Kunafa chef charged for chanting ‘All Zionists are terrorists’ at pro-Palestinian rallies
Victoria Police will argue in court that chanting ‘all Zionists are terrorists’ amounts to anti-Semitism, as they charge a popular Kunafa chef and protest drum performer.
Victoria Police will argue in court that chanting “all Zionists are terrorists” in public is anti-Semitic and effectively brands the majority of Jewish Australians as such, in a major legal test of hate speech laws targeting pro-Palestinian activists.
Summary of statement documents obtained by The Australian reveal Victoria Police deemed the controversial chant “anti-Semitic” and considered the use of it as an “affront” to the Jewish community while pressing charges against activists.
The documents concern charging kunafa chef Jad Awwad Abu Alsendyan under Section 17(1) of the state’s Summary Offences Act – which prohibits profane, indecent or obscene language – for allegedly saying “all Zionists are terrorists” at pro-Palestinian rallies.
If proven, the crime is punishable with two months’ prison for the first offence, three months for the second, and six months for three or more.
Mr Alsendyan, who owns the popular Kunafeh House food truck, is facing two charges.
The 48-year-old activist is widely regarded in Melbourne’s Middle Eastern community for making Nablus-style kunafa (Palestinian dessert).
Police allege Mr Alsendyan led the chant during the Protest Until Ceasefire rally in Melbourne’s CBD on April 6, using a megaphone to amplify the slogan. Detectives say they relied on footage shared by pro-Palestinian groups online to identify him and other participants.
“During the march, the accused was walking at the head of the march with a megaphone,” the informant’s summary states.
“The accused chanted ‘all Zionists are terrorists’ a total of three times, encouraging the protest group to chant in unison by saying ‘Louder!’
“The chant ‘all Zionists are terrorists’ was deemed to be anti-Semitic and offensive language as it categorises the majority of the Australian Jewish community as terrorists, seen as an affront to that community.”
Speaking to Mr Alsendyan, detectives asked him how he would define the chant.
“Everyone in the protest, they chant. So all the thousands of people they chant,” he said.
“We didn’t say anything bad. We didn’t attack any person or any religion or any country.”
The conflation between Zionism and anti-Semitism has been a flashpoint in public discourse since October 2023, complicating debates around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and freedom of speech in Australia.
Pro-Palestinian supporters argue that Zionism is a settler-colonial ideology that led to the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 (the Nakba). They see it as the driving force behind the establishment of Israel on land they consider historically Palestinian. But mainstream Jewish organisations in Australia argue that activists had been hiding behind the “Zionist” euphemism to vilify Jews.
Mr Alsendyan told The Australian he planned on camping outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court until his case was heard later this month.
Rule of Law Institute of Australia vice-president Chris Merritt said the decision by police to use the Summary Offences Act raised the question of why it was not used earlier.
“This act has been on the statute books since 1966 and imposes jail time for public threats, abuse and insults – conduct that is now a regular occurrence on the streets of Melbourne,” Mr Merritt said.
“It has a much broader reach than Victoria’s recently enacted anti-vilification law, which appears incapable of protecting Zionists from vilification.
“But Zionism, or support for the Jewish homeland, is a political belief that is not determined by race or religion. And vilification on the basis of political belief is not one of the new law’s protected attributes.”
He said while the Summary Offences Act carried lesser penalties, it was not restricted by definitions based on race, religion or other specific characteristics.
It is understood a total of five activists have been charged by Victoria Police for using the chant.
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