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Really? Media Claim Sydney Mob’s Chants for Massacre of Jews Is ‘Celebrating Syrian Regime Change’
Women hold up flags during a a pro-Palestinian rally in Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia, Oct. 15, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Lewis Jackson
The downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marks the end of a brutal, decades-long regime that devastated a country and unleashed one of the most harrowing civil wars in modern history. It’s undoubtedly a moment that many have long awaited.
Scenes of jubilation erupted in Syria and around the world, with refugees from the war-torn country celebrating in the streets, as news spread that Assad had fled following a lightning rebel advance.
But amid the joy, something darker reared its head: the antisemitism we’ve sadly come to expect in such moments.
In Australia, a large crowd of Syrians was filmed chanting: “Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohammed Sauf Ya’ud” — a chilling reference to a 7th-century massacre of Jews by Mohammed’s army.
The slogan’s modern-day message is unmistakable: a call for violence against Jews.
“Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohammed Sauf Ya’ud” — “Watch Out Jews, Remember Khaybar, the Army of Mohammed is returning.”
No, @newscomauHQ, this is not Australians celebrating Syrian regime change. They are chanting incitement to murder Jews.
https://t.co/T6yDiQqbzy pic.twitter.com/RgAYv2iqTH— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 8, 2024
Disturbing as this scene was — a mob in broad daylight in Sydney, brazenly inciting hatred and violence — what followed was arguably worse.
News.com.au, Australia’s most widely-read news outlet, described the incident as “Australians celebrating Syrian regime change” in a video posted on its website.
This gross misrepresentation of the event is shocking — not necessarily because of malice, but because of sheer journalistic negligence.
The journalist likely saw a video of dancing and what sounded like celebratory Arabic chanting and assumed it was innocent.
But ignorance cannot be a defense for journalists and editors.
It is quite literally a journalist’s job to dispel ignorance — not perpetuate it. Their role is to provide facts, context, and explanations, ensuring their audience understands the reality of what they’re seeing.
When confronted with footage of Syrians in Sydney chanting in Arabic, a journalist has a duty to find out what’s being said, especially when that chant carries such an unmistakable tone of hate.
What makes this worse is news.com.au’s response to criticism.
Instead of issuing a correction and apology after HonestReporting raised the alarm, the outlet quietly removed the footage from its website.
Antisemitism in Australia is surging.
Synagogues burned. Cars vandalized. Jews attacked.
Yet the media calls it “suspected arson” or “war-inspired protests.”
This isn’t about Gaza—it’s hate, plain and simple. Silence fuels it. Call it what it is: antisemitism.… pic.twitter.com/ApoPoYCgrP— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 9, 2024
Does news.com.au not believe Australians deserve to know that people in their country are chanting violent threats against Jews on Sydney’s streets?
Do Jews in Sydney not have a right to know about these incidents for their own safety?
Yet, this episode isn’t just about one video — it’s part of a broader pattern of declining journalistic standards. Increasingly, reporters fail to identify language, symbols, and imagery tied to terror groups, or worse, avoid addressing such hatred when they recognize it at all.
We’ve seen this pattern repeated during the wave of anti-Israel hate rallies in major cities worldwide following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7 last year.
Protesters held signs glorifying Hamas, waved the flags of proscribed terror organizations, called for a violent intifada, and brandished placards promoting conspiracy theories, such as “Zionists” controlling the media.
Antisemitism on full display
“Who controls Britain? It’s the Jewish people that control Britain! 40% of the MPs are Jewish and that’s why these police are under there…”
FYI 40% of MPs are not Jewish. H/T @MahyarTousi pic.twitter.com/3zSiRd3iI6
— Harry’s Place (@hurryupharry) March 30, 2024
Yet, the media largely refused to identify and call out the antisemitism on show at these rallies.
By sanitizing or mischaracterizing such demonstrations, outlets aren’t just failing their readers — they’re complicit in promoting this hatred. The media have no defense. Their silence or misrepresentation isn’t neutrality; it’s enabling.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Really? Media Claim Sydney Mob’s Chants for Massacre of Jews Is ‘Celebrating Syrian Regime Change’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.