Rally against antisemitism and hate held in Melbourne
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.
Never Again Is Now
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.
Photos by David Marlow
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.
Senator James Paterson told the rally: “Today’s rally is not about the Middle East. It is a rally about Australia. It is a rally about who we are as a nation. All racism is wrong. All racism is evil. But anti-semitism is the oldest and deepest sickness of humanity. It rears its ugly head at least once every generation. For us, that time is now.
Our Jewish brothers and sisters tell us they’ve never felt less safe in Australia. That levels of anti-Semitism is off the charts. But they can’t fight it alone. They need people of moral courage and moral clarity to stand with them. They need non-Jews like me and many of you to support them.
We must stand against anti-semitism not just because it is morally repugnant. Because while it might start with the Jews, it never ends with the Jews.
Just over there people are counter-protesting this rally. Counter protesting a rally against anti-semitism. And the materials they used to promote their protest is frightening. Blood-stained writing. A jackboot stomping the Star of David.
For the last six months, they’ve had this city to themselves. But on the one weekend the Jewish community and their friends show up they are here to try to intimidate us. But this city belongs to all of us. We are not afraid. We will not be bullied. And good news is they are an isolated fringe. They don’t speak for Australia.
In fact just this week the Senate voted on an overwhelming bipartisan basis to condemn their hateful rhetoric and slogans. The vast majority of Australians reject these extremists. Everyone here today stands proudly with the Jewish community and against their hate. And we will stand with you for as long as it takes to defeat it. “
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.
Pastor Mark Leach, leader of “Never Again Is Now”, the organisation that has gained broad community support for this rally in Melbourne stated yesterday that, “We hope that we can all look back in ten years’ time and still be talking about this Melbourne STOP HATE, MATE! rally as one key inflection point in defeating this rise in antisemitism and prevent a second Holocaust.”
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.
