Members of Melbourne‘s Jewish community claim they were shoved to the ground and punched during a fiery protest outside the Melbourne Town Hall.
The Jewish and Palestinian communities clashed outside the City of Melbourne Council meeting last night after councillors voted down a motion to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
There was a significant police presence outside Melbourne Town Hall as hundreds of supporters from both sides gathered outside the fiery meeting.
Jewish community member Sharon became caught up in the violent altercation.
Police were quick to intervene, with groups moved on.
“I could feel myself getting punched. Mark, my husband, was getting punched and pushed, and was on the ground,” she told 9News.
”We were the peaceful people taken around the corner and told to move on but the violent mob was allowed to continue.”
The motion, “Reflecting community sentiment on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, was first put forward by Independent councillor Jamal Hakim.
Councillors voted 6-5 against the motion, which called for the release of all Israeli hostages and imprisoned Palestinians, along with a permanent ceasefire.
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Close to 1000 written submissions were heard during the meeting, which took almost two hours.
An alternative motion was however put forward, which noted statements from the Australian and New Zealand governments that offered greater support to refugees who had fled the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
That motion was passed unanimously.
A rally was organised outside the council meeting, as the City of Melbourne voted down the motion.
Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said there were “too many red flags” in the motion to pass it.
“Ultimately my view was that if was going to do more to divide Melburnians than to unite them,” he said.
Those in support of Palestine yelled “shame” outside the meeting as the motion was voted down.
“Palestinian basic human rights are just, it’s not being acknowledged by the council,” Melbourne for Palestine spokesperson Amin Abbas said.
Victoria Police has said officers were forced to move on two men from outside venue after both sides clashed.
Police said they would review CCTV footage from last night and have encouraged anyone who experienced or witnessed prejudice-motivated crime to report it to police.
