Hostile Encounters along Latest Palestine March in Victoria

Over three hundred protesters took part in last Saturday’s march for Palestine in Victoria, which was punctuated with multiple hostile encounters.

Although I attended the protest, I called sick on Instagram almost immediately upon returning and did not write an article afterwards. I’m feeling somewhat better, but even then this will be an abbreviated piece, focusing on hostile encounters, which were more frequent than usual along the march’s itinerary.

I witnessed no less than three of them. Two were merely old hecklers whose undignified behaviour may be attributed to senility, but another was more concerning. Some guy wearing sunglasses approached the chanter at the intersection of Douglas and Johnson, his path being blocked by an organiser, then two. He stood his ground long enough to light a smoke while glaring at her, then walked away. Though I did not record what followed, I saw him spit at a warden during a scuffle at the eastern crossing before retreating for good. No police officers were in the vicinity, and to the best of my knowledge no arrest was made.

This isn’t the first time we encountered him. I documented him on December 23rd with a picture showing him giving the marchers the finger with both hands up. Watch out for this character, he’s brazen enough to physically engage with us and he’s afraid of neither our numbers nor the cops. If approached, seek a warden immediately, and record every detail of the encounter if possible. If you happen to know his identity, let me know, and I’ll pass along the information.

I’d like to close on a positive note. In spite of the spike in incidents, overall reaction was better than usual. Many more bystanders took pictures, waved at us, and even cheered with us alongside the route. There may actually be a correlation: hostiles might be growing more aggravated as we make gains in the court of public opinion.