BUSTED! News Corp & Jewish Activist Caught Trying to Create "Antisemitic" Confrontations in Sydney

Murdoch media grubs are caught in the act trying to incite racial and religious conflict.

There is currently an intensive campaign underway here in Australia to convince the masses the most pressing issue facing the country is ‘antisemitism’.

Not excess mortality from vaxxxines ‘unknown causes’, not spiraling living costs, not unaffordable housing, not increasing crime, not the crumbling health system, not the country’s famously poor mental health … but hateful acts against Jews.

The day-to-day reality is that here in Australia, you are more likely to experience discrimination if you’re of Indian, Arab, African or Asian appearance. Australia is a predominantly white country, and most Jews here look, well, white. But our Israel-friendly mainstream media doesn’t talk about that. The plain truth, you see, doesn’t help the Zionist cause, which involves deflecting attention away from its genocidal behavior in Gaza and propagating a sense of perpetual victimhood.

The formula behind the “Australia’s Alarming Rise in Antisemitism™” campaign works like this:

A conveniently timed arson or graffiti attack occurs, or a couple of crisis actors nurses bizarrely boast on a live video stream with an Israeli blogger about killing “Israeli” patients (in Sydney, mind you).

This is followed by an immediate and coordinated media extravaganza of outrage. Right on cue, this media frenzy will feature the Federal opposition leader and WEF puppet, Peter “Spud” Dutton, loudly chastising fellow WEF puppet and Prime Minister, Anthony “Albasleazy” Albanese, for being “too soft” on antisemitism.

Right on cue, the mainstream press will be overflowing with annoying columnists like Andrew Bolt, screaming about the alleged antisemitism scourge and Captain Massage Parlor’s allegedly “weak” response. We’re not doing enough to please our “friends” in Israel, and that’s simply not good enough, they angrily rant.

This is despite PM Happy Ending publicly pledging last year to provide “whatever support is necessary financially" for the rebuilding of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, which was destroyed by fire on December 6, 2024. Never mind some 40% of Australians listed no religious affiliation in the last census, and therefore should not be made to pay for the reconstruction of someone else’s religious buildings. Australia’s Jewish community knows about a thing called building insurance, no?

The fire was immediately declared an “act of terrorism” - even though no-one has been apprehended or charged in relation to the incident, and therefore those responsible for the fire and their motives remain unclear.

So just who might really be behind all these allegedly ‘antisemitic’ attacks?

A strong clue came in late January when Australian Federal Police head, Reece Kershaw, claimed “overseas actors” may have paid local criminals in Australia to carry out some of these crimes.

Hmmm, what foreign actor with a solid track record of staging false flag events in order to foment a sense of victimhood could that possibly be?

Kershaw’s statement did not provide any detail about which hostile government or actor might be behind the attacks.

“Until we know who the puppet masters are, and what their motives are, it’s impossible to point the finger with any degree of certainty about who’s responsible,” said Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (bold emphasis added).

“Puppet masters,” huh?

Hmmm, remind me which foreign country has solid form for dangling US presidents like puppets?

While the puppet masters behind the alleged ‘antisemitic’ attacks in Sydney won’t identify themselves, there is no doubt who was behind a recent and truly disgraceful attempt in Sydney to fabricate ‘antisemitism’.

The Sleazy Cretins From Murdoch Media Strike Again

THE MAIN PLAYERS:

• The intensely pro-Zionist Murdoch/News Corp empire;

• The Daily Telegraph, News Corp’s Sydney newspaper;

• Danielle Gusmaroli, muck-raking Daily Telegraph journalist;

• Ofir Birenbaum, former IDF soldier and Israeli activist now living in Australia;

• Cairo Takeaway, a Mediterranean restaurant in Sydney’s Newtown, with non-discriminatory staff and a 4-star rating on TripAdvisor.

