Tensions have run high outside a synagogue as pro-Israel supporters gathered to counter a pro-Palestine protest despite the rally being cancelled.
A number of pro-Israel demonstrators rallied outside a popular Melbourne synagogue on Monday night even after the planned pro-Palestine protest was formally called off at the 11th hour as organisers cited safety concerns.
‘This peaceful demonstration has been cancelled due to the threats made by Zionists against protesters,’ organisers posted on social media.
Despite the cancellation, there was a visible police presence near the synagogue in Caulfield North, in Melbourne’s south-east, where a sea of Israeli flags far outnumbered the Palestinian flags.
Specialist police encircled a small group of pro-Palestine supporters who held anti-Zionist signs saying ‘nothing is more anti-Semitic than Zionism’ in an attempt to keep them from the larger pro-Israel group.
The planned demonstration was in response to a planned talk organised by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council that includes former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked, whose visa into Australia was reportedly rejected.
Earlier, Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters there’s ‘no place in this state for hateful behaviour, for hateful protesting, for people to attend places with hate in their heart’.
‘Everyone deserves to live in this great state, free from hate, free from vilification and they also deserve the right to be who they are, practise their faith, believe in who they believe in, and have their identity respected,’ she said.
Ms Allan added that it was demonstrations like these that necessitate her government’s proposed anti-vilification laws.
‘They will be a set of laws that will look at strengthening what makes our state great,’ she said.’
The demonstration was also slammed by 3AW Mornings host Tom Elliot, who described it as ‘unnecessarily inflammatory’.
‘There is nothing good that is going to come out of a pro-Gaza, free-Palestine protest taking place outside a synagogue,’ he said.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed that police would be on hand to ‘provide a visible presence to ensure the safety of the community’.
