Melbourne war memorial defaced with anti-Israel slogans on Remembrance Day

Police are investigating after a war memorial in Melbourne was found defaced on Remembrance Day with anti-Israel graffiti, a day after a clash near a synagogue.

Part of the Palestine protest vandalism at a Melbourne war memorial for the World War I dead, discovered on Remembrance Day, Saturday. Picture: supplied

A war memorial in Melbourne has been defaced on Remembrance Day by anti-Israel graffiti calling for a “free Palestine” and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The desecration comes a day after a violence brawl between pro-Palestine demonstrators and pro-Israel supporters in the heavily Jewish suburb of Caulfield on Friday night which saw a Palestinian supporter arrested and which has been condemned by both sides of politics.

Jewish leaders in Australia have asked for political guarantees their communities will be safe from anti-Semitic violence after the Friday confrontation.

The memorial in Montrose in Melbourne’s outer east was graffitied the night before Remembrance Day commemorations were held around the country.

Locals woke up to the sight of their war memorial covered with graffiti including “Shame Israel, USA, UK Australia” as well as “Ceasefire now”, “Free Gaza”, “5000 dead kids’’, “free Palestine”, and “stop the genocide in Gaza”.

The engraving on the memorial says it was “erected by the people of Montrose as a tribute to her gallant sons who took part in the Great War of 1914-1919” and lists the names of those who died in service.

Some of the slogans in the vandalism at the Melbourne suburban war memorial. Picture: supplied

A spokesperson for RSL Victoria said it was disappointing that someone would choose to vandalise a war memorial, especially on Remembrance Day, November 11.

“Remembrance Day is an important day to commemorate all those who have served and sacrificed. It is disappointing to learn of the vandalism at the Montrose war memorial today.

“War memorials are an important place in the community for remembrance and RSL Victoria does not condone this behaviour today or any day,” the RSL spokesperson said.

Victoria Police said they were investigating the graffiti incident, which it believes occurred between 6.30pm on Friday and 5.45am on Saturday.

It has asked for witnesses to come forward. Remembrance Day is observed on November 11, marking the moment in 1918 when the guns fell silent, ending World War One.

One of the Palestine protest slogans.

Sixty thousand Australian soldiers lost their lives in the war, making it easily the country’s most bloody conflict.

It is traditionally marked by a minute’s silence at 11am and the wearing of red poppies which bloom each year across the former battlefields of the Western Front in Europe.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also gave a statement today on Mideast-related protests for Remembrance Day: “This is a day when we pause to give thanks for the sacrifices so many Australians have made to keep our nation free and peaceful.

“All of us have a responsibility to preserve that peace here at home. To maintain the harmony and respect that unites us. It is always worth repeating: there is no place in our nation for hatred or prejudice of any kind.”

Peter Dutton has slammed supporters of the Palestinian cause for inciting violence in the Jewish community of Caulfield. The Opposition leader issued a statement on Saturday afternoon, saying the behaviour was “disgusting”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said “there is no place for violence, no place for anti-Semitism and no place for Islamophobia in Australia” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Daniel Aghion, said the Friday evening clash was “ utterly contemptible”.

His council’s objective was “to foster a society in which members of the Victorian Jewish community are able to live as Jews in peace and security. That objective was unable to be fulfilled last night and that is absolutely unacceptable,” Mr Aghion said.

He said he met Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and senior police on Saturday.

“I told them in no uncertain terms that things need to change. I expect them to redouble their efforts to ensure we never see anything like that in Melbourne’s Jewish community ever again.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said “the staging of protests and other actions in predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods is a deliberate provocation intended to terrorise Jewish Australians in their homes and their places of worship.

“It is founded in a deeply racist belief that every Jew is a target. If this is not stopped immediately there will be permanent harm to our society and potentially deadly consequences.

“This is the ugly fanaticism of anti-Israel activists. They bring shame to themselves, low bigotry to our streets and absolutely nothing to the Palestinian people,” Mr Ryvchin said.

New details emerged about the violent clash between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters in Melbourne’s south-east on Friday.

The Free Palestine Melbourne group, which organised the rally, released a statement on Saturday apologising for the evacuation of a synagogue.

Violence had erupted in the middle of Hawthorn Rd in Caulfield South, a prominent Jewish community, after a suspicious fire broke out at a nearby Palestinian burger shop.

“We apologise to the local Jewish community for the protest location that led to the evacuation of the synagogue (and) for any fear they may have felt and for the cancellation of Shabbat,” the statement read.

“We should not have gathered in this location.”

On Saturday evening, a pro-Palestinian convoy of motorcycles and cars were met in Coogee, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on Saturday evening by a crowd of Israel supporters numbered between 50 and 100. The convoy drove down Arden Street, the main beachside strip in Coogee, in separated groups .

The Palestinian Justice Movement descended at Port Botany in Sydney earlier on Saturday, where a boycott was planned for the Israeli Zim Shipping Line.

They were originally attempting to blockade a container ship, but it was diverted from the port earlier this week.

Many protesters could be seen with their flags on jet skis and boats in the surrounding waters.

Saturday’s events are covered in detail in the day’s live blog.

With Mohammad Alfares, Noah Yim and Michael McKenna