Speaking to a crowd of pro-Palestinian activists the Saturday after the federal election, Ms Parke hit out at "powerful media interests" who she said were responsible for forcing her resignation. "I resigned because of the media storm around previous statements I've made about Israel's treatment of Palestinians," she said. "Let me say to you all today, I stand by every word in those statements. "I withdrew from the election – and I don't blame the ALP leadership for this – there was an ongoing campaign against me and against the party that would have gone on continuously during the federal election campaign had I not resigned. "It was a stated intent from very powerful media interests in this country that they were going to – and they told the ALP this – they were going to continue that campaign until I was gone."

Ms Parke denied she was antisemitic. Senator Sue Lines speaking at the pro-Palestine rally. "It is not wrong to say the Israel lobby has excessive influence in the Australian political system assisted by powerful media operators. Look at how I was removed from the election campaign." Senator Sue Lines, who also addressed the rally, said Ms Parke's resignation was caused by the "power of the media" and took aim at The West Australian, saying it was "now one of the worst papers in the country". "You saw that Melissa paid a very heavy price as our endorsed candidate for Curtin," she said.

"Having just come out of the bruising federal election and the shocking result, my view is that the Murdoch media and The West Australian are more Liberal than the Liberal Party. "We have a real challenge ahead of us on any justice issues, whether it's justice for Palestine, whether it's the environment, whether it's justice for first nations people. "We have a media who are hell-bent on shutting down reasonable voices and voices on the left and voices in the middle and just decent ordinary human beings." Ms Parke told WAtoday she didn't hear the heckler shout "you have to f---ing wipe them out". "He seemed to be annoyed that I had stepped down as a candidate, was my impression from what he said, but I was trying to keep speaking rather than speaking to him," she said.

"I don't support that kind of language at all." Loading Co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said the issue transcended the political debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "This is a direct call for violence against members of Australia’s Jewish community," he said. "In a time when lethal attacks on Jewish targets and other religious communities have become commonplace in the western world, such calls for violence must be treated as credible threats.

"We have therefore reported this matter to the local police. "This incident is a further example of the violent extremism that inhabits the anti-Israel movement and the hatred that masquerades as political activism." Ms Parke was a human rights lawyer before representing the federal seat of Fremantle from 2007-16. She was a strident critic of the offshore detention of asylum seekers and delivered several speeches excoriating the Coalition's "stop the boats" politics, even denouncing her own party for its support of the government's immigration policies. In her outgoing speech in 2016, she said the government "falsely accuses asylum seekers of arriving illegally when, as observed by the United Nations and the Australian Human Rights Commission among others, it is Australia that is violating its legal obligations".

A spokesman for Friends of Palestine WA said the group had no comment regarding the heckler. Senator Sue Lines was contacted for comment.