‘Death to Herzog’ Graffiti Appears at Melbourne University Amid Protests Over Israeli President’s Visit

Graffiti calling for the death of Israel’s President has been spraypainted on a University in Melbourne, leading to harsh condemnation from Jewish students. “Death to Herzog + Israel + Oz,” read the graffiti on the wall of the university as Mr. Herzog visited Melbourne to address a Jewish community event. Australasian Union of Jewish Students issued a statement following the discovery of the graffiti, saying they were “deeply disturbed” and that “calls for violence against any individual or nation are not ‘legitimate criticism’ of government policy.”“They cross a clear moral and legal line and have no place on a university campus. The graffiti also features an inverted triangle, a symbol used by Hamas to identify targets, further underscoring the extremist nature of this message,” the statement added. The union urged the University of Melbourne to investigate the incident “thoroughly and to identify those responsible.”“At a time when Jewish students already feel unsafe on campus, incidents like this only contribute to a hostile and intimidating environment. Universities must remain places of learning, respect, and safety for all students,” the statement concluded. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan also condemned the graffiti, calling it “absolutely contemptible.”“We all want peace to come and causing hurt and grief — and indeed violence as we’ve seen as a result in Sydney — that does not cause peace,” Mrs. Allan said. Mr. Herzog’s visit to Australia, where he met with victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack, Jewish community leaders and Prime Minister Antony Albanese, has sparked intense and violent anti-Israel demonstrations, which led to the arrest of 27 people in Sydney. Speaking at an Jewish event in Melbourne on Thursday, Mr. Herzog said: “To me, it’s obscure and odd that we need to have so many incredible police officers protecting us for the inherent right of us to gather here as proud Jews, to host the President of the only Jewish state on Earth without any harassment and disturbance.”Some 5.000 people demonstrated against Mr. Herzog’s visit to Melbourne, chanting “free, free, free Palestine” and “death to the IDF”. “And I say to all those protesters outside, go protest in front of the Iranian embassy or whichever embassy they have. For heaven’s sake, they killed and butchered around fifty thousand, tens of thousands of their own people, operating a whole machine of an empire of evil against us,” Mr. Herzog added. The president also thanked Australian leaders, both local and government officials, for being willing to hold serious conversations and address the “vile rhetoric, the misinformation, and the shameful antisemitism head-on.”

‘Death to Herzog’ Graffiti Appears at Melbourne University Amid Protests Over Israeli President’s Visit

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