The terror attack-assassination of two Jewish embassy workers in Washington by a ‘pro-Palestine’ activist naturally raises the question of just how far away similar violence is in Australia. If we have to depend on the likes of Victoria Police to protect Jewish Australians, then it seems horribly likely to be sooner rather than later.
Victoria Police directed anti-Israel protesters to gather outside a Melbourne synagogue before a violent clash erupted with Jewish locals outside the place of worship, a Victorian Court has heard.
Whilst I’m naturally reluctant to engage in an Argumentum ad Hitlerum, when it comes to violent anti-Semitism, it’s unavoidable. More and more, the actions – or lack of them – of Victoria Police remind me of William Shirer’s eyewitness account of the Anschluss, the Nazi annexation of Austria. In Vienna, Shirer writes, he found himself engulfed in a shouting, hysterical Nazi mob which was sweeping toward the Inner City… The police, whom only a few hours before I had seen disperse a small Nazi group without any trouble, were standing by, grinning.
In Melbourne, too, police regularly stand by while ‘pro-Palestinian’ mobs menace passersby and abuse, and even attack, identifiable Jews. It’s only in rare cases, such as when a prominent (non-Jewish) Sydney barrister fronted them, that police take even the slightest action against the mobs.
Then there was the deplorable incident at the Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne in 2024, where Victoria Police opened a cordon and, exchanging high-fives, helpfully escorted a gang of neo-Nazis to the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House.
Worse, it appears, Victoria Police are all but egging the violent anti-Semites on.
The race-hate legal action was lodged a year ago by Jewish businessman Menachem Vorchheimer against the Free Palestine Melbourne group, organiser Tasnim Sammak and Victoria Police for giving the go-ahead to a rally that turned violent outside the Central Schule at Caulfield in the city’s southeast in 2023.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard that the initial location of a snap rally was to be outside the firebombed Burgertory premises belonging to businessman Hash Tayeh, but Victoria Police instructed organisers to hold the protest at Princes Park adjacent to the Central synagogue that was later evacuated.
Dozens of protesters violently clashed with Jewish locals and police officers at the time, triggering the evacuation of 150 congregants during Shabbat prayers.
The protest in the Jewish heartland of Caulfield in November 2023 captured national headlines because it led to ugly, violent street clashes after activists baited and hurled insults at Jewish residents.
It’s not just Victorian police, of course. When, in shocking scenes flashed around the world, a mob of Muslim ‘pro-Palestinians’ stormed the Sydney Opera House, chanting “Gas the Jews”, NSW Police made just one arrest: a Jewish man trying to attend what was supposed to be a vigil for the victims of October 7.
In the complaint, Mr Vorchheimer alleged Victoria Police “encouraged, organised and/or assisted” pro-Palestinian activists to allegedly breach the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.
Mr Vorchheimer also alleged that Ms Sammak, a Monash University doctoral candidate and teaching associate, had encouraged activists to protest outside the Central synagogue hours after the firebombing of Mr Tayeh’s store on November 10 2023.
He alleged that online statements posted on the FPM social media accounts had incited people to falsely believe Jews were responsible for the arson attack.
At its heart, the actions concerned several social media posts in which “Zionists” as a euphemism for “Jews” were blamed for the firebombing.
Except that, as was obvious even at the time, the firebombing had nothing to do with Jews. In what must have killed them, the Pallywankers have been forced to publicly say so.
FPM […] also acknowledged the firebombing was not racially or politically motivated, despite the matter remaining before the courts.
Not that that’s deterring anti-Semitic goons.
Mr Tayeh slammed FPM’s apology as “the equivalent of me apologising for saying Zionists are terrorists and accepting defeat”.
Yes, well, you should, you Jew-hating creep. But we all know you won’t, because hate is your stock-in-trade. Nor will your anti-Semite mates.
Ms Sammak’s husband, Mohammad Sharab, also attended the hearing and issued a statement in the aftermath, saying he had learned that members of their movement had betrayed them by “feeding the feds” information.
Don’t you just love diversity?
