In December, Australian-Lebanese “news personality” woman Antoinette Lattouf publicly questioned whether the phrase “gas the Jews” was in fact chanted at a Sydney protest in October, as had been claimed by witnesses at the protest (who signed a statutory declaration to this effect), and as footage of the protest seemed to indicate. As part of Lattouf’s piece in Crikey, she quoted a Forensic Audio Australia’s principal engineer, who was of the opinion the chant in question was not “gas the Jews” but “Where’s the Jews?”
As I wrote at the time:
The idea they chanted “Where’s the Jews?” is also bizarre. What does that even mean? And assuming that is what they chanted (a huge stretch), is that not also threatening?
I believed “Gas the Jews” was indeed chanted, based on the sworn witness statements, what I heard in the audio on social media, the fact “F— the Jews” was also clearly chanted by many, and “We’re gonna kill them all” by at least one person (something even Lattouf mentioned in her Crikey piece).
But today, it was reported that a police investigation based on “extensive forensic analysis of audio-video files” of the protest has led police to conclude the phrase “gas the Jews” was not said, but rather “Where’s the Jews?” after all. And the haters are loving it.
Like Lattouf herself, who has tweeted the following:
That last tweet she retweeted is misleading. Police concluded the specific phrase “gas the Jews” was not chanted, not that “revolting antisemitic comments” – like “where’s the Jews” and “f— the Jews” – weren’t.
APAN, headed by the detestable Nasser Mashni, are also fibbing, accusing the AJA and others of “deliberately” and “maliciously” inaccurately subtitling the video of the chants as “Gas the Jews”, while also calling the police findings as “confirmation that this subtitled video was faked.”
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 and PAG’s condemnation comes after the NSW Police this morning confirmed that a months-long investigation showed there was no evidence that protesters chanted “Gas the Jews,” as was purportedly shown in a subtitled video distributed on social media by the AJA, a vehemently ant-Palestinian organisation.
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.
“In the days and weeks after 9 October, we saw MPs at both state and federal levels and media outlets across the country use what has now been confirmed to be a deliberately inaccurate and maliciously subtitled video to sow discord and hate towards Palestinians and our supporters,” Mr Mashni said.
“We heard Opposition leader Peter Dutton call for people who chanted ‘Gas the Jews’ – a phrase this investigation has confirmed as false – to be deported.
“We heard our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister condemn protesters based on this video, and the NSW Premier Chris Minns use the video to create a sense of fear in the community, restrict the right to protest and ‘strengthen’ hate speech laws.
“And we’ve seen the mainstream media publish stories about this video, using it to smear people protesting in support of Palestinians, and to sow division and hate in our community.
“This has all caused very real harm and damage.
“The confirmation that this subtitled video was faked must compel every politician who relied on it to spread hate and fear to issue a public apology, and every media outlet that trumpeted it as part of their campaigns to discredit and vilify protesters to publish front-page corrections.”
Mr Mashni said the distribution of and misinformation about the doctored video damaged Australian social cohesion and undermined public confidence in the Australian media and political establishment.
“How can we trust our media and leaders when they uncritically amplify misinformation and unverified information like this?” Mr Mashni said.
“Today’s revelation, when added to the series of leaked WhatsApp chats showing malicious and targeted coordination by Zionist lawyers, creatives and academics, must spell a change of course for our media and politicians.
“It must surely mean they can no longer trust a word the AJA says, and must also mean that media and politicians make a point of independently verifying every statement issued by pro-Israel and Zionist lobby groups.
“The public expects our media and politicians to present us with accurate, credible information and this has been an appalling betrayal of that trust, which the public will not forget.”
PAG organiser Josh Lees said the false claims of antisemitism were used to silence critics and divert attention from Israel’s violations of international law in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, false claims of antisemitism are a common tactic use by those who support this racist state, including the current genocide being committed in Gaza, to try to silence critics and divert the discussion away from Israel’s crimes,” Mr Lees said.
This is actually libelous; the AJA had spoken to the witnesses, who later signed statements as to what they heard. There was no fakery or deliberately misrepresenting what was heard, and it is entirely reasonable to believe this is what was chanted, based on the statements and fact chants of “F— the Jews”, “where’s the Jews?”, and “We’re gonna kill them all” were heard at the same protest. The police could only reach their conclusions after relying on “an eminent and very experienced expert” after all, which tells you how difficult it was to ascertain that “gas the Jews” was not chanted.
Furthermore, APAN refer to “false claims of antisemitism” is extremely disingenuous, considering the other antisemitic chants, as well as the fact Mashni himself even admitted they occurred and condemned them:
Meanwhile, Jewish community leaders have nailed it:
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said “‘Where’s the Jews’’ is as bad as ‘gas the Jews’. “Fu— the Jews’ is as dangerous and abhorrent as ‘gas the Jews’.”
“It’s about, let us find these people, and what were they going to do if they came across some Jews,” Mr Ryvchin said on Sky News.
He said it was “frankly irrelevant” what the exact words used in the chant were.
“It’s the sentiment, it’s the nature, it’s the tone and tenor of what was intended and that’s something that’s truly chilling.
In an earlier statement, Mr Ryvchin said: “The core issue is that on October 9, before Israel had even commenced its military response, 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.”
President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip said the police’s findings proved “again what a night of national shame and infamy this was”.
“If they wanted to know where we were whilst they were out celebrating, we were at home mourning our dead family and friends and worrying about those who had been taken hostage,” Mr Ossip said.
“Based on the Police advice to the Jewish community to stay away from the CBD, we can only imagine what would have happened if they had found ‘the Jews’.”
