Forensic analysis of video and audio from the pro-Palestine Opera House protest in October have found no evidence a grossly offensive antisemitic phrase was used, police say.

Forensic analysis of video and audio from the pro-Palestine Opera House protest in October have found no evidence a grossly offensive antisemitic phrase was used, police say.

A video of the protest purported to show a small group of protesters chanting “gas the Jews” while outside Sydney’s most iconic building.

After videos were sent to an expert in biometric science for analysis it was found the phrase actually chanted was “where’s the Jews”, Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

“As a result of that examination, the expert has concluded with overwhelming certainty that the phrase chanted during that protest as recorded on the audio and visual files was “where’s the Jews?” Not another phrase as otherwise widely reported,” Lanyon said.

Lanyon said there was evidence that other offensive phrases were said during the protest, including the phrase “f–k the Jews”. However, there was no evidence “gas the Jews”, which was reported by many media outlets, was chanted.

The expert is independent of the police and was given the opportunity to review “a large number of files”.

“Police also obtained statements from several individuals who attended the protest indicating they heard the phrase, however these statements have not attributed the phrase to any specific individual,” an earlier police statement said.

“Detectives from Strike Force Mealing continue to investigate the incident and have urged anyone with information, who may not have yet spoken with police, to contact Crime Stoppers,” the statement said.

NSW barrister and former police officer Mahmud Hawila, who has acted for a number of pro-Palestinian protest organisers, including Palestine Action Group Sydney, said in November that he welcomed the review.

“I had serious doubts after watching a video circulating in the media as well as having reviewed a lot of other footage and spoken to witnesses who were at the Opera House,” Hawila said.

The Opera House protest came just days after the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, killing at least 1200 people.

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