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February 26, 2026 \u2014 6:45pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Palestinian activist Hash Tayeh incited hatred against Jews when he led a chant of \u201cAll Zionists are terrorists\u201d at a Melbourne protest in March last year, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found.<\/p>\n The ruling, which coincides with this week\u2019s formal opening of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion prompted by the Bondi massacre, is the first in Australia which establishes a clear link between anti-Zionist rhetoric and hatred of Jews.<\/p>\n Jewish Centre for Law and Justice chief executive Alessandra Steele welcomed the judgment as an important line in the sand.<\/p>\n \u201cAnti-Zionist rhetoric can be racial vilification,\u201d she said. \u201cFor most Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core component of Jewish identity, grounded in strong cultural, religious and familiar connections to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n The ruling by tribunal member Judge My Anh Tran means Tayeh, a prominent protest leader and founder of burger chain Burgertory, unlawfully breached the state\u2019s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.<\/p>\n Related Article The tribunal member also found that Nasser Mashni, the president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network and a nationally recognised figure within the pro-Palestine protest movement, used dehumanising language and evoked antisemitic tropes in his opening speech at the same rally.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an observable, antisemitic and pro-violent presence at the rally,\u201d the tribunal member noted.<\/p>\n Tran is considering what orders, if any, to impose against Tayeh.<\/p>\n The case returns for a further hearing on March 25. Tayeh said he would lodge an appeal.<\/p>\n The VCAT action against Tayeh was brought by Jewish lawyer and self-styled anti-racism campaigner Menachem Vorchheimer, who has become a prolific litigant in antisemitism cases.<\/p>\n Vorchheimer was not at the CBD rally on March 23 where Tayeh led the chant but said he took him to VCAT on principle to call out the use of hateful speech under the guise of political expression at pro-Palestine protests.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI commenced various legal proceedings in 2024 because I was afraid that words left unchecked would lead to violence,\u201d he said. \u201cThat fear was tragically realised at Bondi.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case underscores the fragile environment in which Australian Jews live \u2014 why armed guards stand at our schools, childcare centres, synagogues and community institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Vorchheimer\u2019s case against Tayeh was supported by the Jewish Centre for Law and Justice, which is also preparing a class action by Bondi survivors against NSW Police and federal security agencies.<\/p>\n In her reasoning, Tran rejected Tayeh\u2019s argument that his chant was not directed at Jewish people and would have been understood by his fellow protesters as criticism of the Israeli government\u2019s war in Gaza. She also dismissed his public interest defence.<\/p>\n She said while \u201cZionist\u201d was not a precise term, it referred to anyone who supported Israel\u2019s existence as a Jewish state. She accepted evidence that in Australia this meant most Jews.<\/p>\n Tran also noted that at the rally, other protesters brandished placards with an inverted red triangle \u2013 a Hamas targeting symbol \u2013 and the slogan \u201cDeath to the Zionist Regime\u201d and chanted \u201cZionists rape children\u201d. A photograph of a protester wearing a \u201cBash Zionists\u201d T-shirt was tendered as evidence.<\/p>\n The tribunal member accepted evidence provided by three pro-Israel counter-protesters who attended the rally and were subjected to antisemitic invective by unidentified protesters including taunts of \u201cDirty Jew\u201d and \u201cF— you Jew.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article She found that Mashni, in his opening speech to the rally, referred to the counterprotesters as \u201cZionist scumbags\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cA persistent theme of Mr Mashni, Mr Tayeh and other speakers is that \u2018Zionists\u2019 are responsible for secretly manipulating governments, police or media,\u201d the judge found. \u201cThis evokes the antisemitic trope that Jews are \u2018a world-dominating cabal in control of the global financial system, global media, politics\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Mashni, who was not a respondent in Vorchheimer\u2019s case, was approached for comment.<\/p>\n Hash Tayeh, in a post to his followers on Instagram, said he respectfully disagreed with the tribunal\u2019s finding.<\/p>\n \u201cMy advocacy has always been directed at political ideology and state conduct, not at any race or religion,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my view, the decision blurs an important distinction between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n This distinction was raised by Tayeh at the hearing but did not convince the tribunal member.<\/p>\n Daniel Aghion, KC, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the judgment was deeply critical of not only rally speakers but people who attended the rally peacefully and did not speak out against antisemitism they encountered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is long past time for these vitriolic and hateful rallies to be shut down,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have no place in the streets of Melbourne or any city in Australia.\u2033\u2063<\/p>\n Steele, of the Jewish Centre for Law and Justice, said the pro-Palestinian protests had contributed to \u201can environment of hostility and division\u201d affecting the Jewish community. \u201cIn recent months we have seen an escalation in harassment, intimidation and violence directed at Jewish Australians, culminating in horrific incidents such as the Bondi terror attack last year.\u201d<\/p>\n Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the case against Tayeh was significant and carefully considered.<\/p>\n \u201cThis judgment reinforces an important principle in Australian law,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are free to criticise governments. You are free to argue about borders, security, settlements, or foreign policy. But you are not free to incite hatred against a racial or religious group.\u201d<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Hash](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9ceb874756be4640cfd65fc4ead378ba17447472.jpeg\")
Hash Tayeh has been found to have incited hatred against Jews at an anti-Israel protest.AAP<\/p>\n![\"Virginia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772099890_936_418e914db2a70f09fc3d55a03a28d4b7e7f84ee63e0a4937a179448811006955.jpeg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Chip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c933d487c0923e425b125b59fa4140f217688025.png\")
Chip Le Grand<\/a> leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper\u2019s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years\u2019 experience.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 26, 2026 \u2014 6:45pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-505069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}