An active Casey resident and Facebook page admin has filed a complaint against a Greater Dandenong councillor’s social media activism on Palestine.
Amanjit Gill who is the admin of City of Casey Transparency Advocate Facebook page accuses councillor Rhonda Garad of “sharing antisemitic” content on her X account (formerly Twitter).
“To be clear, I agree with Cr Garad that a genocide is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people of Gaza,” she says, however she believes Cr Garad shares content that “targets Israeli people in general, everyday Jews and Jewish public figures.”
“I scrolled down and the first thing that absolutely shocked me was how long it took to scroll – there’s days where she reposts so much, it could take an hour.
“Her re-posting and posting are prolific.
“I agree that it is a century defining moment, she’s right there’s a genocide happening and if not blocked then the next generation of kids will learn about how Palestinian people used to exist. That would be tragic.
“(But) it’s social media junk food, for example analysing different celebrities and whether they support the genocide or not.”
Her page advocates for good governance, posting about council news, any news related to the municipality and also made a few posts expressing her independent views on Cr Garad’s social media activity backed by numerous numbered screenshots.
Ms Gill says she was prompted to lodge the complaint to City of Greater Dandenong after Cr Garad’s post about the wealthy Rothschild Jewish family.
It referred to a ‘conspiracy theory’ that the Rothschild and Rockefeller families funded scientific research into musical frequencies to prepare the masses for war.
However, councillor Garad says the post was to mock, not promote the conspiracy theory referenced in her post dissecting her use of language to indicate the “laughable” conspiracy.
“The tweet I reposted clearly ridicules the claim…”
While Ms Gill says the information Cr Garad shares is not factual, councillor Garad asserts her posts and reshares are factually correct.
“I’m so over being called anti-semitic. I accepted this is the treatment when you try to stop babies being slaughtered.
“This is not the first time Council’s received this complaint about me.
“It means I’m doing the right thing, having an impact and will keep doing it until they stop slaughtering human beings.”
Ms Gill would like to see Cr Garad provide an “unconditional apology.”
“I’m not confident that would happen because she’s so gown down this rabbit hole that she can see how unproductive her brand of activism is.
“I don’t want to call for people to be sacked, suspended but that musical note wasn’t the only thing that has crossed the line and if she can’t see that, I genuinely wonder if she’s fit for office.”
Councillor Garad says she’ll be more than happy to further discuss this with Ms Gill.
The two first interacted on Messenger during the federal election when Cr Garad ran for the seat of Bruce as a Greens candidate.
Ms Gill who was “seriously considering voting for her” changed her mind after she felt Cr Garad was “leaning into ethnic politics in ways”‘ Ms Gill was uncomfortable with on the Thomas Street renaming.
Ms Gill is not the first or the last person to criticise Cr Garad’s posts on X.
She has been under great scrutiny and became subject to a number of news reports which cited her vocal stance on the eminent issue.
Recently, she said she was exploring her legal options after the Greater Dandenong Council released a statement that her social-media retweets “support anti-semitic language”. This was in response to an enquiry from another media outlet.
In response to the complaint, Greater Dandenong Council CEO Jacqui Weatherill says council does not endorse any of the posts.
“Council notes that a member of the public has concerns about specific posts on X by Cr Garad.
“They are being considered in line with the relevant provisions of the Local Government Act 2020 and the Model Councillor Code of Conduct.
“Our community is one of the most culturally- and faith-diverse in Australia.
“We are committed to fostering and supporting a tolerant and respectful environment for everyone.”
Cr Garad, who has been a strong voice for the plight of the Palestinians, was also forced to leave her position as a researcher at the Monash University after prolonged pressure.
In a recent article by Paul Gregoire, she opens up about the price she had to pay for her stance.
A Greens Party member, she exited the party after seven years to stay away from the “pretty cooked” politics, which was no shade to the Greens party whom she praised.
Councillor Garad has publicly attended pro-Palestinian protests including outside the Dandenong South manufacturer AW Bell, which was accused of providing military-production supply to Israel. The company had rejected those claims.
She says nothing will stop her from speaking out against the genocide of Palestinians.
