‘We know what was said’: Pro-Palestine protesters used ‘abhorrent terms’ at Opera House protest

Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has condemned the use of “abhorrent terms” by a “violent mob of thugs” at the Sydney Opera House on October 9, after the police investigation into the incident concluded. A police investigation into the pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House in the wake of the October 7 attacks has just concluded and found no evidence of anti-Semitic phrases being used. It was widely reported at the time that there were chants of ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘f*** the Jews’; however, police have said that this was not the case – that there was no evidence. In fact, one expert has said they were saying ‘where’s the Jews?’ “There were independent witnesses who came forward after that evening and they all said the same thing – that the phrase that was chanted was ‘gas the Jews’,” Mr Ryvchin told Sky News Australia. “We know what was said; the world knows what was chanted – it’s clear. “Regardless of what this police statement has now said – whether it’s ‘where’s the Jews’, ‘gas the Jews’, ‘f*** the Jews’ – these are equally menacing, abhorrent terms that were used and directed by one group of Australians to their fellow Australians. “The issue here isn’t the precise wording that was used. “The issue is that on the 9th of October, just two days after the Jewish people suffered the worst atrocity inflicted on them since the Holocaust, before Israel had even commenced its operation to defeat Hamas … a violent mob of thugs gathered at one of our most cherished sites to burn an Israeli flag, to celebrate these atrocities and to direct hatred and abuse and threats towards their fellow Australians. “As much as some see it in their interest to try to deflect and confuse the Australian public, that is the issue.”