still fail to realise that they are in the “roads, rates and rubbish” tier of public life and that their business is emphatically not Australian foreign policy.

You see, despite voting on Tuesday 8:4 in favour of this motion:

“Cancel resolve not to pursue the GBDS against Israel in any shape or form, as called for in the Dec 14 resolution”

the Council  passed this, introduced by Councillor Dimitrios Thanos, one of the four recalcitrant Greens, who included Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne:

“The Council remain concerned about Palestinian human rights and calls on Israel to end the occupation of all Arab lands; dismantle the wall, and to ensure the fundamental rights of Palestinians to full equality”

The three-hour meeting was raucous, with eruptions from the public gallery that entailed swearing in Arabic; a few pro-Palestinians were asked to leave, three were ejected, and outside on the stairs there were altercations that were broken up by police.  All 12 councillors spoke, as did no less than 17 members opf the public.

According to The Australian, Councillor Cathy Peters, who intoduced the original motion that committed the Council to the BDS Movement, was the most passionate speaker in favour.  She, it seems, is Jewish, to boot; her grandparents reportedly were incarcerated in Terezin.

As a taste here’s local Anglican cleric  and anti-Israel agitator Father David Smith (aka “Father Dave”), talking emotively about the “forces of darkness” (the voice calling for order is Fiona Byrne’s):

For more see: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/councillors-withdraw-support-for-boycott/story-e6frf7jx-1226041833870 and http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/marrickville-council-drops-israel-boycott/story-fn59niix-1226041840517
(Hat tip: reader Shirlee)

On hand to boost the Boycott Derangement Syndromers’ cause was that nice Jewish boy Antony Loewenstein, whose strange hatred for the Jewish State has lent aid and comfort to anti-“Zionists” galore.

He’s the subject of this early post of mine: http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2010/07/dirty-doings-down-under.html

Here, he posts John Pilger’s missive to the meeting: http://antonyloewenstein.com/2011/04/18/john-pilger-to-sydneys-marrickville-council-stand-up-for-palestine/

And there have been, evidently, more dirty doings Down Under, since an Australian citizen of Saudi birth has been arrested in Israel as a spy for Hamas: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=217190