Hundreds of students march through Melbourne’s CBD in School Strike for Palestine rally
A massive crowd has marched through Melbourne’s CBD as part of the School Strike for Palestine rally, calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
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Hundreds of Victorian students marched through Melbourne’s CBD on Thursday for a School Strike for Palestine rally.
Pupils, wearing school uniforms and holding placards, gathered at Flinders Street Station before taking to the streets calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Some of their placards read: “Free Palestine” and “Stop killing children like me”.
A heavy police presence surrounded the crowd, which chanted “out, out, Israel out”.
Several students had also turned up wearing traditional Palestinian chequered scarfs.
But Jewish leaders have condemned students for holding offensive placards and chanting anti-Semitic phrases after they skipped to school to attend the rally.
Rabbi Elisha Greenbaum, principal of Yeshivah – Beth Rivkah Colleges, said he “feels sorry for those who have been misled by professional provocateurs giving them the wrong moral take on a simple issue”.
“When you find yourself protesting in company with those that glorify terrorism, you need to consider the company you keep,” he said.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Thursday’s rally was “disturbing”.
“It would be disturbing to see fellow students chanting ‘from the river to the sea’,” he said.
“This calls for the destruction of the Jewish homeland and by extension the seven million Jews living in Israel.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said: “This rally should have never been given a permit and should have never gone ahead.”
“Before our very eyes we see a generation of anti-Jewish bigots rise, and the ripple effects of this vilification will be felt for many years to come,” he said.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said: “We have written to the federal Education Minister to convey our deep concern over actions organised by activists encouraging school students to leave their schools to attend pro-Palestinians marches across the country.”
All traffic was brought to a standstill as the protesters marched up Swanston St toward Melbourne Central.
Students chanted “I believe that we will win”, before they gathered outside the State Library.
The crowd unfurled a watermelon flag to signify the Palestinian colours of red, white, black and green.
At 2.30pm, the crowd was sitting on the tram tracks on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale streets, causing traffic chaos with many drivers beeping and asking the pupils to move on.
Pupils held signs saying: “No Nazis ever again” and “Stop Israel’s genocide now”.
Shahed, 16, who attends a school in Melbourne’s north, said she attended Thursday’s rally to call for an “end to the war” in Palestine.
“What’s going on isn’t right and I have come out here to show my support,” she said.
“My school doesn’t know I’m here, they held an assembly this morning saying they supported both sides.”
By 3.30pm, a smaller student group was marching to Parliament House, chanting: “No justice, no peace”.
Earlier, Esra, 15, said she and her friends attended the rally to “raise awareness” on the issue.
“We’re here on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Palestine,” she said.
“We want to show them that we’re not alone in this genocide.
“It’s sad to see all of these kids and families suffering.
“We are calling for an end to this war.”
The large crowd, which spilt out onto Flinders St, was chanting “free, free Palestine”.
The pupils shouted: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
A young female speaker took to the state on the steps of Flinders Street Station earlier on Thursday and screamed “this is genocide”.
“We are fighting so that there is never another Palestinian killed ever again.”
Another speaker, year 11 student Audra, chanted “always was, always will be Aboriginal land”.
“Their (Israel’s) goal is to ethnically cleanse the land,” she said.
“This means we need to continue to stand with Palestine,” she added.
On Thursday morning, students posted instructions on social media detailing how to walk out of classrooms to take part in the protest.
On the schoolstudents4palestine’s Instagram, pupils taking part in the protest shared posts saying: “St Columba’s meeting at Essendon station at 12.30pm.”
The post added: “We’ve also received messages from students at Viewbank College, Collingwood, Templestowe and Al-Taqwa and more committing to walk out today”.
Students from schools including Mac. Robertson Girls’ High School, Elwood College and Cranbourne East High School and several regional schools were also expected to attend.
It comes after Premier Jacinta Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll said it was their “firm expectation” for every student to be at school.
In a letter to parents this week, Caulfield Grammar, which has campuses in St Kilda East, Glen Iris and Wheelers Hill, said the school did not support the rally or its students attending.
“Schools do not have controls to keep students safe at events such as this,” the school said.
“In recent weeks similar activities have become violent and people have been injured.”
Caulfield Grammar said the school believed attendance at the rally would not lead to a greater understanding of the “deeply complex” and “tragic” set of circumstances unfolding in the Middle East.
“On the contrary, we believe that this rally will likely lead to further misunderstanding and proliferation of resentment and anti-Semitic sentiment,” it said.
Thousands of parents, students and educators predominantly from the Jewish community signed an open letter on Monday urging the state government to take stronger action to prevent pupils from attending the rally.
Despite no serious incidents at the rally, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers removed an Israeli flag from a man to de-escalate a situation and prevent opposing groups from clashing.
“Police directed a man to move on from the rally area after he repeatedly attempted to agitate the student group,” the spokeswoman said.
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