A city grappling with antisemitism and the blaming of weekly pro-Palestine protests

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For a year-and-a-half, many of Fiona Cochrane’s Sundays have looked much the same.

She boards a train, often with her children and grandchildren, and joins hundreds – sometimes thousands – of others outside the State Library to march in protest against the mass killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

At these rallies, the Melbourne-born doctor is shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other protesters of all ages, races and religions, all motivated by the same cause.

“I don’t want to be in my generation, watching another genocide, and not doing anything,” Cochrane says.

Fiona Cochrane (centre), with son Norbert Williams and close family friend Pia Ewings, are regulars at the pro-Palestine protests.

This month, the pro-Palestine protest movement that began in October 2023, rallying every Sunday, faces its biggest challenge yet.

On the night of July 4, a firebombing of East Melbourne Synagogue and the storming of Israeli restaurant Miznon horrified the nation. Charges have been laid over both incidents.

The events sparked rapid federal and state action to stamp out antisemitism, together with widespread criticism – including by this masthead – of the protest that takes place every Sunday in the city.

Alarmed by the uproar, advocates of the pro-Palestine movement fear their demonstrations have been weaponised and stress that this month’s events should not be conflated with their weekly protests.

Last weekend, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slammed protesters for sticking to their plans to march on Sunday, two days after the incidents, and labelled chants of “death to the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces]” as “odious”.

Rabbi Dovid Gutnick outside the charred entrance to East Melbourne Synagogue on July 5.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler goes further, arguing the right to protest should not infringe on the right of others to feel safe in the city. “If you allow people to march through the streets of Melbourne, week after week, chanting ‘globalise the Intifada’ [an Arab word meaning ‘uprising’], what happened on Friday night at the synagogue and at the restaurant is what that looks like,” Leibler says.

The state government says it has no plans to introduce protest permits in Victoria, but has committed to new laws that would ban the use of masks, symbols of terrorist organisations and the use of “dangerous attachment devices” such as glues and rope.

Following the July 4 incidents, Allan established an anti-hate taskforce which discussed with Jewish community leaders how Victoria Police will enforce strengthened anti-vilification laws, passed this year, and may consider further measures over coming months.

“We agreed if there was further action we needed to take to keep Victorians safe, we will not hesitate to take it,” the premier said in a statement.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese separately announced on Thursday that his government would accept many of the recommendations of a major antisemitism report.

The suggested action plan includes withholding funding from institutions that fail to combat Jewish hatred, screening visa applicants, embedding antisemitism education in school curriculums and funding Jewish cultural programs.

Protesters storm Melbourne restaurant Miznon on July 4.

Pro-Palestine activist groups have strongly condemned the synagogue attack and any act of antisemitism. And while Miznon was deemed an appropriate boycott target, the organised groups oppose violence, and the prevailing view is that the restaurant rampage went too far.

The Age reported on Friday that the actions at Miznon were instigated by a small fringe group that often hijacks peaceful protests with more aggressive tactics.

Miznon is part owned by Shahar Segal, who until recently was spokesman for the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been widely criticised for its aid distribution facilities in the Gaza Strip, after taking over from usual relief agencies.

Witnesses, including UN officials, say Israeli forces have fired on starving Palestinians seeking food.

Fiona Cochrane says that the Free Palestine protesters know violence won’t serve their goal to move the Australian government to take measures against Israel.

She also isn’t comfortable with the chant “death to the IDF”, which spread after rap group Bob Vylan led crowds to repeat the phrase at Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK two weeks ago, which is now being investigated by British police.

But she adds: “We need to think about our priorities here. Chanting something is completely different to actually killing 60,000 people.”

Gaza’s health ministry says more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed, over half of them women and children. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched attacks on Israeli communities that killed 1200 people and took 251 others hostage, according to Israeli tallies. At least 20 hostages are believed to still be alive in captivity.

Cochrane says the riotous way the protests are sometimes portrayed does not reflect her experience. She has never witnessed violence coming from demonstrators. There is music, poetry and, sometimes, performances by children.

People are draped in keffiyehs, wave handwritten placards and wear watermelon symbols in a sea of colours of the Palestinian flag. Some carry posters showing photos of some of the thousands of Palestinian children who have died.

Kidney patients sit amid the destruction caused by an Israeli raid in Gaza City.

They discuss their anguish at the starvation and spread of deadly illness in Gaza, where aid is controlled by Israel, and where schools, health facilities and cities have been turned to rubble.

“I love the protests,” Cochrane says. “It’s people just being able to express their absolute frustration and despair at what is happening in the world.”

