Greater Dandenong Council has been flooded with emails urging the council to take action against a councillor’s social media activities about the Gaza conflict.
Councillor Rhonda Garad is back on the radar over her ongoing and unapologetic tweets on X, most recently about babies during the Gazan winter with the caption, “Sorry if this is antisemitic but I don’t think one-week old Palestinian babies should freeze to death.”
Reposted over 56 times, with thousands of views and engagements, the post has been flagged with the council.
Critics say Cr Garad “appears” to blame all Jews for the Gazans sufferings but she says the post was “genuinely aimed” at Israel which she sees as “perpetrators.”
A total of 60 emails are said to have been emailed by individuals to Council, councillors and MPs like Minister for Local Government, Nick Staikos and the opposition spokesperson for local government Bev McArthur MP.
One email that appears to be from a Brighton and Caulfield business owner described Cr Garad’s post as “unsubstantiated” and “inflammatory,” urging council to “censure” Cr Garad “in the most robust manner possible.”
“It seems to be a continuation of the antisemitic rhetoric that has been prevalent since the tragic events of October 7 in Israel.
“By making such claims, Cr Garad appears to be blaming all Jews for the suffering in Gaza.
“This type of rhetoric is divisive and undermines the social fabric of our community. As residents, business owners, and fair-minded Australians in Dandenong, we find this completely unacceptable.”
The complainant claims Israeli controlled Gaza has no civilian population and any reported casualties are occurring in Hamas controlled regions, noting the weather in Gaza is “relatively warm.”
Despite her mention of Dandenong, the email writer doesn’t seem to be a resident of Greater Dandenong or have any direct or indirect connections to the area.
She didn’t respond to Star Journal’s enquiries.
Posted just days before new ‘hate speech’ laws were passed in the wake of the Bondi shooting, Cr Garad is concerned about any potential consequences.
“This is designed to silence us all, rob us of what I see, our duty to speak up.
“I don’t know what will happen. Anything we say now that is critical of Israel and genocide, anything that is publicly stated about that is open to being prosecuted and criminalised under this legislation.
“For the crime of not wanting mass slaughter, mass murder – which is the kindest word you could use for what’s happening in Gaza – we can be criminalised.”
Councillor Jim Memeti who refused to comment on his colleague’s social media activities says he’s yet to catch-up on the new legislation saying some organisations have raised concerns with him.
Last year, Cr Garad filed a complaint at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission against City of Greater Dandenong CEO, Jacqui Weatherill, after the council refused her ‘cease-and-desist’ demand to publicly apologise and retract its media statement on her retweets.
Cr Garad took issue with the council’s media statement to Herald Sun that some of her social-media retweets “support anti-semitic language” and that “genuine political comment should never cross into vilification, abuse or inciting hatred”. She says the council’s statement was false, defamatory, and an attempt to restrict her social media activity.
She says the council should have instead issued a “no comment” on the grounds of her “right to free speech”.
Greater Dandenong Council declined to comment.
