Pro-Palestine protesters defiant as crackdown looms
Undeterred by the Victorian government's promises to bring in stronger measures to clamp down on the weekly protests, hundreds again turned out in force on Sunday to march through a chilly Melbourne city centre.
Premier Jacinta Allan has made it clear her government is actively planning ways to curb "odious" rallies, including enforcing strengthened anti-vilification laws, overseeing an anti-hate task force and talk of introducing a protest permit system.
But rally emcee Hajar Riad said demonstrators would continue to gather as they had "every single Sunday for 645 days".
"We won't stop," she told the crowd.
Following in the footsteps of controversial laws introduced in NSW, the Victorian government is drafting legislation to ban protests outside places of worship.
It also plans to ban demonstrators from wearing face coverings and could consider introducing further measures in the coming months.
Ms Riad took aim at the Victorian government's latest crackdown.
"Our government is trying to criminalise each and every single one of us," she said.
Free Palestine Melbourne protests, together with separate groups across the country, are demanding Australia impose sanctions on Israel due to its actions in Gaza following Hamas's deadly attack in October 2023.
But protest participants have come under fire for the rallying cry "death to the IDF", a reference to the Israel Defence Forces.
Federal opposition frontbencher and Liberal senator James Patterson called for the chant to be examined as potential incitement to violence, while Ms Allan said it was fair to ask why the slogan should be tolerated at protests.
Organisers led the crowd in the chant on Sunday, adding it was "a bit controversial, apparently".
One protester displayed a sign that read: "Death 2 the IDF, not just a chant but a prayer".
A recent spate of attacks on Melbourne's Jewish community, including the firebombing of an east Melbourne synagogue and the storming of an Israeli restaurant, prompted the government to set up a task force to target hate crimes.
But organisers stressed they were not anti-Semitic and they "love our Jewish brothers and sisters".
Regular protest attendee Stephanie Wong said the government was rushing through legal changes and conflating acts of violence with peaceful protest.
"The people who meet peacefully to demonstrate each week aren't the same people who launch violent attacks," she told AAP.
"We shouldn't have our rights and freedom of speech taken away because a very small group of people commit violence."
The Victorian anti-hate task force met for the first time on Tuesday.
The federal Labor government has also promised more action to protect Jewish Australians after the release of its anti-Semitism envoy's recommendations.
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