‘All Zionists are terrorists’: Pro-Palestine protesters’ chant revealed

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters were out in force in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday as monthly action calling for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza continues.

Pro-Palestine protesters have been caught on camera chanting “all Zionists are terrorists”, as thousands returned to Melbourne’s streets after the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Footage uploaded to Facebook by the Islamic Council of Victoria showed people chanting “All Zionists are terrorists” as they marched through the city.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said calling all Zionists terrorists is “an attack on the notion of Jewish equality”.

“Zionism is the Jewish civil rights movement that called for the creation of a Jewish state to put Jews on an equal footing to other nations,” Mr Ryvchin said.

“To declare that all Zionists are terrorists is not only an attack on the notion of Jewish equality, it is an attack on virtually every Jew that supports it.”

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni advised Sunday’s crowd in Melbourne there was “no room for hate”. Picture: Tony Gough

Videos have also emerged of police clashing with a small group of people holding Israeli and Australian flags in Melbourne’s CBD.

The footage shows several officers moving a group, including a man wearing an Israeli flag around his neck, away from the larger protest.

Victoria Police confirmed no arrests were made during Sunday’s protest.

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni, the rally organiser, addressed the crowd at the start of the rally.

“If you are a white supremacist, a homophobe, an anti-Semite, an Islamophobe. Whatever sort of hate you have in your body, you don’t belong here,” Mr Mashni said.

“There is no room for hate. That doesn’t mean we’re going to forgive. That doesn’t mean we’re going to forget.”

Signs that read “Zionism is a betrayal of Judaism” and “Zionist kid killers be gone” were spotted in the crowd.

Pro-Palestine activists openly believe anti-Zionism does not equate to anti-Semitism, with the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network saying it “falsely binds Jewish identity to Zionism”.

This comes as 39 Australian universities, in response to growing reports of anti-Semitism on Australian campuses, endorsed a new definition of anti-Semitism, which conceded that criticism of the state of Israel could be considered anti-Semitic in certain circumstances.

“For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being anti-Semitic,” the definition said.

Protest organisers said more regular rallies could be called in response to any escalations.

Israel resumed aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza last week.