The Australia Police held a press conference last Friday where they reported that their investigation into the claims of antisemitic chants at a pro-Palestinian protest last year found no evidence of said chants. The protest took place at the Sydney Opera House following last year’s Hamas attack on Israel.
The demonstration saw 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters march to the Opera House, an iconic Australian landmark, which was bearing the colours of the Israeli flag at the time in the wake of the Hamas attack. The Australian Jewish Association (AJA) shared footage that appeared to show a small group of protesters chanting “gas the Jews”, a claim bolstered by testimonies from witnesses posted by the AJA, not only related to the Opera House but also the Town Hall.
In response to this protest, the Minns Government introduced the Crimes Amendment (Prosecution of Certain Offences) Bill 2023 on 21 November 2023, which aimed to enhance the prosecution process for offenses involving public threats or incitement of violence against individuals or groups based on race or religion.
In order to investigate the allegations, the police recruited an independent biometric science expert to analyze audio-visual records of the protest. The analysis did not find any evidence to back the claim that protesters chanted “gas the Jews”. However, other antisemitic slogans were identified in the recordings, including “Where’s the Jews?” and “F*** the Jews”.
The police statement clarified that the video compilation presented for analysis contained cuts from a larger parent file, and the analysis of both the parent file and the compilation concluded the same.
The Australian National Islams Council (ANIC), while welcoming the police findings, expressed distress over the impact of the initial video posting and erroneous attribution of words. ANIC called for the identification of those responsible for the offensive video and its misleading subtitles, stating that the incident has significantly disturbed social cohesion within Arab and Muslim communities in Australia.