On May 19, there was a rally against antisemitism, called "No Hate, Mate," held in Melbourne attended by thousands of Jews and others.
There was a counterprotest of about 150 people with keffiyehs and signs calling for "intifada."
Yes, they were protesting a demonstration against antisemitism.
The Australian (paywalled) reports that while police tried to separate the two groups, elderly attendees, those in wheelchairs and parents with prams couldn't climb the stairs from a train station near the rally and had to pass through the haters from a different route from the north.
One woman described her fellow elderly female friend being surrounded by pro-Palestine protesters, who had their faces covered, “and kicked with great force repeatedly in her calves, punched in her shoulders and abused using the foulest of language.”The woman said her friend was “spat at repeatedly” and sustained a bleeding calf and upper body bruising.Another woman told of attempting to make her way through the pro-Palestine crowd with her adult daughter, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and her daughter’s carer.“We were surrounded by an angry mob that encircled us. One man screamed at me and his nose could almost touch mine. They stole (my daughter)’s Israeli flag from the back of her wheelchair,” the mother and grandmother said.“(My daughter)’s carer was traumatised and sobbing at the end of this ordeal.”Another woman described being surrounded by pro-Palestine protesters yelling abuse as she attempted to make her way through the crowd using a walking frame, and an elderly couple with walking sticks spoke of being elbowed and called “f***ing murderers,” while other rally attendees said they had been punched in the jaw and the chest respectively, and others spoke of being kicked, poked and pushed to the ground.Many Never Again is Now attendees spoke of being verbally abused, with some called “f...ing baby killers”, “Zionist pigs”, “murderers”, “genocide supporters” and “Nazis”, and others told they were “whores” in Arabic, that they “should be killed,” and that a “second Holocaust” was coming for them.
At the time, only a limited number of these incidents were reported in the press:
One woman was in tears as she tried to enter the pro-Israel rally with a disabled loved one, while counter-protesters yelled that they were “baby murderers”.
One first person account was published in Australian Jewish News: Australian Jewish News:
On Sunday the 19th of May, my mum, a friend and I went to the Never Again is Now rally in front of the steps of parliament. When we left Parliament station we heard drums and at first thought that it might be the rally. It turned out to have been a responding pro-Palestinian demonstration of around 150 people between us and the rally we were going to. Realising that we would have to go through them to get to the rally, I felt a sudden fear which was only amplified by hearing them chanting “Intifada” over and over again. As we approached the demonstration we attempted to keep a low profile. Despite this as we walked through the corridor of cones set up by the police I was yelled at by a young woman who asked me if I was a nazi telling me that if I was a nazi I should go through gesturing to the Never Again is Now rally she then shouted at me as I walked away that I was committing a holocaust against Palestinians. I thought to myself how could I be called a nazi by the person calling to globalise the intifada, practically calling for the death of all Jews.
This is pure antisemitism, not "pro-Palestinian activism." It is happening every day.
And children are being indoctrinated to ensure an entire generation of more haters, as this photo from "Free Palestine Melbourne" taken that day shows.
(h/t Jill)
