Furious protesters chanting “bring them down!” were held back by police from the front of an apartment building in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday after a person allegedly threw eggs at the pro-Palestine rally from a balcony.
The Free Palestine rally started at midday, with protesters marching from the State Library to Victorian Parliament House.
Footage from the rally posted by Women’s Hub Australia showed the crowd standing outside The Paramount building on Bourke Street.
“Brothers and sisters, we have a Zionist up there throwing eggs at us!” Hasheam “Hash” Tayeh is seen yelling into a microphone.
Another clip shows a line of police standing in front of the building as the crowd chants, “Bring them down! Bring them down!”
Mr Tayeh, founder of burger restaurant Burgertory, said in the Instagram video that peaceful protesters, including children, had been pelted with eggs.
“This week was the 29th week of peacefully marching through the CBD, calling on the Israeli government to stop their genocide against the Palestinians, calling on our government to stop their complicity in this genocide,” Mr Tayeh said.
“While we were peacefully marching up Bourke Street towards parliament, some coward threw eggs off their balcony at the crowd, eggs which hit a little girl, a little boy, an old man.
“We demand police justice, we demand arrests. If this was the other way around and we threw eggs at a pro-Israeli rally, we would have the special operations group coming at us arresting us, we’d even have a counter terrorism group arresting us.
“We demand justice, we demand justice now and we expect a public arrest of this person that threw eggs at our peaceful rally.
“Every week for 29 weeks we have marched peacefully through the CBD without causing any damage, without attacking any people, without damaging any property. This week is where we say enough is enough, we want the person that threw eggs at the little kids held responsible and brought before the courts.”
One witness — wearing a Bluey-themed T-shirt with the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — said in the video he had been walking in the peaceful protest “and all of a sudden eggs came launching at me”, showing where he had been hit in the legs.
“Shameful, very, very disgraceful,” he said. “I hope they catch the people.”
Another woman wearing a Socialist Alternative T-shirt said that it was “at least the third time” the same unit had thrown eggs at the marchers over the past few months.
“We reported this to Victoria Police, it’s my understanding that several members of the community have reported this and it doesn’t seem like it’s being actioned the way that we would expect,” she said.
“If it were to hit a police officer we know for sure they would definitely investigate it and quickly find out whoever it was. So it’s pretty disappointing. We’ve all come together as a community, some have given evidence and information, we have photos, we have times and dates and we know what apartment it’s coming from and it doesn’t seem anything is coming of it.”
The Women’s Hub Australia Instagram page wrote that “after weeks and weeks of peacefully marching, controlling crowds, even though our children, women, and men are brutally getting murdered, we have been making sure that our rallies do not turn violent”.
“It’s not Victoria Police that keeps us safe,” the group said.
“It’s the people, for the people. It’s Muhammeds, Hashs, and Abduls that keep the crowds chill. So when people start throwing eggs, and our own police force does not bother to move a finger, is it not normal for people to really start getting frustrated or angry?”
Victoria Police has been contacted for comment on the egg-throwing incident.
Also during Sunday’s march, a Sydney Swans supporter was seen on video clashing with a group of pro-Palestine protesters.
Video originally shared to TikTok shows a bystander wearing a Swans scarf squaring off with a bearded protester outside a pub, before a scuffle breaks out and the man rushes back into the venue as security block the entrance.
“This matter was not reported to police,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
In November, Burgertory’s store was firebombed in what was falsely claimed by a number of organisations and individuals to have been a hate crime motivated by Mr Tayeh’s views on the Gaza conflict.
That led to wild scenes as hundreds of protesters from both sides clashed in Princes Park near the burnt-out restaurant in Caulfield, which has a significant Jewish population.
Victoria Police arrested two men in late January over the incident, confirming it was “not a hate crime” and “wasn’t motivated by prejudice or politics”.
After the arrests Mr Tayeh hit back at those calling for him to apologise for calling the alleged firebombing of his store a hate crime.
“We thank the police for their ongoing work and dedication,” Mr Tayeh said in a video on Instagram at the time.
“People are criticising me for calling this a hate crime, but I want to ask you, how would you have felt if your shop was firebombed after two weeks of constant harassment, abuse and intimidation?
“I ask you, do these two arrests change the fact that for two weeks our store was on the receiving end of abuse, threats and intimidation?
“How would you have felt if it was your family that felt scared?”
Mr Tayeh has been contacted for comment.
frank.chung@news.com.au