A key figure behind independent candidate Allegra Spender’s tilt in the Sydney seat of Wentworth has criticised Australia’s “shocking support” of Israel and is a proponent of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Ms Spender, the daughter of the late fashion designer Carla Zampatti, was recruited as the independent candidate in Wentworth late last year by a group called Wentworth Independents.
The electorate has one of the biggest Jewish communities in the country.
Climate activist Blair Palese was listed as one of the four core members of Wentworth Independents when the group outlined its policy platform and desire for a new federal MP.
After Ms Spender was chosen as the candidate, Ms Palese said she was involved in developing policy positions for her.
Ms Palese – who has since campaigned for Ms Spender’s bid to replace Liberal MP Dave Sharma – has spoken on social media about Australia’s “shocking support of Israel in killing unarmed children and civilians”.
On social media, Ms Palese has shared articles and tweets advocating the boycott of the Sydney Festival over a $20,000 grant from the Israeli embassy to support an Israeli-choreographed dance performance.
Ms Palese retweeted a post from a boycott organiser in January celebrating the “fantastic artists” who had withdrawn from the Sydney Festival “for accepting money from apartheid Israel”. A few days earlier, on December 29, Ms Palese shared an article by a Palestinian advocate calling for a boycott of the Sydney Festival in which Israel was described as an “apartheid state” that had committed “crimes against humanity”.
Read the article by Sharri Markson and Remy Varga in The Australian.