Let’s start with the eternally grubby News Corp network, founded by Rupert Murdoch in Adelaide, South Australia (a place famous for churches, serial killings, and strange people who stare at you for no apparent reason), now headquartered in New York.

Murdoch is the Australian-born media monopolist and bully boy credited with transforming ‘news’ into the stupefying, polarizing and distracting form of entertainment that it is today.

After acquiring British tabloid The Sun, he began featuring a different bare-breasted "Page 3" woman in each issue (a practice the newspaper only recently abandoned in 2015).

A 2011 Economist article credited Murdoch with having "invented the modern tabloid newspaper - a stew of sexual titillation, moral outrage and political aggression."

The topless Page Three girls may have gone, but the fabricated moral outrage and political aggression sure as heck lives on - much of it designed to falsely portray Israel as a besieged beacon of freedom and democracy, while dehumanizing Palestinians as a bunch of frothy-mouthed terrorists.

Murdoch’s empire controls a substantial chunk of the Australian media, which means the average Australian is subject to a significant and constant volume of pro-Israel propaganda.

Murdoch and heir to his media throne, son Lachlan, both have close ties to Israel. In 2010, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published a leaked list compiled by Benjamin Netanyahu, naming those he considered his best potential sources of campaign contributions. Murdoch's name appears on the list, circled together with the late Sumner Redstone (founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, former chairman of CBS Corporation).

In 2010, Murdoch - along with Lord Jacob Rothschild, Dick Cheney, former CIA director James Woolsey, former US Treasury head Larry Summers, and others - all sat on the board of oil and gas explorer, Genie Energy. While the aforementioned were on the board, Genie received a contract to drill for oil and gas in approximately 400 square kilometers of the Golan Heights, Syrian territory that Israel has illegally occupied since 1967.

Murdoch also owned Israeli software company NDS, which was at the center of a hacking scandal which brought down the British television company ITV Digital. NDS activities helped large numbers of Britons access pay television for free, causing the corporation to collapse due to reduced revenue.

"My media adventures are not as important to me as spreading my personal political beliefs," said Murdoch. Supporting Israel and its murderous colonialism is one of the core values for which the sleaze-mongering media baron has worked tirelessly.

In 2007, News Corp made a donation (the amount is not revealed) to the Jerusalem Foundation, a group that builds illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Murdoch has claimed the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement constitutes a “continuous war against the Jews ”. He made this claim at an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) event, where he was presented with an International Leadership Award.

Other pro-Israel groups have bestowed awards and praise upon Murdoch. The Simon Wiesenthal Center decorated the media titan - whose contributions to society include hacking, spying and propagation of sleaze - with a ‘humanitarian’ award. The United Federation of Jewish Appeal of New York also declared Murdoch “humanitarian of the year” in a lavish 2012 ceremony, where the late megalomaniac Henry Kissinger presented him with the award.

A January 2024 story in the Times of Israel put his son Lachlan’s wealth at $3.3 million (that Masonic numerology, right on cue).

Lachlan has met with Netanyahu a number of times, in Israel and London, to discuss possible investment in a “right-wing media outlet” in Israel.

Netanyahu is by no means the only Israeli prime minister with a close relationship with the Murdochs. Ariel Sharon, for example, enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Murdoch senior. The Australian magnate stayed with him on his farm and performed a helicopter tour of Israel, where Israel's alleged vulnerability to its supposedly hostile neighbors was highlighted.

Suffice to say, the Murdoch empire is highly partial to Israel.

The Daily Telegraph’s FAILED Attempt to Create an Antisemitic Incident

The Daily Telegraph is Murdoch’s Sydney trash rag. In an attempt to provoke a so-called antisemitic incident, last week a Telegraph crew led by a character called Danielle Gusmaroli teamed up with another curious character by the name of Ofir Birenbaum.

Gusmaroli’s profile at News Corp says she “enjoys a deep dig and likes to get to the heart of the matter. Has a tradition of breaking exclusives. She comes from a pedigree of London’s Fleet Street newspapers and has several national awards to her name.”

