Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at the State Library of Victoria on Sunday to call for an end to the war in Gaza.
Hash Tayeh, whose Burgertory restaurant in Caulfield was fire-bombed on Friday, said his staff were threatened and harassed in an attempt to silence his support for Palestine.
"In a cruel act of arson, our store was reduced to ashes," Mr Tayah told the crowd while draped in a Palestinian flag.
"To those who sought to silence us with hate and violence, I say you will not succeed. Love and unity will always prevail."
Melbourne rally co-chair Raphael Duffy, a Jewish man and socialist activist, said he was buoyed by the scenes of hundreds of thousands of people rallying in London to support Palestine.
"If you want to fight against the kind of racism that caused the holocaust, you have to fight against the oppression of Palestinians today," he said.
Hash Tayah, whose Caulfield Burgertory restaurant was firebombed the other day, now speaking. Declares he'll not be silenced. "You won't succeed!" — Matt (@MattH093) pic.twitter.com/ghWBbAXmluNovember 12, 2023
Other speakers included Victorian Greens Leader Samantha Ratnam, Medical Association for Prevention of War vice president Margaret Beavis and Palestinian academic Micaela Sahhar.
A nearby Starbucks closed temporarily and was plastered with stickers calling for a boycott of Israel, the coffeehouse chain having recently sued its own union after US workers expressed support for Palestine.
The large crowd chanted "ceasefire now" and "free Palestine" as it moved down Swanston St before continuing to Treasury Gardens and marching towards state parliament.
Thousands more met in Sydney's Hyde Park.
Palestine Action Group spokesperson Josh Lees said protesters, who have gathered every week for the past five, would not stop until there was a ceasefire.
"This is a great crime, this is a massacre, this is a genocide," he said.
Thousands also gathered for a vigil in Sydney to show solidarity for Israel, with many holding "kidnapped" signs and the images of those taken hostage by Hamas.
Thousands gathered for a vigil in Sydney to show solidarity with Israel.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin called for the destruction of the terrorist group, the safe rescue of every hostage and peace "for the land of Israel".
"Today, the Jewish people are one. There is no Israel and the diaspora," he told a crowd at Moore Park.
"If before October 7, the world did not know what we as Jews, as Zionists, were fighting for, now at least they know what we are fighting against."
But independent Jewish journalist and author Antony Loewenstein said it was untrue to suggest there was uniformity in the Australian Jewish community towards Israel and Palestine.
"Extreme Israeli actions against Palestinians both in Gaza and in the West Bank and elsewhere is not supported by vast swathes of the Australian Jewish community," he told AAP.
Mr Loewenstein said Mr Ryvchin's comments showed "no understanding and no sympathy for Palestinian suffering".
"This kind of sentiment actually contributes to rising anti-semitism," he said.
Palestine supporters also turned out in Brisbane's King George Square.
Sydney police said a large contingent of officers was on hand to maintain safety and manage the crowds, although there were no arrests or incidents.
Protesters also gathered in number at Brisbane's King George Square and were expected to gather outside Parliament House in Perth and Russell Square in Adelaide on Sunday.
The day of action comes after pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups faced off in Melbourne on Friday night following the suspicious fire at Burgertory Caulfield.
Victoria Police Inspector Scott Dwyer said he was confident the fire was not religiously or politically motivated but security footage showed two people setting the shop alight and fleeing in a car parked nearby.
9°C