Footage of anti-Semitic chant at Syrian celebrations after Islamist-led rebels end Assad’s rule

Police are investigating the use of anti-Semitic slogans by a group of people celebrating the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on the streets of Sydney. Meanwhile Jewish leaders have lashed out at the act.

A group of protesters celebrating the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on the streets of Sydney have been filmed chanting an anti-Semitic slogan.

In footage from Chullora on Sunday, exclusively obtained by The Daily Telegraph, men and boys holding flags and loudspeakers can be heard chanting “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud”, an Arabic rallying slogan referencing a battle in which a Muslim army attacked a Saudi Arabian town that was home to a large Jewish community during the Islamic conquests in 628.

The protesters, who were part of a crowd celebrating the demise of the al-Assad regime, chanted about the Battle of Khaybar, translates to: “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews. The army of Muhammad will return”.

Police are investigating the slogan, which was formally reported to police on Monday, commissioner Karen Webb said.

“It is now under investigation.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns slammed the chant as racist and abhorrent on Monday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Ms Webb said police will first need to translate the chants to English as part of their investigation.

NSW Premier Chris Minns wouldn’t comment specifically on the chants, citing the police investigation.

“But I want to make it clear, there’s no room for anti-Semitism in NSW in all its variations,” he said.

“Anti-semitism is insidious and can’t get into the bones of the community,” he said.

“It’s absolutely racist and abhorrent,” he said.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said officers were investigating. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The historic Khaybar chant is religiously significant for Islamic history and been recited at numerous anti-Israel demonstrations worldwide.

It recalls seventh-century battles between Mohammed and local Jews in the first few years of Islam’s establishment.

According to the Quran, and other religious texts, Mohammed’s forces took action against Khaybar in response to purported acts of Jewish treachery triggering the subjugation, mass expulsion, or slaughter of the area’s tribal Jewish communities.

Its use at demonstrations on Sunday moves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious battle between Islam and Judaism and is seen as a threat of armed violence or expulsion against Jews.

Alex Ryvchin, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, criticised the chant. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Co-chief executive of the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin hit out against the chant and on Monday.

“The Jewish people have literally nothing to do with the civil war in Syria but in the irrational mind of the anti-Semite, everything is about the Jews,” he said.

“This incident further demonstrates the extent of the antisemitism crisis and the use of street rallies to incite further hatred and violence.”

The Anti-Defamation League said of the chant, “Invoking this slogan today at such a demonstration problematically shifts the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious battle between Islam and Judaism.

“Moreover, in celebrating a past military defeat of Jews, this chant can be perceived as a threat of armed violence or forcible expulsion against Jews today.”

PM Anthony Albanese in Perth at the weekend. Picture: Colin Murty

On Monday the Executive Council of Australian Jewry fired off a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling for an “urgent” response to what is calls a national antisemitism crisis.

The missive dated Sunday calls for extra funding to meet security needs and to support mandatory national antisemitism education in schools.

“The firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne has brought our nation to a “point of crisis,” the letter states.

“When one group of Australians cannot safely gather in its houses of prayer, the very character of this country as a free, democratic and multicultural society is in peril.

“For more than a year, Jewish Australians have lived with fear and anxiety. Many in our community now question their future in this country. They question whether it is still safe to wear Jewish symbols, to attend Jewish institutions, to work and participate in certain industries, to openly profess their faith and celebrate their heritage and to raise proudly Jewish children in today’s Australia”.

It went on: “Your words swiftly condemning the attack were heard by our community.

“We (now) strongly encourage the government to adopt direct police to strictly enforce existing laws prohibiting harassment or intimidation by protesters of persons attending schools, places of public worship, or other communal places, or in jurisdictions where no such laws currently exist, and to enact and strictly enforce laws to that effect,” it states.

The letter, signed by president Daniel Aghion KC, co-chief executives Alex Ryvchin and Peter Wertheim AM, also calls for an urgent meeting of National Cabinet to deeply address the national antisemitism crisis through uniform policing guidelines, law reform and public campaigns and enact new legislation compelling universities to protect the safety and security of students and staff.

“We are ready to meet with you without delay to discuss each of these urgent requests,” the letter ends.

It comes as people flocked to the streets to celebrate the overthrowing of President Bashar al-Assad whose family has reigned over Syria for five decades.

The president is reported by Reuters to have sought asylum in Russia’s capital, Moscow, as Islamist rebel fighters declared they had taken over Syrian capital Damascus in a lightning offensive.

People celebrating the demise if Assad in Syria.

Anti-Semitic chants could be heard from the crowd

As residents were seen cheering in the streets of Damascus, across the other side of the globe in Sydney, Syrian and Arab communities came together for celebrations in Chullora and Rouse Hill on Sunday night.

One of the organisers invited the community to join the rally in “solidarity with our people inside Syria” and “to raise our voices and show the world we are together for better and worse”.

Assad’s reported asylum in Moscow comes less than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group launched its offensive campaign to challenge more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.

Despite never meaning to become president, Assad assumed the position in 2000 after his brother Bassel, who was groomed to take power, died in a road accident in 1994.

Assad ceased his studies in London and returned to Syria to prepare him for politics before becoming president and not long after, widely-considered a dictator.

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