conv.

All stories
PoliticsRunning 1d

Pro-Israel activist Avi Yemini registers 'Free Palestine' party in Victoria

Electoral commissioner approves party with deliberately misleading name, rejecting Palestinian activist's similar application.

5 items149 engagement11 comments BlueskyRedditGoogle News

Conversation activity · last 3 days peak 3/hr

Peak 3 items in one hour at Aug 7, 5 PM; 5 items over 3 days Aug 7, 4 PM — 1 itemAug 7, 5 PM — 3 itemsAug 7, 6 PM — no itemsAug 7, 7 PM — no itemsAug 7, 8 PM — no itemsAug 7, 9 PM — no itemsAug 7, 10 PM — no itemsAug 7, 11 PM — no itemsAug 8, 12 AM — no itemsAug 8, 1 AM — no itemsAug 8, 2 AM — no itemsAug 8, 3 AM — no itemsAug 8, 4 AM — no itemsAug 8, 5 AM — no itemsAug 8, 6 AM — no itemsAug 8, 7 AM — no itemsAug 8, 8 AM — no itemsAug 8, 9 AM — no itemsAug 8, 10 AM — no itemsAug 8, 11 AM — no itemsAug 8, 12 PM — no itemsAug 8, 1 PM — no itemsAug 8, 2 PM — no itemsAug 8, 3 PM — no itemsAug 8, 4 PM — no itemsAug 8, 5 PM — no itemsAug 8, 6 PM — no itemsAug 8, 7 PM — no itemsAug 8, 8 PM — no itemsAug 8, 9 PM — no itemsAug 8, 10 PM — no itemsAug 8, 11 PM — no itemsAug 9, 12 AM — no itemsAug 9, 1 AM — no itemsAug 9, 2 AM — no itemsAug 9, 3 AM — no itemsAug 9, 4 AM — no itemsAug 9, 5 AM — 1 itemAug 9, 6 AM — no itemsAug 9, 7 AM — no itemsAug 9, 8 AM — no itemsAug 9, 9 AM — no itemsAug 9, 10 AM — no itemsAug 9, 11 AM — no itemsAug 9, 12 PM — no itemsAug 9, 1 PM — no itemsAug 9, 2 PM — no itemsAug 9, 3 PM — no itemsAug 9, 4 PM — no itemsAug 9, 5 PM — no itemsAug 9, 6 PM — no itemsAug 9, 7 PM — no itemsAug 9, 8 PM — no itemsAug 9, 9 PM — no itemsAug 9, 10 PM — no itemsAug 9, 11 PM — no itemsAug 10, 12 AM — no itemsAug 10, 1 AM — no itemsAug 10, 2 AM — no itemsAug 10, 3 AM — no itemsAug 10, 4 AM — no itemsAug 10, 5 AM — no itemsAug 10, 6 AM — no itemsAug 10, 7 AM — no itemsAug 10, 8 AM — no itemsAug 10, 9 AM — no itemsAug 10, 10 AM — no items 3 items · 5 PM
Aug 8Aug 9Aug 10

Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 5 items across 3 sources · 23h ago. Quotes are verbatim.

YouTuber and pro-Israel activist Avi Yemini successfully registered a political party called "Free Palestine" in Victoria ahead of the November state election, despite the Electoral Commissioner acknowledging the name is deliberately misleading. The registration blocked a separate application by Palestinian student activist Ibrahim Hadi for a "Free Palestine Party", as Victorian law prohibits parties with names that resemble existing registrations. Yemini has stated his intention is to redirect left-wing votes to conservative parties using Victoria's group voting system.

  • Avi Yemini's "Free Palestine" party registration was approved despite Electoral Commissioner acknowledging the name is deliberately misleading.
  • Victorian law requires registration of parties meeting legal criteria but allows rejection only on grounds of offensiveness, length, or resemblance to existing names.
  • Yemini explicitly stated his goal is to capture left-wing votes and redirect them to conservative parties via Victoria's group voting system.
  • Ibrahim Hadi's competing "Free Palestine Party" application was rejected for name similarity, blocking the Palestinian activist's effort while approving Yemini's strategically-named party.

How it unfolded

  1. Reaction Story shared widely

    Story reaches Reddit and other platforms as readers discuss the electoral approval of the strategically-named party.

  2. Report ABC News reports registration

    ABC News publishes story on the registration, with Electoral Commissioner Sven Bluemmel explaining that the VEC must register parties meeting legal criteria regardless of policy position or name misleadingness.

  3. Reaction Social media criticism

    Bluesky user jessielilley.bsky.social comments that the system is "very broken" when a deliberately misleading party name is approved anyway.

  4. Event Yemini's 'Free Palestine' registered

    Avi Yemini's party called "Free Palestine" was successfully registered by the Victorian Electoral Commission after meeting the legal criteria.

  5. Event Ibrahim Hadi's application rejected

    Student Palestinian activist Ibrahim Hadi's application to register a party called "Free Palestine Party" was knocked back because Yemini's "Free Palestine" party already existed.

  6. 31 weeks quiet
  7. Event Yemini recruits party members

    Pro-Israel activist Avi Yemini posted a social media video earlier in the year calling for 750 Victorians to become members to register his party with the electoral commission.

What people are saying verbatim

“The law requires us to register a party once they meet all the criteria under the law and that was the case here.”

Sven Bluemmel, Victorian Electoral Commissioner · ABC News

“The criteria do not go to what the policy position of the party is, that's not for me to decide.”

Sven Bluemmel, Victorian Electoral Commissioner · ABC News

“[The Free Palestine party's] trying to paint themselves as Palestinian and use the Palestinian identity to poke fun at people that are standing up for the oppressed.”

Ibrahim Hadi, Student Palestinian activist · ABC News

“As a voter, do that research, find out what the party stands for, find out what the candidate stands for and always come to the VEC's website to see who's registered, who's behind it.”

Sven Bluemmel, Victorian Electoral Commissioner · ABC News

“When you know it is bullshit but you approve it anyway, the system is very broken.”

jessielilley.bsky.social, Bluesky commenter · Bluesky