When does a Byron Council meeting draw an audience of more than a 100 people and attendance by the local police?
Answer: When the Council is debating an issue related to the war in Gaza.
And so it was at Byron Council last Thursday when scores of locals packed the chamber to watch, and participate in, a debate about the Council’s investment and procurement policy.
The question facing councillors was this: Should Council amend its policy to ensure that it does not invest in, or conduct business with, any enterprise identified by the UN Human Rights Council as being directly involved in the Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory?
The ultimate answer from councillors was ‘Yes’.
\But this was not before more than two hours of debate which, while passionate and at times heated, remained respectful.
The list of ‘identified companies’ in the motion passed by Council does not include any local businesses. In fact, it is mostly made up of Israeli companies which have nothing to do with the Byron Shire and would never have been viewed by the Council as opportunities for investments or partnership.
However, some of the companies on the list do have a global reach that extends to the Shire, including accommodation/tourism related businesses like Airbnb, Stayz and Tripadvisor.
In the debate, councillors first heard from locals on both sides of the debate and then thrashed out the issues on the chamber floor.
Subhi Awad, Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine, declared that voting ‘No’ in relation to the motion amounted to betraying the community and ‘ties us to blood money and war crimes’.
‘Right now in Gaza, the most horrific war crimes are being committed against a trapped civilian population,’ Mr Awad said.
‘The people of this Shire overwhelmingly do not support our money going to war crimes.’
‘Antisemitism’
Gilad Bino, from the Northern Rivers Jewish Community Association said the motion would do nothing overseas and would only serve to embolden those who had been preaching and practising hatred against the local Jewish community.
‘Since Council’s last motion, Jewish residents here in Byron have been directly targeted,’ Mr Bino said.
‘Antisemitic graffiti, harassment in schools and work places… and Jewish-owned businesses boycotted.’
‘Councillors, you are elected to serve all residents, not to advance an international political agenda at their expense.’
The debate amongst councillors explored a range of issues and opinions, including the need to take action against the actions of Israel as part of a global divestment movement, the inappropriateness of such actions given the potential consequences for local residents of Jewish origin, and whether or not it was Council’s role to become involved in global affairs.
Ethics debated
Councillors debated two motions.
The first, more punitive in its actions against Israel but ultimately unsuccessful, was put forward by Greens Councillor Elia Hauge.
It would have seen Council compile an extensive list of companies, from a list of organisations identified in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and that Council would cease to ‘conduct business with, divest from, or (as a last resort) place pressure upon’ them.
‘While I’ve heard from some people that this is far away, or somehow not relevant to our community, the reality is that we live in a globalised financial system,’ Cr Hauge said.
‘The companies that are profiting from the devastation in Palestine are part of this global financial system, and Council’s financial decisions are also part of this global financial system.
‘That is why we have a number of ethical frameworks in place already. That’s why we moved to divest from fossil fuels.
‘We know that when we’re part of a coordinated economic campaign we can have a real, tangible impact.’
Second motion passed
But Labor Councillor Asren Pugh put forward an alternative, and ultimately successful motion, which he said would make a statement in the cause of peace and justice, but without the irresponsible and unknown scope of Cr Hauge’s motion.
This motion adopted the list of businesses identified by the 2020 UN Human Rights Council report as being directly involved in Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.
‘The list [of businesses] referred to in the first motion is not verified,’ Cr Pugh said.
‘It’s a compilation of submissions that contains no specific list of businesses.
‘We are a local Council that can barely control our own planning laws. Without a definitive list we don’t know what the impact of the original motion would be on Council operations. We don’t know what it would cost.
‘It is profoundly irresponsible to make a decision without even understanding the cost.’
While Cr Pugh’s motion was passed with his vote and that of the four Greens councillors, support was far from unanimous.
His own Labor colleague Janet Swain, Deputy Mayor Jack Dods (Independent) and Councillor Michael Lyon were among those who voted against.
‘My position is that Council does not and should not resolve on global conflicts,’ Cr Dods said.
‘We are a small Shire and we have finite resources and my responsibility is to that Shire collectively as a whole. It is not to any particular interest group, nor to any particular political party.
‘Byron Council has already passed a motion denouncing the atrocities in this conflict… It is a clear, compassionate and genuine position and it does not need to be revisited.
‘Symbolic gestures of this kind consume our limited time and resources to no effect, and they risk dividing a community that I believe is better when it works together.
‘Good governance means resisting the urge to turn this chamber into a theatre for global politics.’
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