The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard testimony on August 4, 2026, regarding a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney on October 9, 2023.
The inquiry is examining police responses to public unrest, specifically focusing on the October 9, 2023, protest between Town Hall and the Sydney Opera House and a neo-Nazi rally held outside the NSW Parliament on November 8, 2025. Central to the testimony is the tension between the right to freedom of speech and the protection of community safety during periods of high social volatility.
David Ossip and the ‘Psychological Impact’ of Police Advice
David Ossip, president of the Jewish Board of Deputies, told the commission that the conduct of protesters at the October 9 rally was appalling
. He testified that the event occurred just two days after Hamas’s attack on Israel, a time when the Jewish community was highly traumatised and in mourning
. According to ABC, Ossip stated that the Jewish community had intended to hold a vigil at the Sydney Opera House that evening, where the sails were to be lit blue and white in solidarity.
Ossip reported that after the Community Security Group NSW (CSG NSW) communicated security concerns to the NSW Police, police advised the Jewish Board of Deputies to tell the community to avoid Town Hall and the Opera House. He described this advice as an extraordinary and outrageous admission
, arguing that it effectively signaled the police’s inability to keep the community safe and resulted in the transfer of control of the CBD to the protesters.
Ossip further alleged that the protest shattered the physical and psychological sense of safety
for Jewish Australians. He cited reports of an attendee yelling I am going to kill them all
and described the event as one of the clearest examples of antisemitism in recent years.
Police Intelligence and the Role of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna provided a different perspective on the operational side of the protest. He told the commission that police had intelligence suggesting members of Hizb ut-Tahrir—a group the Australian Government officially listed as a prohibited hate group in 2026—would likely attend the rally.
When questioned by counsel Richard Lancaster SC on how this intelligence shaped the safety assessment, McKenna explained that the counter-terrorism special tactics command informed the threat assessment. He noted that because there was nothing specific about terrorism
, the police considered street level issues
more likely to occur. McKenna also contested the narrative regarding the intensity of the event, suggesting that news coverage had positioned the protest as more significant
than it actually was in terms of public safety implications.
However, this stands in contrast to the experience of the Jewish community, who received communications from workplaces granting permission to leave the CBD due to safety fears.
Contested Narratives of Violence and Conduct
The evidence presented to the commission reveals a deep divide in how the events of October 9 were experienced and recorded. On one hand, the commission heard reports of protesters chanting where’s the Jews?
and f*** the Jews
, and that an Israeli flag was set on fire. A forensic analysis of 200 hours of CCTV footage, however, could not find evidence to support claims that some had chanted gas the Jews
.
Simultaneously, other reports describe a different kind of violence. According to wsws.org, there are allegations that NSW Police were instructed to brutalize crowds. This account includes the claim that Greens MP Abigail Boyd was punched in the head and shoulder by police while filming for accountability purposes, resulting in neck injuries that required hospitalization. The report also alleges that police pepper-sprayed protesters indiscriminately and attacked a group of Muslim worshippers who were kneeling and praying.
This dichotomy suggests a critical failure in the state’s ability to maintain a neutral and safe environment. While the Jewish community felt the police transferred control of the CBD to the protesters
, some protesters felt they were victims of police-state repression designed to prevent opposition to the visit of Isaac Herzog.
During cross-examination by Dominic Toomey SC, David Ossip expressed frustration with questions regarding the timeline of the Israeli military’s response in Gaza. He argued that the commission should not be getting caught up in the minutiae of the timeline of a foreign military
when the focus is on antisemitism. Commissioner Virginia Bell noted that while she had not yet ruled the line of questioning inadmissible, she would do so if it fell outside the matters properly before her.
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