None of the “serious attacks” used by NSW Premier Chris Minns to ram through controversial “hate speech” and protest laws were motivated by “genuine homegrown anti-Semitism”, police have confirmed.
Of the 14 incidents investigated by a special strike force due to their seriousness, including alleged attacks on synagogues, cars and homes, 13 were allegedly perpetrated by organised criminals, and the other involved two Muslim nurses from a Sydney hospital making threats against Jewish patients on a livestream.
The answer was provided in response to questions from Independent MP Mark Latham about the 2024/25 summer of panic over anti-Semitism that led to Mr Minns, who has repeatedly stated that free speech is incompatible with multiculturalism, rushing the laws through parliament in February.
Mr Minns brought in the legislation amid media hysteria over anti-Semitism and lobbying from the Jewish community, but the most serious incident, a caravan full of explosives found at Dural that the Premier declared a terror attack before the police investigation was complete, was exposed as a criminal con job in March.
A parliamentary inquiry was then launched into whether Mr Minns knew the fake anti-Semitic caravan bomb plot was a hoax but rushed through the legislation anyway.
The inquiry is yet to hand down its findings, but the NSW Supreme Court last week ruled that the protest laws, which gave police new powers to move on protesters “in or near” places of worship, were unconstitutional as they violated the implied right to freedom of political communication.
While pushing for the laws Mr Minns claimed there had been 700 anti-Semitic attacks since October 7 2023, a number which Police Minister Yasmin Catley downgraded to 367 after she was challenged on the figures, only for it to be revealed earlier this month that dozens of those were duplicates or not anti-Semitic.
In Budget Estimates on September 3, Mr Latham asked Acting Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell how many “serious attacks on property and serious attacks on people instigated by anti-Semitic ideology by people living in Sydney” there were, and the question was taken on notice.
When Mr Latham was told: “Fourteen incidents were investigated under Strike Force Pearl, which were at the higher end of offending, being attacks on synagogues, graffiti, firebombings, attacks on cars and attacks on houses.”
He then asked how many were perpetrated by Iran, foreign agents or “people associated with and paid by organised crime”, and of the remainder how many were “a product of genuine homegrown anti-Semitic ideology”.
On Thursday Mr Latham was given an official response stating all 14 incidents had resulted in charges, police had no evidence of the involvement of Iran or agents of the Iranian regime, and no evidence in relation to foreign agent perpetrators.
Police then confirmed that 13 incidents were allegedly perpetrated by people associated with and paid by organised crime figures, while one was a product of genuine homegrown anti-Semitism – the case of the two Muslim nurses, which did not involve a serious attack or property or people.
“Two people were charged with Use Carriage Service to menace/harass/offend, Sec 474.17 Criminal Code, in relation to the Bankstown nurses’ incident where a live-stream conversation recorded threats against Jewish patients attending Bankstown Hospital. One of those people was additionally charged with Threaten Violence to Group, Sec 80 .28A Criminal Code,” the response read.
Mr Latham spoke out about the response on X on Friday, describing it as “huge news the media has missed”.
“Minns, Catley, Murdoch media, Sky Jews and the Jewish Lobby have been responsible for the greatest fake propaganda exercise since Stalin was a boy,” he wrote.
“It’s a chilling moment for the NSW Parliament, having passed draconian anti-protest and anti-free speech laws on the basis of propaganda BS.”
NSW Police confirmed on October 3 that of the 367 anti-Semitic incidents documented by Operation Shelter, which was launched on October 11 2023 to investigate anti-Semitic hate crimes, 38 were duplicates and dozens more did not meet the criteria for anti-Semitism, defined as “prejudice or hatred directed at individuals based on their Jewish faith or cultural identity”.
A summary of the 367 incidents includes examples such as “report of Star of David graffiti”, people shouting “free Palestine”, the theft of an Israeli flag, a Jewish man with public pro-Palestine views being struck on the shoulder, a man verbally abusing pro-Palestine protesters outside Anthony Albanese’s office, and anti-Palestinian graffiti on toilet doors at Hornsby Westfield.
Header image: Left, two men allegedly attempting to set a synagogue on fire in Newtown, Sydney (NSW Police). Right, cars torched in Sydney’s eastern suburbs (supplied).
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