Bashed in the street: Being Jewish and wearing a keffiyeh

A smattering of pro-Palestinian activists were mobbed by a large contingent of Zionists recently, illustrating how hard it's become for communities to disagree with the unfolding genocide, writes Tom Tanuki.

ON MONDAY evening, a Zionist event was held at the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation to discuss 'Israel’s challenges and opportunities in a new Middle East'.

Speakers included former and current (The Israel Defence Forces) IDF personnel. A Jewish-led counter-protest was then planned to signal that ‘genocidal planning was not welcome on sacred Boonwurrung land’, as a promotional flyer stated. But that counter-protest was cancelled after a spate of Zionist death threats were taken seriously.

This happens to be the second time a planned anti-Zionist protest action in Caulfield has been cancelled with moments to spare, incidentally.

The earlier occasion was a planned solidarity action after Palestinian burger chain owner and activist Hash Tayeh’s Burgertory Caulfield outlet was burned down (it's now believed the reported attack was allegedly done by Zionists).

It’s interesting to compare the two efforts. The problem back then was that it appeared Tayeh got cold feet at the 11th hour and backtracked on encouraging the rally. The cancellation this time, however, happened after organisers saw threats like the ones below doing the rounds on social media in spaces like the private Facebook group J-United.

A Jewish anti-Zionist comrade I spoke to felt the rally was ill-advised, for what it’s worth:

“Not because we shouldn’t protest war criminals, but because the Zionists knew exactly what they were doing hosting it at a Shul.”

Nonetheless, they felt organisers were “entitled to their own praxis”.

The dangers of Zionism behind closed doors

Campaigning in private by pro-Zionist parties against Palestinian supporters has intended public outcomes and must be addressed urgently.

The last-minute cancellation either didn’t catch everyone at the 11th hour, or some didn’t agree with the move. Consequently, a smattering of anti-Zionist activists showed up. They were mobbed by a large contingent of flag-waving Zionists who were clearly itching to fight.

This is the real difference between the two cancelled Caulfield efforts — the increase apparent in threat level from violent Zionists on the street. It’s evident from footage of the event.

A contingent of 12 or so anti-Zionist supporters stood surrounded by a large mob of Zionists. A small group of police formed a haphazard line between them and the Zionist mob, pushing the mob back. As the pro-Palestinian contingent was moved down the street, residents were moving onto the street and hurling abuse at them.

A photographer present at the protest reported seeing Zionists surround two Middle Eastern men who may or may not have even been in the area for the action. Four or five police encircled the men, ostensibly to ask them why they were there while also shielding them from the mob. Police were trying to fend the mob off as it hurled abuse at two men.

I have observed one Yaacov Travitz on social media for over a year agitating for people to join a militia-style effort to fight pro-Palestinian activists called the "UnSilent Majority". He was seen stalking around on the day in a ‘Hamas Hunting Club’ hoodie.

Far-right ideologist Avi Yemini was there.

My comrade reflects:

“Avi was an outcast [in the Jewish community] for being a fascist and wife basher, and now he is cheered and high-fived at every one of these events.”

Stop pretending Jewish anti-Zionists don’t exist

From New York to Bristol, Jewish communities have organised globally in protest over Israel’s brutal and ongoing displacement of Palestinian people.

I’m used to Yemini videos being an awkward Swiss-cheese exercise in editing around all the bits that don’t help make his point. This time, it’s particularly admirable watching his editor's best at trying to minimise all the footage of raving, aggressive Zionists to portray the event as being under some sort of threat from anti-Zionists — roughly 12 of them.

Yemini led a contingent of Zionist aggressors over to Jewish man and left-wing activist James Crafti, protesting in a keffiyeh, to accost him while filming his usual "Rebel" material.

While I expect accurate coverage of the conduct of this angry, violent mob in mainstream, legacy media spaces to be largely non-existent, some outlets saw the violence in person and saw fit to include it. During the exchange, one of Yemini’s Zionist mob hurled Crafti to the ground, as witnessed by an Age journalist.

None of this is a surprise to my Jewish anti-Zionist comrade, who has experienced how hard it is to disagree with the unfolding genocide while in their community:

“The outcome of this rally is a metaphor for how the Zionist branch of the community has turned Judaism into a cult. It’s so monolithic that even being Jewish and wearing a keffiyeh results in you being bashed in the streets of Caulfield. It’s genuinely promoting antisemitism.”

Tom Tanuki is a writer, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly videos commenting on the Australian political fringe appear on YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter @tom_tanuki.