“I had serious doubts after watching a video circulating in the media as well as having reviewed a lot of other footage and spoken to witnesses who were at the Opera House,” Hawila said.
A police spokesperson toldThe Sydney Morning Herald that investigations into the alleged incident were ongoing but “NSW Police are yet to confirm wording used during the October 9,2023 protest”.
“Investigators have sent a video recording for independent,expert analysis,” the spokesperson said. “No person has been charged with speaking the words ‘Gas the Jews’.”
While it appears the offensive phrase “f--- the Jews” and potentially “where’s the Jews” – which are unlikely to meet the threshold for criminal prosecution underhate speech laws because they do not directly threaten or incite violence – were uttered by protesters on October 9,questions have been raised about whether “gas the Jews” was chanted.
Felicity Graham,a NSW barrister and member of The Wigs podcasting team who has also acted for Palestine Action Group Sydney and Black Lives Matter protesters,said:“Questions have been raised more than once in the parliament in recent weeks on the issue[of whether the words were said].”
The Minns government introduced a bill on November 21 that it said would “improve the prosecution process” for the offence of publicly threatening or inciting violence against a person or group based on attributes including race and religion.