Community action in the Blue Mountains has pressured the local council to pass two pro-Palestine motions.
The combined push of regular Mountains for Palestine (M4P) rallies and actions from other local councils led to M4P working with Blue Mountains City Greens Councillors to submit a motion for Palestine.
Briefly, it called on the Australian government to uphold international law, work to stop Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide, restore Australian UNRWA funding and work to end Israel's siege and blockade on Gaza.
To garner support, M4P contacted Labor Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill. But instead of cooperating with the M4P-Greens motion, Labor proposed its own.
Community pressure meant that both motions were passed by all but one councillor as an “urgent matter” at its February meeting.
M4P has had no word from either state or federal MPs on what Labor will do towards ending Australia's complicity in Israel's genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine.