Cases over chant to be heard
They attempted to strike out or stay the proceedings, but VCAT found there was legal merit.
Civil proceedings against rally organisers accused of vilifying Jews by saying or allowing others to chant “all Zionists are terrorists” will proceed to a full hearing in December.
This follows the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) dismissing multiple applications to halt the cases last Friday.
Melbourne Jewish community activist Menachem Vorchheimer has brought cases under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act against the former owner of the Burgertory chain of restaurants, Hash Tayeh; Nasser Mashni, who heads the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN); and activist group Free Palestine Melbourne.
They attempted to strike out or stay the proceedings, but VCAT found there was legal merit and a serious question to be determined.
Vorchheimer said, “The tribunal did not accept those legal arguments and refused the application. What we’ve been able to do is really fine-tune the legal arguments.”
The cases centre on an untested legal theory that rally organisers can be held liable for racial and religious vilification even if they didn’t personally make the statements.
“This is really a test case about liability of not just a person who says the words, but rally organisers and promoters who know of certain conduct in advance, have a capacity to intervene, and they don’t do so,” Vorchheimer explained.
One of the key legal issues will revolve around whether “Zionist” is used as a euphemism for “Jew” and whether labelling an individual or group of people on the basis of their race and/or religious beliefs “terrorists” incites hatred or other relevant emotion.
When combined, Vorchheimer argues, the phrase vilifies members of the Jewish community.
The cases focus particularly on a March 23, 2025 rally where a Jewish man was sprayed in the face with an unknown liquid by people who were chanting “all Zionists are terrorists”.
This was the first Sunday rally in the CBD after Tayeh had been criminally charged for using the phrase.
“We say that the circumstances were such that it was a particularly hostile and ripe environment for hatred,” Vorchheimer said.
A full hearing is scheduled for December 8 at VCAT.
Between now and then, parties must exchange documents including expert reports on the historical connotations of the word “Zionist” and produce videos and footage from social media accounts.
Vorchheimer said he has offered settlements on multiple occasions, but these have not been accepted.