The federal Greens have distanced themselves from their NSW counterparts, describing the behaviour of the party’s controversial candidate for the southern Sydney seat of Barton as “unacceptable”, but dismissing the candidate’s endorsement as a matter for the state division.
University of Sydney student union queer officer and Barton candidate Connor Parissis has repeatedly posted on Facebook during the election campaign in support of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, in contravention of Greens policy.
As The Australian revealed earlier this week, Parissis was also caught on film hurling expletives at Christian students advocating for a No vote during the same sex marriage postal survey.
This newspaper also exposed candidates in three other NSW seats as having voiced their support for the BDS movement on social media.
On Wednesday, Parissis — who identifies as gender-fluid and asks that people use the pronouns “they” and “their” — posted on the “Connor Parissis — Greens for Barton” Facebook page, saying: “May 15 (today) marks the 71st anniversary of Nakba 1948, which is known as the term that refers to the mass forced displacement of 1948 of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands in Palestine.”
“This was represented by the success of the Zionist movement, supported by Britain, in controlling the greater part of Palestine and declaring Israel. Noteworthy, after Israel’s war in June 1976, in which it illegally occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip another 350,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes,” Parissis wrote.
Read the article by Rachel Baxendale in The Australian.