Gusmaroli, who learned her trade in the uber-sleazy Fleet Street environment, really does like to dig deep. Right to the bottom of the barrel, as you’re about to witness.

Birenbaum, meanwhile, is a pro-Zionist activist and provocateur. We’ll take a closer look at this bloke in a moment, but first let’s go over what transpired in the Daily Telegraph’s ill-fated covert operation to create a hate incident.

According to internal files viewed by independent media outlet Crikey, the plan was sketched out a week in advance. The supposed aim was to report “what it’s like being Jewish in Sydney.” The notes identify the undercover Jewish man as Birenbaum, who would wear video glasses with the intention of secretly filming people’s reactions to him.

The Daily Telegraph crew planned to visit Newtown, Blacktown, Bankstown and possibly Arncliffe.

And so, on February 11, Gusmaroli and her fellow Telegrubbies met with Birenbaum and proceeded to the Cairo Takeaway restaurant in Newtown.

It seems News Corp targeted Cairo Takeaway because its owner, Hesham El Masry, is known for his support for Palestine. A large mural in Palestinian colors by well-known artist Scottie Marsh is featured on the laneway wall beside the restaurant. On Sunday, Cairo Takeaway organised a ‘Gadigal to Gaza’ fundraiser for Palestine at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville.

Had the Telegrubbies followed and filmed Birenbaum while he was out and about in everyday situations, such as walking down the street minding his own business, innocently shopping at the supermarket, and such, then the story might have had some merit.

But that’s not what they did. They specifically targeted a restaurant whose owner - as is still his right in this country of diminishing freedoms - has expressed support for Palestinians. The Telegrubbies, in other words, chose the restaurant because of the owner’s political views. Birenbaum, despite his unconvincing protests to the contrary (see below), knew damn well what he was participating in.

Furthermore, this is not the first time Birenbaum has tried to provoke a reaction from those with pro-Palestine views.

If antisemitism is as batshit crazy common here in Australia as the MSM would have us believe, then the aforementioned everyday scenarios should have had no problem drawing it out. Instead, the Telegrubbies had to cynically target and attempt to provoke someone whose views they (mis)calculated as giving the maximum possible likelihood of an ‘antisemitic’ response.

That’s not journalism - it’s entrapment.

And so Birenbaum walked into the Cairo. Because he looks more Anglo than most Anglo-Australians, he wore a cap emblazoned with the Star of David and what looks to be a Star of David pendant to let everyone know he was different.

All that was missing was a “DON’T TELL ANYONE I’M JEWISH!” slogan on his t-shirt. Maybe that was too obvious even for the clowns at News Corp.

Birenbaum also wore a pair of thick wraparound black sunglasses. Whether they contained video recording equipment is still unclear at this point.

Birenbaum ordered a hibiscus tea. The staff at the popular eatery served his tea just as they would serve it to anyone else - without any hint of aggression or xenophobia.

Nor did the restaurant patrons pay him any attention. Newtown is such a hotbed of antisemitic hatred, it seems, that no-one gives two shits if you wear a Star of David on your head.

Obviously, this wasn’t a very newsworthy reaction. Daily Telegraph’s entrapment operation wasn’t working out as planned. The staff and patrons of Cairo Takeaway evidently found Birenbaum about as interesting as dried pigeon shit.

A short time later, Birenbaum headed for the exit, following a female staff member outside.

As ABC’s Media Watch remarked after viewing CCTV and iPhone footage of the incident, “From what we’ve seen, the pair didn’t exchange a single bad word inside the cafe.”

Moments later, Gusmaroli walked into the cafe. Relaying the incident to Media Watch, the same female waitress says she greeted Gusmaroli with, “Yes? Can I help you?”

“She said to me, ‘you seem very uncomfortable with the man in the white T shirt.’”

“I said, ‘who are you talking about?’”

“She said, ‘The man in the white T shirt that was just in your restaurant and he bought a drink.’”

