Greater Dandenong Council’s acting mayor, Sophie Tan has steered clear of councillor Rhonda Garad’s “personal” social media activity after a recent complaint.
The most recent complaint comes from City of Casey Transparency Advocate Facebook page admin Amanjit Gill who alleged that Cr Garad “targets Israeli people in general, everyday Jews and Jewish public figures” over her Palestine activism.
Ms Gill formally lodged a complaint and sought an apology from Cr Garad on behalf of the community.
Cr Tan replied to Ms Gill’s complaint saying the X profile is used in a “personal capacity not in her capacity as a councillor.”
“As such, these are matters that are beyond me and Council’s scope to manage or respond to.
“In any case, I have raised your concerns with Cr Garad.
“I wish to reiterate that individual Councillors do not speak for Council, and that Council remains committed to fostering and supporting a tolerant and respectful environment for everyone who lives in and visits the City of Greater Dandenong.”
Ms Gill says the response is disappointing.
“As a Sikh, I’d expect a better response than Cr Tan’s if a councillor had made offensive suggestions about the Sikh community.
“A person who represents or works for the community has a responsibility to be fair and approachable.
“In fact, it’s not enough to be fair and approachable – they need to appear fair and approachable too.”
According to Ms Gill, Cr Garad has blocked her after sending a private message and after she posted on Ms Gill’s Facebook post.
She is of the view that Cr Garad’s social media re-posts and posts are antisemitic or might be considered antisemitic.
Councillor Garad, subjected to scrutiny over her social media (particularly X platform) activity in support of Palestine, told Star Journal that she is “over” being called antisemitic.
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.
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.
This has placed her in the centre of criticism in the ongoing war against Palestinians at the hands of Israel which forced her to leave her position as a researcher at the Monash University after prolonged pressure.
Councillor Garad says she will continue to speak out against the genocide, especially when babies are being slaughtered.
