On Wednesday,footage seen by this masthead showed a handful of men – some wearing Israeli flags and Zionist T-shirts –walking through the Melbourne University camp and singling out a Palestinian student for questioning.

Speaking to the rally on Thursday,Loven said the pro-Palestine encampment was eerily reminiscent of those sweeping through US universities,accusing them of fomenting extremism.

Sophie Schwartz was just out of high school on a gap year in Israel when she spent three terrifying days in a lockdownduring the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Now a first-year arts student at the University of Melbourne,she told the crowd she’d felt very uncomfortable earlier this year when her lecturer expressed support in class for students leaving early to attend a pro-Palestine protest.

Then,as Thursday’s rally dispersed into the afternoon sun,some walked on with Israeli flags down the short way to the pro-Palestinian student camp. One man called a young woman draped in a flag back to avoid “riling things up”,but others came to gather outside the university’s south lawn,where more than 50 tents have sprung up since last Thursday.

Students at the camp had vowed not to come near the Jewish student rally or engage,stressing they also stood against antisemitism and didn’t want anyone to feel unsafe.

As the crowds slowly moved in,campers turned out to face them under the eye of police.

After a tense few minutes,each side filming the other,a cry went up from the camp:“Palestine will be free!” And traditional music and dancing – dabke – broke out on the lawn. People clapped and chanted but around the edges of the camp was one long unbroken line of protesters.

“We were worried they’d come through again,” said Cooper Forsyth,a fourth-year history student who helps run the camp. Many of his fellow protesters had covered their faces to avoid being targeted online by Zionist groups,he added.

As crowds grew around the lawn’s narrow moat,shouting competing chants,a student in the camp declared:“We are not here for hate!” And the campers moved back from the edge of the lawn.

A few men draped in Israeli flags or holding banners shouted out to them to “show their faces” or “go fight with Hamas”. But soon both sides were moving away without incident.

A University of Melbourne spokeswoman said “the activity on campus concluded peacefully”.

Forsyth said the camp had spent the day hosting Jewish speakers discussing why people should not conflate concern about the Israeli siege of Gaza with antisemitism. But they would spend the night reassessing the camp’s security.

“Since the Monash camp were invaded,we’re on edge,” he said. “This has always been about being safe and peaceful.”

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