“I said, ‘I don't know what you're talking about.’”

“And she said, ‘Yes, you do. The man in the white T shirt. You've been out glaring at him along the road.’”

“Why did you come out to look at him?” asked Gusmaroli.

“I stand out here all the time.”

“You were eyeballing him.”

“I stand out here all the time. I’m looking at customers coming and going, Madam. It’s my job.”

Gusmaroli tried her best to create some sort of newsworthy response, but failed. The waitress told her to get out of the restaurant.

And so the Telegrubbies left.

The female staff member, understandably angered that this pack of provocateurs had burst into her day in a demented attempt to portray her as antisemitic, followed them outside and gave them a mouthful. While she did so, she wielded her own camera, the irony being that while the Telegrubbies left without any newsworthy footage, they themselves had just become the subject of unflattering footage.

“This is out and out intimidation,” the female staff member can be seen telling them in the video below. “Who comes into a restaurant and asks me a question about this gentleman, who I don’t even know?”

The assholes from News Corp, that’s who.

Gusmaroli, now wielding her own phone, retorted, “don’t you think it’s not intimidation that you found it appalling that he came in your shop?”

The farce is strong with this one.

Birenbaum then chimes in with the comment, “I know, I think something’s upsetting you.”

Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for this maestro of mind-reading!

The staff member followed the idiot News Corp crew up the road, accusing them of “divisive journalism”.

“Look at you in shame, look at your tails between your legs,” she said.

“You picked the wrong restaurant … to f**king try this shit in”.

You go, regazza!

Gusmaroli initially failed to identify herself as a reporter, which as Media Watch points out, “is journalism 101.”

A News Corp source told Crikey that by the morning of February 13, the story had no further progress in News Corp’s “back end” beyond having had photographs uploaded to it under embargo.

In other words, this failed attempt to incite a xenophobic incident was an embarrassing screw-up, so the plan was to keep it buried in the fetid bowels of News Corp.

Last Friday evening, Crikey received a statement from Daily Telegraph editor Ben English saying:

“Like other media The Daily Telegraph has been reporting on the rise of antisemitism and investigating how it is affecting the daily lives of Jewish people in Sydney. The Telegraph never intended to provoke an incident at the Cairo Takeaway restaurant in Enmore, which was one of multiple venues across Sydney we visited, nor to report that its staff are antisemitic.”

What a brazen load of BS. It was clearly the Telegraph’s intention to provoke an incident.

English meekly added, “The Daily Telegraph acknowledges our approach could have been better handled.”

You’ll also note that English stated the Cairo was “one of multiple venues across Sydney we visited” during its entrapment campaign.

So what happened at those other venues? Given the alleged increase in antisemitism that the likes of Andrew Bolt, Sharri Markson and Mr Potatohead are constantly ranting about, shouldn’t the Telegrubbies have captured at least one antisemitic incident?

Sounds to me like the Telegrubbies’ mission to provoke a hate response was failing dismally, and by the time they arrived at the Cairo they were getting a wee bit desperate.

Cairo Takeaway in Enmore Road, Newtown, the scene of the Daily Telegraph’s entrapment attempt.

So Just Who Is Ofir Birenbaum?

This video (at 1:35) includes footage of Cairo Takeaway owner El Masry reading a statement, “We as a small community business accept everyone into our restaurant and our venue and respect all walks of life.”

There was nothing the gutter-trawlers from News Corp could come up with to suggest otherwise. The only ones who come out looking like xenophobes from this sordid endeavor are the mugs at The Daily Telegraph. They specifically targeted a Middle-Eastern-themed establishment in their attempt to trigger a response.

El Masry looks Middle-Eastern, but his Australian accent indicates he was born and bred Down Under. In other words, he’s Australian.

Ditto with the waitress that was targeted by Birenbaum and the Telegrubbies.

Gusmaroli, in contrast, has a pronounced British accent, while Birenbuam also has an accent.

