News / Council
Palestinian flag to fly again at civic centre
Council supports call for sanctions on Israel
Mark Phillips
ALMOST eight months after it was taken down during a ceasefire that failed to hold, the Palestinian flag will again fly outside the Coburg offices of Merri-bek Council, despite some councillors fearing that to do so would be divisive.
The council voted on Wednesday night to restore the flag as part of an omnibus resolution supporting the people of Gaza.
Merri-bek was the first council in Victoria and the second in Australia to fly the Palestine flag in November 2023 as an act of solidarity with Gaza at the beginning of a prolonged Israeli military offensive that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
After a temporary ceasefire was announced in January, the council discontinued the action, but that lull in the conflict lasted only two months. Since then an estimated 12,000 Palestinians have lost their lives due to the Israel Defense Forces, including more than 400 who have died of famine.
The offensive by the IDF was triggered by an attack by the Gaza-based terrorist organisation Hamas that killed 1700 people in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Since then, almost 66,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombing and bullets, with thousands more unaccounted for under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
On Wednesday, Bababi Djinanang ward councillor Sue Bolton rallied enough of her colleagues to reinstate the flag, along with backing sanctions against Israel and agreeing to hold an event on an international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people in November.
The decision was met with applause and cheers from a small group of pro-Palestine supporters in the public gallery who had earlier held a rally outside the council chambers.
But it was not unanimous, with both the Mayor, Helen Davidson, and Deputy Mayor, Helen Politis, speaking against it.
Bolton said with the war and siege of Gaza approaching its second anniversary, there was a strong case for supporting the large Palestinian and Middle Eastern communities in Merri-bek.
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She said there were precedents for local government to take a stance on international issues, including when East Timor won independence in the late-1990s.
“I think there is a need for Merri-bek to raise its voice again in solidarity with the people of Gaza, who are facing the most horrendous genocide and also to renew calls for Australia to impose full sanctions on Israel,” she said.
Brunswick West councillor Ella Svensson, who seconded Bolton’s motion, said she felt a moral obligation as an elected representative to add her voice to others calling for sanctions on Israel and to show solidarity with the victims of the war.
“As a council, we made a mistake taking down the Palestinian flag when only a temporary ceasefire was in place,” she said.
“Let’s fix that mistake. I urge all councillors to stand on the right side of history.”
Pascoe Vale South councillor Oscar Yildiz, who opposed flying the flag in 2023 but has since changed his position, said a symbolic gesture would help residents of Merri-bek who had a connection to Palestine to “feel seen, feel heard and supported in a time of crisis, and we stand with you on this”.
But Politis, who abstained from voting on the sanctions and flag, said while she was horrified by the carnage in Gaza, she did not believe the council should take a side about the conflict.
“There are many people in the community who feel this is not a fight we should be taking on,” she said.
“It has caused much division and created much side-taking … and caused much aggression in the community.
“The only time I have felt threatened in my community when I have been campaigning has been unfortunately on this issue of Palestine, which I very strongly support.
“We have a very diverse community out there which has different views on it, and I know that some of these actions will make divisions in a community when we should be focused on cohesion and on peace building.”
Pentridge ward councillor Natalie Abboud said she too worried that adopting Bolton’s resolution would cause more conflict in Merri-bek.
Davidson said she acknowledged the depth of feeling and distress caused by the conflict in Gaza, but she did not believe it was the council’s role to get involved in global political issues.
“Our core responsibility is to provide service, infrastructure and support to our residents,” she said.
“When we move into areas of international policy and foreign affairs which sit firmly with the federal government we risk straining our ability to represent and unite our whole communitiy in Merri-bek.”
The first part of Bolton’s resolution to note the distress caused by the war in Gaza was passed unanimously. The second and third parts, in support of sanctions and flying the flag, were carried by seven votes to two, with Davidson and Abboud both voting against it. The fourth motion, in favour of an event on the international day for Gaza, was carried by eight votes to three, with Box Forest ward councillor Chris Miles joining Davidson and Abboud to oppose it.
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