Police still unsure about anti-Semitic chants at Sydney Opera House protest

Video and audio clips from the Opera House protest, which took place on October 9, just two days after Hamas terrorists slaughtered hundreds of Jewish men, women and children in Israel on October 7, purported to show a group of men chanting “gas the Jews” and “f**k the Jews”.

In an update on Friday, police said they were unable to confirm whether the anti-Semitic phrases had occurred.

“Police received reports following the protest suggesting that an offensive anti-Semitic phrase was chanted during the event,” a police spokesman said.

“As a result of independent forensic analysis of audio-video files of the demonstration provided to investigators, police have no evidence that this phrase was used.

“Police also obtained statements from several individuals who attended the protest indicating they heard the phrase; however, these statements have not attributed the phrase to any specific individual.”

Videos from the event gained international attention, with the clips circulating widely on social media and in the international press.

Celebrations erupted in parts of Australia after the Hamas terror attack and a wave of anti-Semitism has washed over the country since October 7.

The Executive Council of Australia Jewry recorded 662 anti-Semitic incidents across October and November 2023 a 738 per cent increase on the number of incidents recorded in the previous year.

In one incident from early December, food and a box decorated with swastikas was thrown at a group of 13-year-old girls wearing their school uniforms.

In another, a man on a tram in Melbourne told a Jewish man he would “gun down 10,000 of you tomorrow” if he had a machine gun.

“I’m going to blow a hole through your synagogue,” he is recorded as saying.

ECAJ co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said Jewish families were now being forced to have “difficult conversations” about their place in Australia.

“Parents are speaking to their children about not disclosing their Jewishness in public, about hiding Jewish attire and symbols,” he said.

“The fact that in our society, in our time, these conversations are taking place, that one segment of our community feels that unsafe and that vulnerable from other Australians, it’s a shame for our country.”