Turns out Birenbaum is from - surprise, surprise - Israel.

Which begs the question: What is he doing here?

As in, what is he really doing here?

Independent media outlet Michael West Media reports that Birenbaum grew up in Israel and served in the IDF, as is mandatory for all Israelis.

His recently deleted LinkedIn account says he graduated from Ruppin Academic Centre in Israel in 2014. By 2021, he was in Australia working as an AI consultant.

In 2023, he joined the multinational human resources software company Dayforce as a “solutions architect’ and ‘seasoned technology strategist”. He describes himself as a “charismatic, creative entrepreneur”.

As soon as Israel’s post-October 7 offensive on Gaza began, Birenbaum started intensely campaigning in support of Israel. He has been designated as a “friend” by the Australian Jewish Association, a supposedly conservative outfit “guided by Torah principles.”

Birenbaum has also been an active committee member in Together with Israel, which purports to “be a grassroots organisation led by volunteers dedicated to raising awareness for the safe return of the hostages taken by the terrorist organisation Hamas on the 7th October 2023 and to combating antisemitism in Australia.”

MWM reports that Birenbaum was one of the organizers of a Together with Israel rally held in December 2024. Speakers at the rally included Rabbi Benjamin Elton, Senator Dave Sharma, Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan and Ofir Birenbaum himself.

Birenbaum’s wife, Sophie Calland, joined the Labor Party in late 2023. She became the official front person for Better Councils Inc, a sketchy outfit which claims to be a “non-partisan grassroots group of young professionals who are passionate about keeping local government focused on local issues”.

However, a cursory look at the organization indicates its true aim is to promote Zionism and support for Israel’s policies, pushing back against the threat of NSW council and community support for Palestine.

Better Councils Inc was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission by a company featuring a single director and owner, Alexander Polson. While Calland is a Labor member, Polson’s affiliations lie with the Liberal Party. He was a staffer for recently retired Liberal senator Simon Birmingham.

Other Better Councils Inc. organizers include Hagit Ashual and Michael Manhaim, both of whom have very strong Zionist connections.

Until July last year, Ashual was full-time operations director at the Zionist Council of NSW, and before that, full-time program manager for the Australian Union of Jewish Students. She is an organiser for #TogetherwithIsrael.

Manhaim was a Vice Director of the Scouts movement in Israel until 2018. He then came to Australia to work with the Israeli Scouts (Australia). Since 2018, his LinkedIn profile also states he has worked with the Jewish Agency for Israel with the pro-Netanyahu Zionist Federation of Australia.

In a Zoom meeting, a Better Council organizer explained that Better Councils Inc would only target the Greens, not Labor in the Inner West as a reward to Mayor Darcy Byrne, who had risked unpopularity by opposing a Greens motion for a BDS audit in August 2024.

Polson advised poll booth workers to “stick to key messages” and “don’t get bogged down in answering detailed questions or arguments”.

This is because Better Councils’ arguments don’t hold.

Polson claimed it was imperative to keep Greens out of council because “what they have been doing for the last few years is raising rates and reducing parking and spending a lot of money on unrelated issues.”

That’s a lie.

“Even if this statement was generally true of the four targeted councils,” notes MWM, “the Greens could not possibly be responsible for it. They don’t control any of the four Councils … In the Inner West, Labor has regularly used its majority of one to exercise control and to block initiatives from Greens and Independent Councillors.”

“Last year, Inner West Labor supported an increase in Council fees and charges. Several Greens and independent Councillor John Stamolis unsuccessfully opposed this on the grounds that it would unjustifiably hurt the community at a time of a cost of living crisis.

Greens have not been responsible for any reductions in parking. In Randwick the only reduction in parking was for a major bike path project on Doncaster Road.”

Misleading propaganda at the website of Better Councils Inc., which is fronted by Ofir Birenbaum’s wife, Sophie Calland.

