Brisbane Councillor Ordered to Apologize Over Israel-Palestine Newsletter

A Brisbane city councillor must issue a public apology and repay thousands of dollars after an independent review found her newsletter about the Israel-Palestine conflict contained “propaganda” that violated council standards.

Greens representative Trina Massey, who represents the inner-city Gabba ward, distributed a newsletter to thousands of residents in August last year featuring a two-page spread titled “Khalil’s Story,” which attempted to outline the history of the Middle East conflict. The content immediately sparked controversy among constituents.

On Monday, Brisbane Council’s ethics committee—comprising three Labor and three LNP councillors—voted unanimously to endorse the recommendations of an independent review conducted by FairFact Consulting Services. The investigation determined that Massey breached several behavioral standards with the publication.

“The article was essentially propaganda and a ‘call to arms’ for pro-Palestinian support that is not objective to the rest of the community,” the report stated. It added that the content “could reasonably be expected to make members of the Jewish community feel unsafe, victimized, and targeted.” However, the report stopped short of describing the article as antisemitic and rejected some aspects of the complaints.

Critics noted that the timeline presented in the newsletter began with Ottoman rule in the Middle Ages and omitted significant historical events including the Holocaust and the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Some residents also objected to language suggesting Jewish people were not indigenous to Israel.

“The first emotion was anger,” one resident told investigators. “Then it was fear, and concern because it’s pure hate speech. She has a bachelor of arts in history; she knows the timeline of the Middle East hasn’t started in 1516. You could say it was ignorant if it was someone else, but this is intentionally misleading.”

As a result of the findings, Massey must issue a public apology in her next ward newsletter and on social media platforms. She is also required to repay Brisbane City Council $10,000—half the cost of the publication—and undertake code of conduct training and counseling at her own expense.

Massey did not personally write the controversial article. Academic and rapper Dr. Jamal Nabulsi was paid $2,800 for the 500-word contribution. When initially questioned by investigators, Massey defended the content, stating she was critiquing “Zionism” and the state of Israel, not Jewish people.

“Some of the information included in my newsletter may be uncomfortable to read, but this is the nature of truth telling,” Massey wrote in a social media statement in September 2024. “As Australians living on stolen Indigenous land, it’s important that we sit with this discomfort as we challenge our own histories of occupation and invasion.”

The controversy escalated into a public war of words on Wednesday, with Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner harshly criticizing Massey’s actions.

“She used Hamas talking points,” Schrinner said at a press conference. “This is something that agencies like ASIO have warned against… they were warning politicians to tone it down and be careful about their language and not fan the flames of hatred. Not only is this material offensive to our Jewish community… I am genuinely sickened.”

In response, Massey issued a statement through her party later that day, calling Schrinner’s comments “shameful” and “defamatory.”

“The LNP lord mayor’s comments today are not substantiated by the council’s own report. I reject his claims and am considering my options,” she said. “It is disgraceful that this LNP politician would cynically exploit the nation’s grief in an attempt to silence my community’s strong advocacy for peace. My constituents advocate for peace, and will continue to do so.”

Jason Steinberg, president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, joined Schrinner at City Hall to condemn the newsletter. “This is propaganda… several members have said they don’t feel safe walking in West End,” he said, referring to an area in Massey’s ward.

Despite the controversy surrounding her newsletter, Massey has previously condemned Hamas and the October 7 attacks on Israel. Following the recent antisemitic attack in Bondi, she posted on social media: “Jewish people have a right to safety. Antisemitism has no place in our community, and this abhorrent attack is an attack on all of us.”

A member of the ethics committee who was not part of the ruling LNP coalition noted that the timing of Monday’s decision was coincidental and had been scheduled before the Bondi incident.