Dunedin councillors flooded with 'highly orchestrated' emails after supporting Green Party bill
Photo:
RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Dunedin's mayor and councillors have been flooded with thousands of emails after declaring their support for the Green Party's proposal to sanction Israeli politicians.
Each elected member of the Dunedin City Council has received more than 2200 emails in what has been described as an orchestrated backlash to their support for the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill.
Chlöe Swarbrick's members' bill would direct sanctions at Israeli ministers and Knesset members as well as military leaders who support the occupation of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem - similar to sanctions imposed on Russian leadership for its illegal war on Ukraine.
Dunedin councillor Christine Garey said the emails, which arrived over several hours on 7 July, appeared to be a campaign from a group based in the United States.
The broad, impersonal emails - seen by RNZ - criticised "anti-Israel resolutions that unjustly vilify Israel", and asked recipients not to call for a "financial and military aid boycott of Israel".
They began flooding in from about 1:30am, each with a slightly different subject line, Garey said.
While only sent to the mayor and councillors, they also featured a CC list of New Zealand and United States leaders.
"They were all quite carefully crafted - it was highly orchestrated," Garey said.
She reported the emails to the council's IT staff, who she said blocked the senders later that morning.
Two and a half weeks earlier, Dunedin City Council's Community Services Committee voted in favour of Mayor Jules Radich writing to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters asking government MPs to back Swarbrick's bill.
Half of those around the council table were opposed, but a casting vote from chair Marie Laufiso broke the tie.
Garey, who introduced the motion, said the bizarre email response had galvanized her to keep using her voice and influence on behalf of Dunedin's Palestinian community.
"It says to me that we have made an impact... we touched a nerve and, to be honest, it's a badge of courage because it attracted this attention. It just reminds us how important this issue is.... the plight of our Palestinian community in Ōtepoti Dunedin," she said.
The council previously called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for special humanitarian visas for the families of New Zealand's Palestinian community.
Those resolutions had triggered some email traffic but nothing like the most recent onslaught, Garey said.
In a statement, Dunedin City Council chief information officer Graeme Riley confirmed each councillor received a total of 2284 emails between 4 and 14 July, relating to the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill.
The council was not taking any further action, he said.
"It is not uncommon for council to receive bulk emails when considering contentious issues, but this example would be at the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of volume."
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