Israeli singer Efrat Gosh to perform in Marrickville, Australia

Delivering another blow to the local BDS'ers, Israeli singer Efrat Gosh, last years Israeli female artist of the year will be performing at ground zero of the flailing BDS movement, Marrickville, Austraila.

Gosh was originally going to perform just a single gig in Sydney last weekend.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

However, the Israeli embassy in Canberra and the Zionist Federation of Australia decided to promote a second show as a direct consequence of the council's controversial "boycott Israel" proposal earlier this year.

We wanted to bring Israeli culture specifically to Marrickville to show another colour of Israel," said the Israeli embassy spokeswoman, Einat Weiss.

"We realised that a lot of people who live in Marrickville didn't know anything about the real Israel."

In a press release yesterday promoting the singer's performance, the Israeli embassy said Gosh had chosen to perform in Marrickville to help Sydney's inner-west residents recognise Israel's cultural contribution to the world.

"They can also seize the opportunity to learn more about Israel," the press release read.

"Proponents of the boycott who failed to see the country's vibrant and multicultural heart should watch Gosh's performance and experience a piece of the real Israel."

Towns' Decison to boycott Israel costs them $3.7 million

I'm not laughing. Really, I'm not.

Its more of a chortle.

The Australian town of Marrickville's Green party-controlled city council recently made the decision to boycott goods and services from Israel. It looks like this move will cost local taxpayers at least $3.7 million.

According to a paper written by the council's manager of services, Gary Moore, there are many goods and services the council that would need to be eliminated in order to comply with the BDS directive including Hewlett Packard computers, Holden and Volvo cars, telephones and other equipment from Motorola and concrete from Fulton Hogan.

The report estimates the cost of replacing certain IT assets at $3.5m, and the annual cost of using a different concrete supplier at $250,000. It does not attempt to estimate the cost of replacing vehicles, and says changing waste-disposal service providers may not even be possible. It noted the council might need to spend $5000 to $10,000 in legal fees just to determine whether the original motion on the boycott was lawful under anti-discrimination laws.

Independent councillor Victor Macri declared, " A boycott of Israel will hurt Marrickville ratepayers far more than it will Israel."

Indeed it will, Mr. Macri. but really, isn't it a small price to pay to eliminate the world's only Jewish state?