DCC to consider official support for Israel sanctions Bill
Next week, elected officials will considered a motion from Cr Christine Garey, asking for the council to support Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick's Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill.
Cr Garey's motion also requests Mayor Jules Radich write to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, asking government MPs to support the Bill.
It would impose sanctions in response to the "presence of Israel ... in the Occupied Palestinian Territory", which the United Nations deemed to be unlawful.
Cr Garey said it was the council's role to advocate for the Dunedin community.
"There'll be people in the city ... who will wonder, 'what has this got to do with us?'," she said.
"Our New Zealand Palestinian community, and the community in Dunedin, they are traumatised — they are beyond grief."
The council had previously called for a ceasefire in Gaza and advocated for special humanitarian visas to be extended to the families of New Zealand's Palestinian community.
Dunedin city councillor Christine Garey hopes her fellow elected members will back her motion for the council to support a Bill sanctioning Israel. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
She said she applauded the government's recent sanctioning of two far-right Israeli ministers; "however, it's not enough".
"There's been this shift in attitude from our government politicians ... it feels like there's momentum," she said.
All opposition parties supported the Bill, and support from six government MPs was needed for it to pass.
Earlier in the week, councillors heard from two Dunedin residents who urged them to support the bill.
Dunedin for Justice in Palestine member Anna Knight said there was "clear precedent" for the Bill and the council had a duty to advocate and protect its constituents affected by the war.
Dunedin Jewish woman Kathryn Goodman said Israel was "violating all Jewish ethics".
"We have the precedent to be able to discourage the occupation — that would hit them in the wallet, and that is what the sanction bill is about."
Councillors will consider the motion at Wednesday's community services committee meeting.
Last year, Environment Canterbury and Nelson and Christchurch city councils voted to boycott businesses which operated in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.
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