The Project is slammed for ‘sugar coating’ the pro-Palestinian protest outside Sydney Opera House

Social media users have lashed out at Channel Ten’s The Project for their reporting on a Palestinian protest on Tuesday night’s episode of the show. 

The entertainment news program was reporting on Monday night’s protest outside the Sydney Opera House, where pro-Palestinian attendees chanted ‘gas the Jews’ and burned the Star of David while a counter-demonstrator was removed for flying the Israeli flag.

After a segment reporting on the protest and its anti-Semitic elements, the panellists on The Project read out a statement from the organisers of the protest, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, who claimed there was a fringe element of the crowd who chanted the hateful rhetoric who were later silenced.

The Project co-host Waleed Aly said that while they cannot verify the organisers claims, other recent protests have also had rogue demonstrators who spouted hateful views.

But commenters on the program’s social media posts have accused it of downplaying the antisemitism on display at the demonstration.

The panellists on The Project read out a statement from the organisers of the protest, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, who claimed there was a fringe element of the crowd who chanted the hateful rhetoric. Pictured from left: Sam Taunton, Waleed Aly, Georgie Tunny, Kate Langbroek

Former Married At First Sight groom, Dean Wells, responded to The Project’s segment on his Instagram stories with a picture of the report’s headline saying, ‘Rally Taken Over.’

In the caption to his story, he wrote: ‘Taken over? I’ll play the raw footage in the next frame. You tell me if it looks like the whole crowd is in on it or it was taken over by a small group of extremists.’

In the next story, Wells shared a clip from the protest with pro-Palestine demonstrators chanting ‘f**k the Jews’ repeatedly.

The Project co-host Waleed Aly (pictured left) said that while they cannot verify the organisers claims, other recent protests have also had rogue demonstrators who spouted hateful views.

Meanwhile, on X, formerly Twitter, the replies to The Project’s segment claimed the program was ‘sugar coating’ the event. 

‘Don’t try to put caster sugar on this, making it look good. Typical main stream media. They also hate Australia. Kick them out,’ replied one angry user.

‘Disgusting, don’t even try and sugar coat it,’ wrote another.

Former Married At First Sight groom, Dean Wells responded to The Project’s segment on his Instagram stories with a picture of the report’s headline saying, ‘Rally Taken Over.’ ‘Taken over? I’ll play the raw footage in the next frame. You tell me if it looks like the whole crowd is in on it or it was taken over by a small group of extremists’

In the next story, Wells shared a clip from the protest with pro-Palestine demonstrators chanting ‘f**k the Jews’ repeatedly

Another X user suggested the program should look into the matter further, saying ‘”We can’t verify this” then maybe don’t share it – and do that thing that journalists are supposed to do and investigate FFS.’

The ‘despicable’ scenes have been roundly condemned by leaders from across the political spectrum. 

Attorney General Michael Daley – the highest law officer in NSW – admitted to being unaware of the protest in a car crash interview with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday morning, before urgently back-pedalling and calling for people to ‘calm down and stay at home’.

Meanwhile, on X, formerly Twitter, the replies to The Project’s segment claimed the program was ‘sugar coating’ the event. ‘Don’t try to put caster sugar on this, making it look good. Typical main stream media. They also hate Australia. Kick them out,’ replied one angry user on X. ‘Disgusting, don’t even try and sugar coat it,’ wrote another

Another X user suggested the program should look into the matter further, saying ‘”We can’t verify this” then maybe don’t share it – and do that thing that journalists are supposed to do and investigate FFS’

Police are now under fire for allowing the rally to go ahead – while telling Jewish Australians to ‘stay home’ for their own safety.

The rally, organised by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, saw vast numbers of pro-Palestine activists gather at Town Hall in Sydney’s CBD on Monday evening before marching to the Opera House where its sails were it up in blue and white in support of Israel.

In the end, the sails were only lit up for a short time and in muted colours. 

There were scenes of chaos as the demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims – some wearing black masks – who hurled lit flares at police and chanted ‘f*** Israel’ and ‘f*** the Jews’ beneath the steps of the Opera House (pictured)

Israeli supporters largely stayed away, with some watching the illumination from the other side of Circular Quay. 

There were scenes of chaos at the Opera House as the demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims – some wearing black masks – who threw lit flares at police and chanted ‘f*** Israel’ and ‘f*** the Jews’ beneath the steps of the iconic harbourside venue.

At one point, there were even chants of ‘gas the Jews’.  

The rally, organised by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, saw vast numbers of pro-Palestine activists gather at Town Hall in Sydney’s CBD before marching to the Opera House

Daily Mail Australia witnessed a large crowd of men attempting to set light to an Israeli flag with firecrackers before stamping on it and tearing it to shreds. 

Cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great in Arabic) and ‘death to the Jews’ rang out as some members of the crowd swarmed towards the police barrier, brandishing torn pieces of the Israeli flag – despite the rally organisers calling for protesters to respect the police.  

Over 100 cops formed a ring of steel along the steps of the Opera House and didn’t intervene when flares or other projectiles were thrown at them. 

Instead, they placed the lit flares in buckets of water as acrid smoke filled the air. 

On Tuesday morning, Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke said police were looking at CCTV footage in an attempt to identify the flare-throwers. 

‘I’m very disappointed in the strongest possible terms that people saw fit to utilise flares and what not,’ Assistant Commissioner Cooke said.

Daily Mail Australia witnessed a large crowd of men attempting to set light to an Israeli flag with firecrackers before resorting to stamping on it and tearing it into shreds (pictured)