Dear Mayor Cr Pierce Tyson, Moonee Valley City Council and Moonee Valley City Councillors,

We are residents and friends of Moonee Valley, living on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation and elsewhere on the continent, and people of conscience who are horrified by the genocide of Palestinian people at the hands of the occupation state of ‘Israel’.

Following motions in other city councils, including Merri-Bek, Dandenong, Darebin, Hume, Maribyrnong, Wyndham and Yarra so far, we urge Moonee Valley City Council to put forward a motion in solidarity with Palestine and to enact its values, as set out in the council’s own vision statement, for a healthy, resilient and fair city. We want this motion to:

• Express heartfelt, unequivocal solidarity with Palestinian people, grieving the losses and committing to the struggle for a free Palestine.
• Recognise how traumatic the bombing and siege of Gaza is for community members from the Palestinian diaspora, the Levant, Arab and Muslim diasporas, and all those from war-torn countries.
• Acknowledge that this recent intensification of violence did not begin on October 7th, but with the occupation of Palestine by ‘Israel’, and that the current attacks on Gaza are a horrific escalation in what has been 75 years of ‘Israel’ subjecting Palestinian people to genocide, ethnic cleansing, occupation and racial apartheid, aided and armed by imperial western powers.
• Commit to flying the Palestinian flag above Moonee Valley City Council (clocktower) until such time Council resolves to remove the flag.
• Condemn the senior ‘Israeli’ politicians and military officials' attempts to dehumanise Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, to justify their war crimes.
• Condemn the weaponising of accusations of antisemitism to keep people silent and justify the genocide of Palestinians.
• Explore options to adopt an ethics policy that has Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies written into it.
• Explore options for Council to terminate, and not enter into, contracts with companies that support or profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine, especially companies that supply equipment to the Israeli Defense Forces and are complicit in genocide.
• Refuse funding for cultural initiatives from the occupation state of ‘Israel’ and other zionist sources, in an explicit rejection of cultural events being used by the occupation state of ‘Israel’ and zionist lobby groups to artwash apartheid.
• Note that numerous global organisations and institutions, including Amnesty International, United Nations Special Rapporteurs and the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Occupied Palestinian Territory have documented systematic evidence of war crimes committed by the occupation state of ‘Israel’ and the IDF against Palestinian people, including: sustained bombing of residential neighbourhoods; the bombing of schools, health facilities, mosques and churches where civilians are sheltering; the use of white phosphorous (an illegal chemical weapon which causes severe burns to the skin); the denial of food, water, fuel, electricity, internet and medical supplies to the people of Gaza.

We want Moonee Valley City Council to write to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and demand that the Australian Government:

• Calls for an immediate, permanent, unconditional ceasefire.
• Calls for an end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, by the occupation state of ‘Israel’.
• Calls for the immediate opening of borders into Palestine for unimpeded, limitless aid from the international community, including food, water, fuel, medical supplies and infrastructure rebuilding.
• Advocates for the repatriation of all hostages, political prisoners, Palestinian workers and refugees.
• Condemns and imposes sanctions on the occupation state of ‘Israel’ for their war crimes, including on weapons exports/imports.
• Calls for an end to all military, economic, political and diplomatic ties to the occupation state of ‘Israel’ until it complies with its obligations under international law.
• Uses its powers to expedite the visa processing of new Palestinian refugees who wish to come to Australia, and to immediately assist with the transport of Palestinian refugees to Australia whose visas have been approved.

We join in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have resisted the violence of occupation and settler colonialism on this continent for 235+ years.

We condemn all racism, colonialism and war profiteering. We join in solidarity with all of those calling for an end to the violent apartheid in occupied Palestine.

From the River to the Sea

Always was, Always will be

Signed,

Moonee Valley residents and friends