Jewish students confront Pro-Palestine rally at Melbourne University
Rivals in the struggle engulfing the world stared each other down at University of Melbourne on Thursday as tensions erupted amid chants and cries from Jewish protesters and pro-Palestinian supporters.
Separated by a symbolic long ornamental pond at the University of Melbourne, rivals on both sides of the struggle engulfing the world stared each other down as tensions erupted amid chants of “from the river to the sea” and Jewish protesters demanding the pro-Palestinian supporters remove masks.
Pro-Israeli and Palestinian protesters confronted each other at university's south lawn on Thursday, as the student activists in the Gaza encampment side of the pond shouted “Free, Free Palestine”.
Members on the Israeli side demanded pro-Palestine protesters remove their masks and keffiyehs to reveal their faces.
Jewish students, as well as other members of the wider community, were gathered at a park across the road for a separate rally which called on academic institutions and governments to make campuses a safe place.
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students organised the rally to speak up for Jewish students in fear of being intimidated and harassed on campus.
Following the conclusion of the rally, protesters began to make their way to the lawns the pro-Palestinian activists have used as a campsite for eight days.
At first, a small group were seen making their way to the Gaza encampment.
A woman waved an Israeli/Australian flag in the air, while the other showed off a sign that read “Proud Jews and Proud Aussies.”
“Get Hamas out of our universities!” one of the women yelled.
More Israeli supporters followed and soon a congregation formed in front of the Gaza encampment to chant and sing songs. A man went up to members of the media to tell them “the chat is one about peace, by the way”.
Just a few moments later, the number of Israeli protesters grew and after a while the Palestinian side, whose members formed a picket line, responded through chants.
In the scuffle, a mug was shattered and a woman was pushed to the ground after she tried to grab a microphone off right-wing commentator Avi Yemini.
Some of the chants from the Palestinian side targeted Mr Yemini, with one person labelling him a terrorist.
Police surrounded the protesters and tried to move off Israeli supporters, who left after about an hour.
Earlier, Jewish students and leaders rallied to voice their concerns over Jewish students avoiding their universities due to fear.
The union is calling for a roundtable with federal and state education ministers and vice chancellors, and is also demanding that universities implement policies that prohibit hate speech on campus.
Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto opened the rally.
“Today we’re here to say enough with the hate ... to reclaim our spaces, spaces of social cohesion and tolerance,” he said.
“We’re here to say that the past seven months are not something we’re prepared to tolerate any longer.
AUJS president Noah Loven said he would not give the pro-Palestinian encampment any oxygen.
“We don’t want to lean into what they want. So we’re here to stand proud as your students and to stand together for peace and make sure there’s no intimidation,” he said. “Jewish students, my peers, have increasingly become targets of fear, intimidation and harassment.”
Protesters held signs that read “keep hate off campus” and “stand together against anti-Semitism”.
Students at the University of Sydney, University of Queensland and Australian National University are also holding their own camps.
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