Vandals who attacked the University of Melbourne’s main library tagged it with the name of a militant Palestinian group that has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks on the West Bank, in what terrorism experts and Jewish community leaders say is a worrying step-up in protest activity.
Balaclava-clad activists this month broke into the Baillieu Library and caused extensive damage, wrecking expensive book-scanning equipment and spray-painting references to “Lions’ Den” on the floor and walls.
Arīn al-ʾUsud or Lions’ Den is a secular, armed resistance group of predominantly young Palestinian men that emerged in the West Bank town of Nablus two years ago and, through its presence on TikTok and Telegram, quickly gained a broad following across the occupied territories.
The group, which draws its members from across rival Palestinian factions Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is not listed as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government, but was this month sanctioned by the US Department of State for threatening West Bank security.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said evidence of support for Lions’ Den within the pro-Palestinian protest movement was a serious issue. He urged the Albanese government to consider proscribing the group as a terror organisation, which would give the Australian Federal Police and ASIO broad powers to investigate and prosecute its members.
Read the article by Chip Le Grande in The Age.
[Editor: 10 days after the occurrence of this vandalism it is reported in the media!]