Election 2025: Police called after dispute over anti-Israel sign
Tensions escalated at a Melbourne voting booth during an alleged altercation between Labor and Muslim Votes Matter volunteers.
Police were called to a voting booth in Melbourne’s inner north following an alleged altercation between Labor and Muslim Votes Matter volunteers over an anti-Israel sign.
The Muslim Votes Matter sign, displayed on Saturday outside an early voting centre in Brunswick North, depicted Peter Khalil, the Labor MP for Wills, wearing the colours of the Israeli flag.
“Peter Khalil went on a Zionist lobby trip,” the sign read.
“Don’t let him take your vote for granted any longer.”
Victoria Police confirmed its officers attended the voting booth on Davies Street about midday on Saturday following reports of an assault.
“Officers spoke to both people involved who gave a different version of events,” a police representative said.
“There were no independent witnesses and no injuries, thus no official report was made.”
In a video on Fatima Payman’s Instagram account, the senator, who quit the Labor Party last year, said Labor staffers had called the police.
“You won’t believe what just happened at Brunswick polling centre, here we are handing out flyers and all of a sudden we see cops come in who were called by Peter Khalil and Labor staffers to essentially take down a sign that they didn’t like,” Ms Payman posted.
“So much for frigging democracy, anyone can put up whatever sign they want, there was no threat, there was nothing that warranted police to be involved, these were just pro-Palestinian activists who wanted their sign up.”
It’s understood that a One Nation van had been parked in front of the sign earlier in what appeared to be an attempt to block it, before it was moved on and another vehicle parked in front of the sign, which Muslim Votes Matter volunteers alleged belonged to a Labor staffer and prompted the dispute.
Muslim Votes Matter spokesman Ghaith Krayem denied that any physical altercation had occurred.
“Our volunteers and our material was interfered with by others on the day and when our team raised their concerns about that, there were words exchanged and the other people involved left and chose to call the police,” Mr Krayem said.
“Our information is clearly that there was no physical altercation whatsoever and the bringing of the police into this was a clear attempt to intimidate our team on the ground.”
Mr Khalil told The Herald Sun he was aware of the incident.
“The safety of my staff and volunteers is my highest priority,” Mr Khalil said.
“I encourage everyone to conduct themselves respectfully, regardless of political views.”
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