Cr Lee Vandervis was the sole opponent of the motion, which passed 14-1.
At yesterday’s council meeting, Cr Christine Garey put forward the motion asking the council to "call on the Minister for Immigration, the Honourable Erica Stanford, to urgently establish a special visa for family members of the New Zealand Palestinian community affected by the war in Gaza" and "make every diplomatic effort to ensure safe passage for these family members out of the war zone".
It came after members of the Palestinian community made pleas to help secure the safety of their relatives caught up in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Several of them spoke during the public forum, including Rasha Abu-Safieh, who said she had discovered her former home, school and university in Gaza had been destroyed in the conflict.
"All of the time, I think of the struggle."
Cr Garey said her motion had been "carefully researched and worded".
She said the Dunedin community felt collective grief about Trinity Catholic College pupil Enere McLaren-Taana, 16, who was stabbed to death at the Bus Hub, but asked councillors to "imagine that grief multiplied by 15,000", referring to the estimated number of children killed in the Gaza conflict.
"I ask all of those at the council table to bring your humanity to this debate."
The government had previously created special bespoke visas for Ukrainian refugees, and Cr Garey imagined the Ministry for Immigration could do something similar for Palestinian refugees.
"All we are asking our council to do is write a letter expressing this request ... The detail is up to the ministry."
In opposition, Cr Vandervis said he "agreed entirely" the council’s role was to "advocate for the community", but said this "neglected to mention that our community is not only Palestinian but also Jewish, Dutch, Irish and everything else".
"The phrase ‘to be on the right side of history’ assumes that there is a right side in history.
"History is invariably written by the winners; there is no right side, war is hell.
But the other councillors begged to differ with Cr Vandervis’s supposition.
Cr Jim O’Malley said there were many times when councils, unions, schools and other organisations had put pressure on government — whether it be campaigning against apartheid or advocating for a nuclear-free New Zealand — and this situation was no different.
Mayor Jules Radich said he did not see this motion as "one of aggression or blame".
"It’s one of safety ... it’s on the side of humanity."
Cr David Benson-Pope said Dunedin was a city based on refugees.
"What’s different here is we've got local residents asking us to get their families out of a hellish situation. Anyone who doesn't support that doesn't deserve to be sitting here."
Cr Marie Laufiso said "we are living history — think about the views our mokopuna will have about us if we don't vote for this".
"If you vote against this, you are also disgusting."
Cr Andrew Whiley said as a member of the National Party he was "disgusted" at the way Ms Stanford had not acted on this issue.
He had sent a letter to Ms Stanford which said he was "very concerned about the approach the government is taking with not providing a special visa for Palestinian people to escape the Middle East and join family in New Zealand".
Cr Carmen Houlahan acknowledged the representatives of the Palestinian community who spoke in the public forum.
"You are part of our community, your stories are our stories; we share your pain."
Cr Sophie Barker suggested they also ask Local Government New Zealand to get involved.
