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.
Footage from the demonstration showed protesters chanting and singing songs under the supervision of officers.
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.
However, tensions boiled over between the opposing groups with at least two people arrested.
One man on Orrong Rd was cornered by pro-Israel demonstrators resulting in a scuffle which saw him thrown to the ground, the Herald Sun reported.
A man was arrested and escorted from the scene before being released.
No charges had been laid as of Monday night.
The planned demonstration was in response to a planned talk organised by the Israel and Jewish Affairs Council with the help of the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation and United Israel Appeal Victoria.
It would discuss ‘Israel’s challenges and opportunities in a new Middle East’ with a guest panel including former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked, whose visa into was reportedly rejected.
Before cancelling the planned pro-Palestine demonstration, Free Palestine Coalition Naarm condemned the event.
‘We need to let them know their genocidal planning is not welcome on sacred Boonwurrung land. We will peacefully demonstrate across the road,’ organisers wrote online.
‘This is a protest called by Jewish anti-Zionists, many of whom grew up going to synagogues – and do not acquiesce to our (religion) being weaponised as a tool of imperialist genocide.
‘We stand for the liberation of Palestine and justice for Palestinian people, and refuse to allow Zionist Jews to hide behind religion to avoid culpability.’
They later shared another post announcing the cancellation of the protest at 4pm on Monday.
One woman, who didn’t want to be identified, said she heard about the pro-Israel response rally through a WhatsApp group.
‘It’s very uplifting to hear the Israeli music, to see all the Israeli flags,’ she said.
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,’ she said.
‘They also deserve the right to be who they are, practise their faith, believe in who they believe in, and have their identity respected.’
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 Elliott, 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’.
Monday’s demonstration followed another violent clash in Caulfield in November last year.
Pro-Palestine protesters confronted a pro-Israel group near Princes Park after a synagogue was evacuated.
Rocks were reportedly thrown between the groups with police forced to deploy pepper spray to separate the warring crowds.