Rally against antisemitism and hate held in Melbourne

From J Wire: Australia, NZ and worldwide Jewish news that matters

Around three thousand Christians and Jews from diverse communities held a peaceful rally against hate and antisemitism out in front of Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne, this afternoon. (Sunday 19th)

The rally was held over several hours under threatening weather conditions, but everyone was prepared with coats and umbrellas.

The rally was the first of a series of rallies being organised across the country by Never Again is Now to tackle the growing antisemitism faced by Australia’s Jewish community. Never Again is Now is a grassroots organisation mobilizing Christians to work against antisemitism. The organisation’s leader, Pastor Mark Leach was behind the event, and acted as host for the afternoon.

The audience was diverse, peaceful and upbeat. Although there were many Israeli flags, the event was not about the Gaza conflict but about the rising antisemitism against Jews in Australia. Other flags included Australian, Ethiopian, and Samoan.

People from diverse communities and faiths attended in good spirits, including Indigenous, Islander, African, European, Asian and Jewish faith groups. There were many rabbonim, pastors and ministers of different denominations.

A large number of speakers included musician Deborah Conway, David Southwick MP, Rabbi Moshe Kahn, President of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, Sen James Patterson, Warren Mundine, former ALP MP Philip Dalidakis and Jasmine Yuen from the Australian Christian Lobby. State and Federal Liberal politicians were prominent, including a recorded message from Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Speakers provided messages of peace, inclusion and love. They strongly spoke against antisemitism, hate and bullying. The Burgertory incident where Jews were wrongly accused, bullying and intimidation on campus, targeting of Jewish businesses, and the toll taken on students and the Jewish community generally were common themes.

AAP reports that six people have been arrested during a tense protest stand-off as activists clashed with police who separated two rival demonstrations.

Victoria Police estimate 7000 people attended either the anti-Semitism demonstration outside state parliament or the pro-Palestine counter-protest about 100 metres further along Spring Street on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Victoria Police did a tremendous job protecting the peaceful rally from an angry mob of pro-Palestine protesters nearby, yelling and beating drums to try to drown out the rally speakers. They screamed messages of hate, including “Intifada, intifada” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”. Their messages were faint or not heard in the main rally.

The keffiyeh-wearing, Palestinian-supporting cos-playing protesters did not intimidate the attendees or deter attendance. Speakers at the rally made clear that ‘we’ would not be bullied and kept speaking messages of peace, harmony and inclusion.

The rally was reminded that Jews are not alone and that the city belongs to all people. It was an inspiring and uplifting community event, bringing such a diversity of people together with a positive message.

The AAP ‘coverage‘ of the same event  is revealing.  Note particularly that the reporter says that ‘more than 1000’ attended the pro-Israel rally. In fact it was around 3000 people; and because of the security issues posed by the rabid pro-jihad lot, every person who attended the pro-Israel rally would have individually registered their interest and been communicated with.. so if the organisers of the pro-Israel rally place their numbers at 3000, their numbers are accurate: because they know how many people ‘bought a ticket’

More than 1000 people, some waving Israeli flags, are attending a rally outside state parliament which organisers say is intended to promote social cohesion and stand against hate and anti-Semitism.

Hundreds of people have turned out for a pro-Palestine counter-demonstration further down the street.

Former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu and state Liberal MP David Southwick are among those in attendance at the anti-Semitism rally, which has been organised by a “Christian grassroots movement”.  Can’t you just  hear the sneer in her (Rachel Ward) voice. Protest group Free Palestine Melbourne earlier posted a message to social media urging supporters to exercise caution and avoid the anti-Semitism demonstrators who they warned could “provoke violent confrontation”.

Bruce Hill of the Australian Jewish News was also in attendance to report and took this video posted on X, which for some reason will not embed today, showing the good and diverse turn out.