Across Australia, efforts are afoot to silence Israel’s critics by conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Emma Thomas reports on the case of Dandenong Councillor Dr Rhonda Garad.
Earlier this month, Greater Dandenong City Council levelled charges of antisemitism against local councillor, Dr Rhonda Garad. The accusation comes after Garad made several re-posts on her social media accounts, stating, among other things, that Israel is “carrying out a massive slaughter of Palestinians” and using the slogan and trending hashtag “death to the IDF”.
On 1 July, journalist Carly Douglas with the Melbourne-based News Corp tabloid, Herald Sun, contacted Garad about her posts, which Garad told Douglas she stood by. Later that morning, Douglas contacted Greater Dandenong City Council for comment.
Douglas asked the council: “Does the council believe this is acceptable behaviour from a councillor? There are accusations that these tweets are antisemitic. Does the council believe they’re antisemitic? Will the council speak to Dr Garad? Will the council ask her to remove any of the posts?”
Douglas did not indicate who had accused the posts of being antisemitic.
Dandenong Council’s response
In response to the Herald Sun’s questions, Greater Dandenong City Council issued a statement asserting that the council “does not endorse Cr Garad’s re-tweets in relation to the IDF, Israel or Zionism.”
It went on to accuse Garad of antisemitism: “Some of her re-tweets support antisemitic language and are likely to cause pain, offence and harm to the Jewish community. […] Genuine political comment should never cross into vilification, abuse or inciting hatred against people on the basis of their faith, race or other protected characteristics.”
Garad maintains – and the council has not demonstrated otherwise – that none of the posts supports antisemitic language nor engages in vilification, abuse or incitement of hatred against Jews or the Jewish community. She has labelled the council’s claims against her “defamatory” and is seeking a public apology.
The targets of Garad’s posts, as the council’s own media response specifies, are the State of Israel, its military, and the ideology of Zionism, not Jews or the Jewish community.
Australian law interpreted
According to the Australian Federal Court’s recent judgement in Wertheim vs. Haddad,
criticism of Israel, its policies, institutions and ideologies is distinct from antisemitism.
Such criticism – “however inflammatory or adversarial” – is legitimate political expression. As the Justice made clear, “not all Jews in Australia or Israel support Israel’s occupation of Palestine or the actions of the IDF in killing large numbers of civilians in Gaza.”
Garad sees the council’s actions as part of a larger trend of organisations and institutions working to silence and suppress opposition to genocide and human rights abuses – and relying on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, with its conflation of antisemitism and critique of Israel, to do so.
Usually, she told MWM, this silencing happens quietly and behind the scenes. Greater Dandenong City Council just put it in writing.
For councils and other organisations to use an operational policy that is distinct from their formal policies means that they are operating outside of their own established governance frameworks. Garad said,
From a governance perspective, they have become ‘rogue actors’
By putting this in writing, Garad says, “the council effectively announced that it was operating in accordance with the IHRA definition. However, Greater Dandenong City Council has adopted no such policy, and to do so would require the formal endorsement of local councillors. And in light of the Federal Court finding,
the enforcement of such a policy would be inconsistent with Australian law.
Zionist pressure
Invitation to attend the Australian Local Government Summit Against Antisemitism
Garad makes no claim to represent the council on her social media accounts. Furthermore, Councillors are independent of the councils themselves and have the right to free speech.
Councillors are elected by their community to represent that community. As the spokesperson for Greater Dandenong wrote in their statement for the Herald Sun, that community is indeed culturally and religiously diverse, home to many who are profoundly and personally impacted by Israel’s ongoing assault on Palestine.
According to Garad, many of them “have lost family members (one family over 60)” as a result of the actions of Israel and its military.
Garad publicised the council’s statement regarding her posts on her social media on 9 July, writing that she remains committed to speaking out “on behalf of our community who are so deeply traumatised by this genocide” and to exposing “how institutions like councils are cowering to Zionist pressure.”
The very next day, Garad received a personal invitation to attend the 2025 Australian Local Government Summit Against Antisemitism, taking place on the Gold Coast in September this year. The event is hosted by the international Combat Antisemitism Movement in partnership with local Zionist organisations including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Christian Zionist outfit Never Again is Now.
Hosts offer to cover the costs of meals, travel and accommodation for interstate guests.
Dr Emma Thomas is a researcher and writer based in the Greater Sydney area. As a historian, she has spent the last fifteen years studying and teaching at universities in Australia and the United States. One of the first things she teaches all her students is that opinions and evidence-based arguments are not the same thing.