Anger at pro-Palestine support during Anzac Day dawn services

A smattering of pro-Palestine protesters used Anzac Day dawn services to make statements about the Israel-Hamas war.

NSW Greens councillor Rafaela Pandolfini wearing an Arab keffiyeh at the Anzac Day dawn service in Coogee.

A smattering of pro-Palestine protesters used Anzac Day dawn services to make statements about the Israel-Hamas war.

In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, local Greens councillor Rafaela Pandolfini wore a keffiyeh – a Palestinian scarf that has become a symbol of protest – when she laid a bouquet at the Coogee dawn service.

Students at the University of Melbourne began camping on campus, following the lead of University of Sydney students the day before. They demanded the university “divest from all companies complicit in the genocide in Gaza” and “stop accepting blood money from war mongers and the death industry”. This follows similar protests on US college campuses.

NSW Greens councillor Rafaela Pandolfini wearing an Arab keffiyeh at the Anzac Day dawn service in Coogee.

About 250 pro-Palestine protesters congregated at the steps of the Victorian parliament, the Herald Sun reported.

The Australian Jewish Association criticised Ms Pandolfini.

“Disappointed to see that a Greens Randwick councillor couldn’t help herself and had to politicise the Coogee dawn service by wearing one of the keffiyehs worn by the radical protesters and terrorists,” it said on X.

Disappointed to see that a Greens Randwick councillor couldn't help herself and had to politicise the Coogee dawn service by wearing one of the Kefiyahs worn by the radical protesters and terrorists. pic.twitter.com/ISr51pMR0C

— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) April 24, 2024

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim called it a “performative gesture that was disrespectful to the memory of the Anzacs”.

“Such behaviour seeks to exploit the bravery and achievements of the Anzacs in support of a modern-day political cause which is far removed from the thoughts and feelings experienced by the Anzacs themselves,” he said. “The Anzacs deserve to be remembered and honoured on their own terms.”

Mr Wertheim also criticised the campus protests, saying universities have been “ground zero in the explosion of anti-Semitic behaviour”.

Protesters in Melboure. Picture: David Caird

Ms Pandolfini told The Australian she had received “vitriolic emails and messages, mainly from men”, since the morning.

She shared a screenshot of an email she claimed to have received that called her “scum” and called to “bring back public lynchings”.

“A woman is murdered every four days by a man in this country,” she said. “This is an ideological scourge that needs to be called out and treated seriously or it is going to continue to escalate, just as we have seen this year.

“These news stories participate in insidious aggression towards women … and it is a shame that you think it is a newsworthy item to continue with rather than focusing on real stories like the violence against women that is an epidemic in Australia.”

RSL Victoria president Robert Webster said while he had no issue with peaceful demonstrations, the protests are “disrespectful” to veterans, the Herald Sun reported.