By Frances Howe and Sarah McPhee
Restaurateur Alan Yazbek has pleaded guilty to knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public at a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney’s CBD earlier this month.
The 56-year-old appeared before Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday after he was arrested for holding a sign with a swastika on October 6.
Restaurant owner Al Yazbek arrives at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Yazbek was photographed at the rally in Hyde Park holding a poster that replaced the star of David on the Israeli flag with a swastika and compared Israel to Nazis.
Police approached Yazbek and explained “the Nazi symbol depicted on the corflute board was offensive and prohibited to display in public”.
“The accused said to police, ‘What’s the offensive symbol?’ and police informed him that the swastika was the offensive symbol,” the agreed facts state.
Alan Yazbek at the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney.Credit: Facebook
“The accused said the symbol was an ‘Israeli swastika’. The accused was given a direction to stop displaying the swastika and became argumentative, however, complied, and stopped displaying the symbol.”
He was also photographed holding a sign in the colours associated with Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist group in Australia. The sign read “our boys in green and gold will win”.
The facts state Yazbek was “escorted out of the protest by event organisers” and then arrested. His sign and phone were also seized by police.
Yazbek’s barrister Phillip English told the court the case had “generated significant media attention”, and tendered a bundle of documents on behalf of his client including emails received.
He asked for the matter to proceed to sentence later on Thursday. However, magistrate Mark Whelan said he had “no capacity” and it was “not a matter that can be done on the run”.
Yazbek’s sentence was listed for December 10. Outside court, Yazbek told waiting media: “Respectfully, no comment.”
Nomad Sydney has been removed from the Good Food Guide following backlash from the Sydney protest.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Yazbek’s appearance in court comes his wife and co-director Rebecca Yazbek said she was “furious with his actions and heartbroken by the harm they caused”. She did not attend her husband’s court appearance.
In a statement addressed to guests, staff and suppliers, she wrote, “we deeply regret the impact his actions have had on the community, and for that, we sincerely apologise”.
“As a result, he is no longer involved in the management of the business,” she said.
Yazbek is still a director, secretary and shareholder of the company.
The group owns three restaurants across Sydney and Melbourne including Nomad Sydney, Nomad Melbourne and Reine & La Rue, also in Melbourne. Both Nomad Sydney and Reine & La Rue had been recognised in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide but were removed on October 11 following backlash from the rally.
The Nomad group was also removed from the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association the same day.
In a statement made later that day, Yazbek said he apologised “unequivocally for my actions at the demonstration on Sunday where I carried a sign that is deeply offensive to the Jewish community”.
“Friends and acquaintances who know me – both Jewish and gentile – know that I am not an antisemite, and they also know how passionate I am about supporting diversity and equality in both my personal life and within the Nomad group of businesses,” he said.
The Nomad group’s social media platforms were inundated with comments and bad reviews following the rally. Goldman Sachs, the champagne brand G.H. Mumm and the law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler all broke ties with Yazbek’s Melbourne restaurants.
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