(The Age, 13/11/2023)
More than 45,000 Palestine supporters rallied in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday, according to police, the biggest turnout since the weekly protests began more than a month ago.
The protest came after a heated confrontation between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups in Caulfield on Friday night, triggered by a suspected arson attack on a local burger store owned by a Palestinian-Australian who had posted online that the incident was a hate crime.
On Sunday, the Caulfield burger store owner, Hash Tayeh, repeated his claims that the firebombing was politically motivated, after he was invited by the Free Palestine rally’s organisers to speak. He told the crowd the attack had been an attempt to silence his support for the Palestinian cause.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, who also spoke at the rally, said the store fire should be investigated as a hate crime.
Police have said the fire was suspicious but they did not believe it was religion or racially motivated.
Tayeh told protesters: “To those who sought to silence us with hate and violence, I say, you will not succeed. Love and unity will always prevail.
“Ours is a message of love, of inclusion. That we all belong. That we must and will all live together. Jews, Christians, Muslims and atheists.
“We need to commit to keeping this energy going and growing every Sunday, not just until the bombs stop dropping but until Palestine is free.”
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Tayeh said he and his businesses had been the target of smear campaigns and had been called names that had hurt him deeply.
“I choose not to dwell on that. I choose to stand up, to speak out and to continue saying, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ ” he said, referring to a common pro-Palestine protest slogan.
Some Jewish community members have criticised protesters for using the slogan, saying it is antisemitic as it calls for the destruction of Israel.
Earlier, the government warned against violence at Australian demonstrations in support of either side in the conflict.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said people had a right to speak up about government policy but should not aim their protests at other members of the community.
Meanwhile, in Caulfield, there were calmer scenes following Friday night, as an estimated 300 Jewish Melburnians gathered in a park on Sunday to call for the release of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7.
Kites for Freedom, organised by Zionism Victoria, Habayit and United With Israel, flew kites with messages of hope and included missing person posters for the hostages.
Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence said the event was organised in honour of the Kfar Aza residents who had been planning to hold their annual kite festival the day their kibbutz was attacked by Hamas militants.
“Given what happened in Caulfield just the other night, this was in stark contrast,” he said. “It was a symbol of peace, freedom and joy.”
In Melbourne’s CBD, Raphael Duffy, a speaker at the rally who identified himself as an anti-Zionist Jew, said the pro-Palestine rallies were drawing bigger crowds each week.
He accused the Israeli government of targeting hospitals as part of its bombardment of Gaza.
“I look at that and I say, not in my name,” Duffy said.