Four months after the fact NSW police have asserted that the video alleging that protesters had not chanted “gas the Jews” outside the Opera House on 9 October. This allegation was widely reported by media outlets around the world, to the consternation of some pro-Palestinian agitators who doubted its veracity, obviously concerned about how such a revelation could be very detrimental to their cause.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and Sydney-based Palestine Action Group (PAG) have condemned the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), political leaders and media outlets that distributed and reported on an inaccurately subtitled video claiming that protesters chanted particular phrases that potentially constituted a hate crime during a protest at the Opera House on 9 October 2023.
APAN President Nasser Mashni said the outcome of this police investigation was a damning indictment of those individuals and outlets that used the inaccurate video to demonise protesters and clamp down on pro-Palestine protests.
Apparently
Read the media statement on the APAN website.
This is quite extraordinary that pro-Palestinians, who behaved in an indisputably antisemitic fashion, are calling for an apology for what was perceived by the world, based on what they heard, that the pro-Palestinian protesters outside the Opera House on Oct 9th had shouted “gas the Jews” amongst other antisemitic chants. The behaviour of the protesters was undeniably antisemitic but apparently it was only tepid antisemitism, not full-blown antisemitism. This suggests, according to the weird logic of APAN and its partner in crime PAG, a certain level of antisemitism is tolerable and only if it crosses a red line does it need to be condemned.
Somehow they feel they have been badly misrepresented after even accusing the Australian Jewish Association of doctoring the video recording of the protest.
The police indicated that the video had not been tampered with. For the police to have done their audio analysis 4 months after the event is a serious indictment of their competence. It has apparently been called for by the NSW government which is under threat of litigation for not acting to charge the protesters with an offence for inciting racial hatred and violence.
On the other hand it turned out that the Burgertory arson attack was committed by two men not motivated by views on the war in Gaza.
In this article Burgertory owner defends arson hate crime claim that sparked ugly clash it was revealed that Burgertory owner Hasheam “Hash” Tayeh has hit back at those calling for him to apologise for branding the alleged firebombing of his Caulfield store a hate crime, after two men have now been charged with the arson.
The article reported, “A rally in support of Tayeh – and more generally, Palestine – in the area the night after the fire turned ugly when a pro-Palestine group clashed with a pro-Israel group, and police pepper-sprayed at least one protester as tensions began to boil over.”
It was Nasser Mashni, the head of APAN’s politburo, who was instrumental in exploiting the arson attack for the political advantage of the pro-Palestinian brigade. The Islamic Council of Victoria released a media statement in which it expressed “grave concern that this was an intentional act, amounting to a hate crime”.
If Nasser Mashni is calling for an apology over the protest outside the Opera House should he not first be apologising for the insinuations that the Burgertory fire had been instigated by Zionists?