Surprising posh faces from the ugly pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House: Cafe owner and his employee from one of Australia’s poshest suburbs charged over feud with Israel supporter
EXCLUSIVE
An upscale suburban cafe owner and one of his employees have been charged with assault following an alleged incident at the pro-Palestinian rally outside the Sydney Opera House.
Marcel Ghabbar, 31, runs Cafe Heirloom in upmarket Mosman on the city’s lower north coast, with his operations manager, Justin Khalek, also 31, from nearby Neutral Bay.
The pair are accused of attacking a 45-year-old man during the ugly demonstrations in Sydney’s CBD on October 9 in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Police allege the men got into an altercation with the Israel supporter outside the Sydney Opera House, with some members of the crowd chanting ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘f*** the Jews’.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Ghabbar or Khalek shouted these slogans.
Marcel Ghabbar, 31, (left) runs Heirloom cafe in upmarket Mosman on Sydney’s lower north shore, with operations manager Justin Khalek (right), 31, from nearby Neutral Bay
Officers will claim in court that the alleged victim was assaulted and spat at before police intervened to end the incident.
All three then allegedly disappeared into the crowd, along with other demonstrators believed to be involved.
But detectives from the specially formed Operation Mealing Taskforce launched an investigation after the alleged victim later reported the incident to police in Maroubra in Sydney’s east.
Police released CCTV images on Tuesday of five people, including a blonde woman, who they wanted to speak to in connection with last week’s incident.
“Following investigations, including a public appeal, two men, both aged 31, attended Mosman Police Station,” NSW Police said on Wednesday.
“They were arrested at around 11pm on Tuesday and taken to Day Street Police Station.
‘Both men were charged with common assault and given strict conditional bail to appear at Downing Center Local Court on Wednesday 8 November 2023.
“The investigation continues.”
A third man, Omar El-Sohiby, 19, was also arrested on Wednesday in connection with the incident at Roselands in Sydney’s south-west.
He was taken to Hurstville Police Station where he was charged with two counts of common assault and will also appear at Downing Center Local Court on November 8.
Mr Ghabbar previously antagonized locals in Mosman, which has an above-average Jewish population, with a mural he painted outside his Heirloom cafe in 2017 (pictured)
Mr Ghabbar previously antagonized locals in Mosman, which has a larger-than-average Jewish population, with a mural he painted on the wall outside the cafe in 2017.
Locals dubbed the coffee-themed artwork ‘Bogan Central’ and said it was ‘more Newtown than Mosman’, but he insisted after the council said it did not require approval.
“I think people actually just showed a lot of support when we were going through a little bit of a tough time,” he said after the artwork was completed.
“The community was behind us, so I just wanted to thank them for their efforts.”