Nachshon Amir is a former Israeli military officer whose treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank in the 1980s would eventually turn him into a pro-Palestine ally.

Nachshon Amir, a former IDF officer and now Free Palestine Melbourne organiser.

The Israeli-born former Zionist recalls entering family homes in the middle of the night and terrifying children. “I oppressed Palestinians with my own hands,” he says.

Amir is now a Free Palestine Melbourne protest organiser and as a Jewish man – one of many who attend, including his children – he has always felt welcome at the rallies. He gets emotional as he describes how moved he is to hear Palestinians share their stories with the crowd.

He says the protest leaders and speakers condemn violence and support inclusivity.

“Sometimes two people among thousands will [do the wrong thing], we can’t control every one of them.”

As a former IDF soldier, he says he has no problem with the “death to the IDF” chant.

Some say the phrase is antisemitic and calls for deaths of Jewish people, pointing out that all Israelis are conscripted to do military service.

Amir disputes this: “It doesn’t mean death to people. The call is to dismantle and stop this big army of death. It has nothing to do with Judaism.”

A Melbourne protester at a rally last year holding an effigy intended to symbolise a slain Palestinian child.

But like with the chant “all Zionists are terrorists” – which Amir doesn’t support – he thinks protesters should choose their words wisely to avoid getting caught in a political firestorm.

Yamama Shourbaji agrees. The Syrian-born mother has marched almost every Sunday since October 2023 with her husband and three children, aged 20, 16 and 8.

She says the meaning of the chant has been misrepresented and she questions why there isn’t more horror over language that has been used by Israeli officials, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who vowed in May: “Gaza will be entirely destroyed.”

Still, Shourbaji says the chant should not be used. Instead, she believes protest leaders should encourage language that doesn’t give others a reason to distract from the bigger issue of Palestinian lives.

Yamama Shourbaji at a Free Palestine rally in Melbourne.

Shourbaji is deeply troubled by the prospect of restrictions on pro-Palestine protests, with the right to demonstrate being a pillar of democracy.

“We are always saying repeatedly at the protest that we are against all forms of violence and racism, including antisemitism,” she says.

“It can be emotionally heavy, especially when we hear stories from Gaza, but it’s also deeply uplifting to stand together.”

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni is among the protest organisers. He is exasperated by what has played out this month, and says criticism of pro-Palestine demonstrators since July 4 is hurtful.

A Free Palestine protester at a Melbourne rally in 2023.

“It’s hard to see … the complete and utter disconnect between what my community is experiencing and the way the government has reacted,” he says.

“It’s abhorrent that what our community is witnessing in Gaza … continues to be second fiddle to the feelings of Australian Zionists.”

Mashni says he is vehemently against antisemitism and attacks on religious sites. And while Miznon is a legitimate protest target, he says, he does not back violence.

As for the “death to the IDF” chant, Mashni says the outrage is misdirected: “The fixation on words while our children are being butchered continues to exacerbate the pain of our people.”

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni.

Mashni says the protests must not be curtailed. He describes them as restorative spaces filled with community spirit while calling for Australia to sanction Israel.

“That is what community is all about. We’re supposed to empathise with the suffering of others in the world. We’re supposed to care about our fellow humans,” he says.

Mashni says he has only met once with the Victorian premier since October 2023, labelling it a failure of her leadership.

“All we’ve seen are crackdowns on protest and the ongoing threat of repressive new laws,” he says. “No one group’s experience should be elevated above the other’s.”

A spokeswoman for the Allan government says its action plan to tackle antisemitism includes proposed laws protecting places of worship and banning terrorist symbols.

“Antisemitism is a cancer, and we are leaving no stone unturned to eradicate it here in Victoria,” she says. “The taskforce will meet again in the coming weeks to discuss the progress of our plan.”

The Coalition does not propose to ban protests outright, and Opposition Leader Brad Battin this week instead announced he would introduce a protest permit system if elected in 2026.

“We will encourage people to continue to have their protests in this state, but if you can do it by working with the Victoria Police, it may mean that businesses won’t get blocked [so frequently],” Battin said.

The Coalition has also pledged tougher move-on powers for police, giving them greater control to break up rallies without a permit and setting up exclusion zones.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler (left) and chief executive Alon Cassuto.

Jeremy Leibler backs the Coalition’s proposed changes. He says the fact that the protest movement began “in sin” on October 8, 2023 – while the bodies of Israel’s dead were still being counted – strips away its legitimacy.

