Biggest Melbourne Palestine rally organisers in war of words over conduct at protests

Two of Melbourne’s largest pro-Palestinian rally organisations are at loggerheads amid controversy over violent clashes with Victoria Police this week.

Two of Melbourne’s largest pro-Palestinian rally organisers have become divided after the embarrassment that ensued from the violent clashes with Victoria Police this week.

Tensions between “The Liberation Crew” and “The Sit-Intifada” flared as they disagreed over some of the violent ways in which the rallies were conducted.

Hardened activists belonging to Sit-Intifada were largely responsible for promoting violence during the three-day protests outside of the Melbourne Exhibition Convention Centre.

They include members of smaller factions of protest groups, such as Disrupt Wars, Students For Palestine and Socialist Alternatives.

In vile acts, protesters squirted an irritant up the nostrils of police horses and the visors of some of the riders, lobbed horse manure at them, and harassed journalists and members of the public. It led to dozens of arrests and injuries.

The Weekend Australian can reveal that Sit-Intifada group leader Ihab Al Azhari had wished destruction and suffering upon the Australian government and the Victorian Police.

Mr Al Azhari’s face was plastered on the front page of The Australian and the Herald Sun on Thursday in a striking image of him holding back a police horse.

Ihab Al Azhari obstructs a horse at the anti-war protest. Police mounted unit charges protesters at South Wharf. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

On Thursday, he told a line of Victoria Police blocking protesters from approaching the weapons expo that he wished they would suffer in the same way Gazans do.

“I do wish it on you,” he told police. “Because you are complicit, and if it happens to you remember me, remember what I’m saying to you. you are part of this crap system.

“I say that they deserve to see the suffering the children from Gaza see, the whole system. Every single one of them.”

Mr Al Azhari is the sole director of a Melbourne-based steel fabrication and distribution company known as Best Fab, which was established in 2003 and has since scored dozens of lucrative local government contracts worth millions of dollars.

The behaviour of some activists didn’t sit well with The Liberation Crew, who say it had no regard for peaceful protesting and for the cause of the Palestinian movement.

In a statement sent to The Weekend Australian, the group said that, for the sake of the Palestinian movement, “we have kept our silence, twice now, choosing not to retaliate. But enough is enough. Bullies must be called out for their actions.

“Shame on you for your actions (and) for your continued bullying, intimidation, and discrimination.”

Mr Al Azhari abruptly left a demonstration in front of the weapons expo on Thursday when Liberation Crew members were invited to re-enact “the massacre at Al-Tabaeen school” in Gaza.

It was led by prominent figure Hash Tayeh, who has become a successful businessman in Melbourne with his restaurant chain Burgertory.

“Before we even began our re-enactment, we were met with a premeditated verbal attack from members of the Sit-Intifada, whom we’ve come to know as Sit-Division,” a Liberation Crew spokesperson said.

“These individuals did not just disagree with our methods – they chose to abuse and degrade us publicly, hurling insults like ‘where were you in the last 24 hours Hash?’ and cruelly targeting the children involved.”

Both groups have been responsible for organising mass protests on the streets of Melbourne for almost a year, but this is the first time they have become divided.

The split could see a significant depletion in the number of total attendees at weekly pro-Palestinian protests in Melbourne, and reduce disruptions to the public.