Palestine rallies condemned for Hitler, Nazi references
Vile anti-Jewish placards have surfaced at pro-Palestinian marches, as tens of thousands of people gathered in the nation’s biggest cities.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have brandished anti-Semitic placards drawing on Hitler and the Nazis’ legacies at rallies in the nation’s two biggest cities, less than 48 hours after Australia’s biggest Jewish community in Melbourne was confronted by violent people opposed to Israel’s military tactics in the war against Hamas.
Tens of thousands of people backing the Palestinian cause gathered in Melbourne and Sydney, with a minority of protesters drawing reference to Adolf Hitler, Auschwitz and depicting the Star of David being thrown into a bin, with the words: “Let’s clean the world from (sic) rubbish.’’
In Sydney, one placard read “Hitler = Netanyahu, Nazism = Zionism, Nazis = IDF”.
Another featured a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a moustache, declaring: “Nazi Netanyahu.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich blasted the weekend attack on the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and warned of the damage caused by anti-Semitism in the weeks after the horrific Hamas attacks on Israeli soil.
“I never thought I would see such hate-fuelled events taking place in the country that I love, and the ripple effects of such demonisation are being felt deeply and have real-world consequences, as we saw with the explosion of anti-Semitic rioting in Caulfield on Friday,” he said.
“These venomous banners, comparing Israel’s war against Hamas, a terrorist organisation that beheaded babies, raped women and executed entire families, to the Nazi extermination of 1.5 million in Auschwitz, as well as the use of dehumanising language about Jews, is a perverse new low.”
The centres of Melbourne and Sydney were awash with mainly peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a ceasefire in the war. The Melbourne march, which drew many thousands of people, was an amalgam of the city’s diverse ethnic communities, backed by some unions, First Nations leaders and many families.
While it was largely peaceful – and organisers called for an end to anti-Semitism – there were frequent examples of overly anti-Jewish commentary.
One man wielded a placard declaring: “Gaza looks like Auschwitz.” There were several placards declaring the conflict started in 1948 and not on October 7, when Israelis were slain by Hamas.
Mark Leaman, a Jewish former IDF soldier, said the Israeli bombardment of Gaza had been a disgrace.
“It is nothing less than ethnic cleansing,” he said. “I believe in the security of all people.’’
Melbourne man Liam Jones said the large-scale loss of life in Gaza was unforgivable. “I don’t want to be silent when genocide is happening,’’ Mr Jones said. “I want to be on the right side of history.’’
In Sydney’s Hyde Park, there was a sea of Palestinian flags and marchers chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea”. One speaker called on the protests to continue until “Israel is dismantled”.
“The blood of over 11,000 Palestinians has been the ink that has connected the dots between struggles around the world … How much blood? Our movement depends on us staying here, staying put,” she said on the stage, to cheers and claps.
“We do not stop until ceasefire, we do not stop until Palestinian and Jewish life are equal, we do not stop until Israel is dismantled, we do not stop until Palestine is free from the river to the sea.”
In Brisbane, thousands of pro-Palestine supporters gathered, also demanding a ceasefire, and chants of “free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were heard at the rally. Supporters gathered at King George Square in Brisbane, hours after hundreds attended a pro-Israel rally at Queen’s Park.
That followed violent clashes between Palestine and Israel supporters erupting on the streets of suburban Melbourne on Friday night, as local tensions reached another flashpoint.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters, chanting “From the river to the sea”, ventured into Caulfield, the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community, to demonstrate.
They were protesting the destruction by fire on Thursday night of a local burger shop, Burgertory, in Caulfield. The store was owned by Palestinian-Australian Hash Tayeh, who has been prominent in pro-Palestinian protests in Melbourne.
Mr Tayeh broke his silence at the Melbourne rally, calling for a ceasefire.
“In the past few weeks as I called for peace and ceasefire … my business became a target,” the Herald Sun reported him saying.
“In a cruel act of arson, our store was reduced to ashes. To those who sought to silence us, I say you will not succeed.”
Victoria Police deployed scores of officers to manage the large crowd that spread for blocks along one of the CBD’s main streets on the way to Flinders St station.
Police generally use these protests to gather intelligence on militant advocates who might commit crimes in the future.
The Melbourne protest was largely peaceful.
The force’s intelligence-gathering team was stationed across the road from the main protest area and prison vans were on standby in case there was violence. Further protests are expected in coming weeks.
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