He acknowledges there are well-meaning protesters, but says the use of the term “genocide” is modern-day “blood libel” and the rallies have facilitated incitement against the Jewish community by supporting the dismantling of Israel and using hateful imagery and chants.

“It became very obvious, very quickly, to the Jewish community that this [protest movement] was not really about Israel. This was about Jews,” Leibler says.

“It shouldn’t have to be a normal thing for me to tell my child when he’s going to the footy, ‘Hide your Star of David that you wear around your neck on the train’.

“I can say with absolute conviction that the suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza is a terrible tragedy. I say that with no ‘buts’. Where is the unequivocal condemnation of the 7th of October?”

Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Philip Zajac says people should have the right to protest, but that right is not unfettered. He wants stricter state regulation.

“Melbourne, because of its lack of controls, is really recognised as a protest capital of the world. And I think not only the Jewish community, but the wider community is now totally fed up with the interference with their quiet enjoyment of the city,” he says.

“Enough is enough. Allow them to … do what they do, but do it in a way that doesn’t interfere with the other 99 per cent of Melbourne.”

Pro-Palestine protesters in Melbourne last Sunday.

Zajac recognises the regular protests are non-violent, but he is concerned by aggressive chants such as “death to IDF” and “all Zionists are genocidal baby-killers”.

“I’m a proud Zionist and what that means to me is that I believe in the existence of the state of Israel. Zionism is a belief that a land for the Jewish people should exist,” he says.

“Does that mean that I support the government of Israel? No, not necessarily.

“I think it’s time for the war in Gaza to stop … The violent words and the hate speech and the offence in the expressions that are used at these rallies encourage rogue operators.”

The Jewish Council of Australia has a different perspective. The organisation supports Palestinian freedom, and executive member Ohad Kozminsky attends and has spoken at the Free Palestine protests.

“These are important for demonstrating to the broader public that it is essential we keep talking about Israel’s genocide,” he says.

The council has slammed the antisemitic synagogue arson attack, however Kozminsky argues it is “extremely dangerous” to lump this with the restaurant rampage. Intimidating diners is wrong, Kozminsky says, but targeting Miznon is a political act.

A pro-Palestine protester in a keffiyeh in Melbourne last Sunday.

Kozminsky worries about antisemitic attacks being linked to the pro-Palestine protest movement, as he has witnessed how the rallies welcome Jewish people and they consistently call out antisemitism.

He warns that conflating political protest with antisemitism risks misrepresenting the diversity of views within the Jewish community, while also exacerbating antisemitism because it suggests all Jews represent the state of Israel and its actions.

Gemma Cafarella is vice president of Liberty Victoria, a non-profit focused on safeguarding civil liberties. She calls for careful differentiation between acts of vilification and discrimination of Jews and legitimate criticism of Israel, the IDF and Zionism (a political ideology). That distinction was reinforced in a Federal Court judgment on July 1.

Throughout history there have been protests that were viewed as hugely unpopular at the time, such as the suffragette and anti-Vietnam war movements, but Cafarella stresses that these are often later looked back on as essential vehicles of change.

“Protest can be inconvenient and disruptive and annoying, but it must be protected if we’re to call ourselves a democracy,” she says.

Protesters carrying Palestinian and Iranian flags at a rally in June last year.

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari says he will never sign a protest permit, and it is “fundamentally wrong” for any government to pursue such restrictions.

“Protest is about disruption, and that is how you help make change,” he said. “The right to protest must be ... preserved and protected. If you have to ask permission for it, it’s not really a protest.”

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra says protests have become normalised.

“Because of that, now we’re seeing clear racist actions and violence out of those protests,” Guerra says. “Everybody has the right to protest, but they should be both peaceful and respectful.”

Guerra calls on all levels of government to find a better way to run the events, reiterating his previous calls for a dedicated space for rallies.

“We are shutting businesses down because a few people want to protest. That’s not respectful.”

Acting Melbourne Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell says the right to protest does not extend to those who incite violence or hatred. “Protests in Melbourne do not change the situation in Gaza, but they do create angst for traders, residents, workers and visitors in the CBD,” she says.

For trader Michael Togias, there are much bigger issues for CBD businesses than the protests.

Every Sunday, he gets a front-row view of the pro-Palestine protests. Togias owns Mr Tulk, the cafe at the State Library, where protesters congregate at midday.

Not only is the rally good for his business – he knows by heart the coffee and food orders of some of the regulars – he has always found the protesters respectful and courteous.

“If people are trying to portray them as anything but peaceful, concerned protesters, it’s out of context,” Togias says.

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