A war memorial in Melbourne was desecrated on Remembrance Day by anti-Israel graffiti, as tens of thousands have attended pro-Palestine protests across the country.
The Montrose Memorial in Melbourne’s outer east was defaced with slogans including ‘Stop the genocide in Gaza’, ‘Shame Israel, USA, UK, Australia’ and ‘Free Palestine’ on Friday night.
‘Ceasefire’ was scrawled in huge red lettering on the monument’s obelisk.
It happened just hours after violent clashes between around 400 pro-Palestine demonstrators and pro-Israel supporters in the Jewish suburb of Caulfield in the city’s south east following a fire at a burger restaurant owned by an outspoken, pro-Palestinian advocate.
The Montrose Memorial in Melbourne’s outer east was defaced with slogans including ‘Stop the genocide in Gaza’, ‘Shame Israel, USA, UK, Australia’ and ‘Free Palestine’ on Friday night (pictured)
‘Ceasefire’ was scrawled in huge red lettering on the monument’s obelisk (pictured)
Police are investigating the incident they believe happened at some point on Friday night into Saturday morning
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the vandalisation of the memorial, which was originally ‘erected by the people of Montrose as a tribute to her gallant sons who took part in the Great War of 1914-19’, was ‘completely unacceptable’.
‘We live in a country where there is freedom of expression… but people need to take responsibility for the way in which that is occurring,’ Mr Marles told Sky News.
‘Defacing a war memorial does nothing to advance the cause of what’s happening in Gaza. It does nothing to advance the cause of the humanitarian situation facing the people in Gaza.’
War erupted in the region on October 7 after Hamas launched a terror attack, killing 1,200 civilians and taking around 240 hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes have so far killed over 11,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials.
A team from the council came with high-pressure hoses and brushes to clean the Montrose memorial before Saturday’s Remembrance Day service.
Victoria Police are investigating the incident.
Protest group Free Palestine Melbourne apologised on Saturday after staging a protest outside the burnt-down Burgertory branch in Caulfiled, which led to the evacuation of a local synagogue.
‘Organisers were unaware that there was a Synagogue across the park, the Central Shule Chabad on Maple St, South Caulfield,’ the group said in a statement on Facebook.
‘We apologise to the local Jewish community for the protest location that led to the evacuation of the synagogue, for any fear they may have felt and for the cancellation of Shabbat.
‘We should not have gathered in this location. It was never our intention to disrupt of intimidate Jewish worshippers.’
The tense scenes saw some protesters pepper-sprayed and taken away in handcuffs as an estimated 200 people on each side clashed, as a heavy police presence attempted to keep them apart.
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton branded the incident ‘absolutely disgusting’.
‘It was a deliberate act of incitement designed to end in violence. And predictably it did,’ Mr Dutton said.
‘These scenes have no place in our country and should be totally and utterly condemned.
Pro-Palestine protests were held across the country on Sunday, including in Brisbane (pictured)
A protestor in Brisbane holds a sign likening Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler
A group of men perform a Haka during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration in King George Square in Brisbane, Australia
Burgertory’s Caulfield branch in Melbourne’s south east burned down around 4am on Friday (pictured)
‘The Jewish community in Australia is rightly scared for their safety at the moment, and we all have a responsibility to call out vile antisemitism when it rears its ugly head – as it did last night in Caulfield.’
Burgetory’s CEO Hash Tayeh, 32, had asked people not to protest after his restaurant was gutted by the alleged arson.
Mr Tayeh addressed over 50,000 pro-Palestinian protesters in Melbourne’s city centre on Sunday.
‘In the past few weeks as I called for peace and ceasefire … my business became a target,’ he said.
‘In a cruel act of arson our store was reduced to ashes. To those who sought to silence us I say you will not succeed. Love and unity will always prevail.’
A similar demonstration was staged in Sydney’s Hyde Park where thousands gathered in support of Palestine.
Earlier in the day, a crowd of around 5,000 gathered in Moore Park in Sydney’s inner east to march the Jewish hostages kidnapped on October 7 be freed.
In Melbourne, more than 50,000 pro-Palestinian protesters brought the city centre to a standstill in one of the biggest demonstration since the Gaza conflict erupted after Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel
A crowd of around 5,000 gathered in Moore Park in Sydney’s inner east to march the Jewish hostages kidnapped on October 7 be freed
Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, addressed the ‘Set them free rally’, called for the destruction of Hamas and the ‘swift and complete victory of the heroic forces of the IDF’.
‘Hope for the safe rescue of every hostage. Hope for the complete destruction of Hamas and hope for an era of peace for the land of Israel,’ he said.
Protesters also gathered in number at Brisbane’s King George Square and were expected to gather outside Parliament House in Perth and Russell Square in Adelaide on Sunday.
