Ugly scenes ‘not seen’ before in Melbourne as tensions boil over

Disgusting slurs and ugly scenes broke out last night in Melbourne, described by the acting Melbourne lord mayor as “never seen before”.

Members of Melbourne’s Jewish community say they were shoved to the ground and labelled “genocidal baby killers” outside the city’s town hall last night as tensions boiled over in scenes described by the acting Melbourne lord mayor as “never seen before”.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Melbourne City Council building last night as councillors voted on a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The motion was initially voted down, six votes to five, after acting mayor Nicholas Reece raised concerns about “several red flags” and inflammatory language.

He raised a second motion that passed unanimously to acknowledge statements by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — statements that included a call for a ceasefire — and to remove anti-semitic or Islamaphobic graffiti in the CBD within one hour.

The motion comes as the International Court of Justice is hearing a case against Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine — an occupation that the representative of South Africa this week compared to apartheid.

Outside Town Hall on Tuesday night, scenes descended into violence and ugly slurs.

Palestine and Israel supporters gathered outside Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday night. Picture: X/Free Palestine Melbourne

Videos shared to social media, including one by the group Free Palestine Melbourne, showed pro-Palestine supporters chanting: “Genocide supporters, blood is on your hands.”

Jewish Melburnians who attended to speak against the motion say they were met with hostility from a violent crowd.

A woman named Sharon told 3AW on Wednesday that when she left the meeting her husband was shoved to the ground and she was “punched from behind”.

She said police responded by issuing her husband with a “move on order” to leave the city.

A second woman told host Tom Elliot she was targeted with horrific slurs.

“Every time somebody got up to speak, there was jeering,” she said.

“We were heckled. Heckling of the councillors. When we came out, some young women came up to us and said we were genocidal baby killers. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was so ugly, not the Melbourne we all know and love.”

Cr Reece said he had never seen Melbourne so divided.

“This is a difficult time for all of us,” he said.

“(During citizenship ceremonies) I always give new Aussies the talk about how we’re the most successful multicultural city in the whole world. I have not seen tensions around the city like this ever.”

Elliot asked him why the council would bother getting involved in such a heated debate when Australia’s foreign policy is dictated by the Federal Government, not local council.

“Why fan the flames? By debating that motion you’ve made it worse, not better. Jewish people pushed over. Why fan the flames with this.?”

The debate around the initial motion lasted more than four hours. The Australian Jewish Association shared an email it sent to councillors prior to the meeting.

“I am writing after receiving many concerned messages from our members in Melbourne about an anti-Israel motion to be voted on by the City of Melbourne,” the email read.

“Some concerns raised include ... the fact that council even sees the need to debate about the Jewish state and involve itself in trying to set Australia’s foreign policy, instead of focusing on residents and local issues.”

It was a sentiment shared by other members of the Jewish community.

“This is a disgraceful motion that won’t do one iota of good in terms of the war (as if Israel is listening to the CoM), but will stoke more antisemitism and hatred for Jewish people in Melbourne,” wrote one woman on X.

But Cr Reece said it was important that all sides were heard and that the rules of council dictate a motion must be debated if it is raised by one councillor and supported by at least one other councillor.

“We got to a pretty good place last night,” he said.

“The motion was not supported but an alternative motion got put forward in its place. We acknowledged ... statements calling for ceasefire, we acknowledged trauma being felt by people in Melbourne ... we re-stated and discussed our new graffiti removal contract which will mean any anti-semitic or Islamaphobic graffit will be removed within a new target time of one hour.”

Elliot asked him, sarcastically, if “we should expect peace in the Middle East now that you’ve passed this motion?”

Free Palestine Melbourne wrote on social media after the meeting: “The council did not simply fail to act against genocide, it maintained Melbourne’s role in perpetuating the genocide by rejecting the motion’s demands that would have upheld divestment.”