Tutu congratulates council's Israel boycott
ABC
07-Jun-2011

Jewish groups have condemned Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu for congratulating Sydney's Marrickville Council on its now abandoned boycott of Israel.

A letter of congratulations from the South African activist to the council is expected to be presented at a council meeting tonight.

In it Archbishop Tutu likens present-day Israel to his own country during the apartheid era.

The chief executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, says Archbishop Tutu has a long history of such comments.

"This one is merely another in a consistent line of outrageous comments in terms of the conflict," Mr Alhadeff said.

In April the council abandoned plans to actually implement its boycotts, divestments, sanctions (BDS) policy in favour of giving it "in principle" support.

The BDS campaign also caused controversy for Marrickville Mayor Fiona Byrne during the March state election, where she ran unsuccessfully for the Greens.

An independent councillor who voted against the policy, Victor Macri, says the letter should not be used by Ms Byrne to reignite the issue.

"I believe it was the clear and defining factor in Marrickville why Councillor Byrne wasn't elected as the state member," Mr Macri said.

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