Key Points
- Edited footage of pro-Palestinian protesters chanting "gas the Jews" at a Sydney rally was shared on social media.
- It led to widespread condemnation of the protesters and changes to hate crime laws.
- NSW Police said on Friday an extensive investigation found no evidence the chant was used at the 9 October rally.
Police have found no evidence a particularly offensive antisemitic phrase was used at a widely condemned pro-Palestinian rally on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
The snap rally on 9 October was sparked by a decision to light the Opera House's sails in the colours of the Israeli flag after Hamas' 7 October attack.
Edited footage of protesters chanting "gas the Jews" was later shared by the Australian Jewish Association, and changes to hate crimes laws.
But NSW Police on Friday said an extensive investigation found no evidence this phrase was used at the rally.
Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators received "significant volumes" of audio and video files recorded at the rally, and had engaged an expert in biometric science to conduct an audio, visual and acoustic phonetic analysis of the files.
"As a result of that examination, the expert has concluded with overwhelming certainty that the phrase chanted during that protest, as recorded on the audio and visual files, was "Where's the Jews?" he said.
"Not another phrase, as otherwise widely reported."
When asked whether there was evidence of other antisemitic phrases being used at the rally, Lanyon said "certainly".
"There is evidence of that, and those are offensive and completely unacceptable," he said.
"But I think the major contention has been about the phrase that was chanted, and quite emphatically, our expert has said that it is 'Where's the Jews?'"
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said multiple independent witnesses had verified and declared that the 'gas the Jews' phrase was used.
"We know what we heard, and the world knows what was said," he said.
Ryvchin also said the exact wording in the chants was not the core issue.
"Just two days after the greatest atrocity inflicted on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, a mob of thugs gathered at one of our nation’s most cherished sites to celebrate the mass slaughter and rape of Israelis, to burn Israeli flags and to chant threateningly towards fellow Australians," he said.
"'Where's the Jews’ is as bad as 'gas the Jews'."
"This is the issue and no matter what efforts some will go to, to deflect or confuse the public, the issue was and remains violence on our streets and threats to our social cohesion."
Detectives continue to ask anyone with information who may not have yet spoken with police to come forward.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which around 1,200 people were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than , the majority of them women and children, according to the enclave's health ministry.
The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
