Australian police announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Sydney Opera House after video footage circulated of a small group participating in an antisemitic chant.
About 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters marched through downtown Sydney on Monday evening to the Opera House, which was lit up in blue and white as a symbol of support for Israel after Hamas terrorists launched unprecedented attacks on the country early Saturday.
Footage shared by the Australian Jewish Association and broadcasted on Sky News appeared to show a small group of protestors outside the Opera House lighting flares and chanting explicit phrases, such as "gas the Jews" and "f--- the Jews."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to the antisemitic chants on Tuesday, describing them as "horrific."
"We are a tolerant multicultural nation," Albanese said. "I understand that people have deep views about issues relating to the Middle East conflict but here in Australia we have to deal with political discourse in a respectful way."
More than 1,600 people have been killed since Hamas launched its largest attack on Israel in decades four days ago, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.
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Protest organizer Palestine Action Group Sydney defended its right to protest "apartheid" in Israel but said a small group of "vile antisemitic attendees" did not represent their movement.
"We are an anti-racist and anti-colonial movement and we refuse to fight racism with racism," the group said in a social media post. "If you are an antisemite, you are not welcome at our rallies and are not a part of our movement. As we did today, we will ask you to leave and we will continue to do this."
New South Wales state police said at a news conference on Tuesday that it was reviewing footage from the protest to determine if crimes were committed.
Reuters contributed to this report.