Birenbaum recruited volunteers to help staff booths for the Inner West pre-poll and September 14 election day. Their efforts, which included handing out pamphlets recommending voters put the Greens candidates last, helped prevent the Greens from gaining more than their existing five seats in the Inner West, keeping the local government area under Labor control.

In October 2024, when a Greens councillor moved for a BDS audit of Bayside Council, Birenbaum spoke vehemently against the motion.

In February 2024, Birenbaum organized a protest outside the Newtown office of NSW Greens MP’s Jenny Leong. Birenbaum, reports the Australian Jewish News, “sported a blue octopus outfit, and joined about 15 others, who sang lines from The Beatles’ hit Octopus’s Garden, and displayed signs with messages including ‘Dear Jenny Leong, Jews do belong!’, and ‘Octopus is not kosher’”.

The “colorful protest”, said the AJN, “was a direct response to Leong’s vile antisemitic slur, which surfaced in a leaked video the week before.”

So just what was this “vile” and “antisemitic” slur that had this pack of peanuts so riled up?

Leong had told fellow members of a Palestine Justice Movement meeting that, “The Jewish lobby and Zionist lobby are infiltrating into every single aspect of what is ethnic community groups,” and “their tentacles reach into the areas that try and influence power”.

That’s not a slur - it’s a statement of fact.

Zionism is by its very nature a political movement. It is the massive lobbying campaign that began in the late 1800s with the aim of establishing a Jewish “homeland”. God had thus far failed to deliver on his alleged promise of providing his alleged “Chosen Ones” with their own country, so Zionists began using their political influence instead.

This is hardly a secret.

It’s also no secret, at least to anyone who isn’t brain-dead from years of News Corp exposure, that pro-Israeli groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Mega Group - comprised of wealthy Zionist billionaires - actively maneuver to influence US elections.

AIPAC’s methods are direct and it “supports any candidate for Congress … who is pro-Israel, and targets and punishes … any candidate that is critical of Israel”, said Walter Hixson, a retired distinguished professor of history and author.

“There’s nothing like AIPAC in American politics for any other country,” said Hixson. “It’s not only the most powerful lobby representing a foreign country; it’s one of the most powerful lobbies, period.”

Any claim that Zionists do not try to influence those in power is utterly absurd.

But when an Australian politician makes a factual comment on this very topic, Israeli immigrant Birenbaum and his Zionist comrades maliciously smear her as “antisemitic”.

Wake Up to the Double-Standard, Australia

Australians are constantly being ear-bashed about how allegedly intolerant their country is towards Jews.

But the reality is that recent arrivals from Israel have been allowed to set up intensely pro-Zionist lobby groups. They have been allowed to form front organizations purporting to campaign for better local councils, when in reality they are seeking to squash Australian opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

These organizations spread blatant falsehoods about local political candidates, without repercussion.

Now, I ask you this:

How do you think Australians moving to Israel in order to set up pro-Palestine lobby groups would be received there?

Would pro-Palestine Australians enjoy the same tolerance and lack of legal scrutiny that pro-Zionist activists like Birenbaum enjoy here?

We all know the answer to that.

Birenbaum the Professional Activist

Dayforce either isn’t very busy or offers employees a remarkably flexible schedule, because Birenbaum sure has plenty of free time to attend pro-Israel rallies.

He’s attended a ton of rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle, often photographing Greens and pro-Palestine activists.

On December 5, around 70 pro-Palestine activists gathered outside Sydney's Great Synagogue. The group was protesting an event held by the Israel Institute of Technology, Technion.

And who should roll up to the scene, waving a large Israel flag?

Ol’ mate Birenbaum, of course, sporting the video-recording sunglasses he denied wearing at the Cairo.

He was told to move on by police, who weren’t too keen on having a provocateur “coming in and antagonizing a protest”.

An interview aired that night on the pro-Zionist Kenny Report on the pro-Zionist and Murdoch-founded Sky News is revealing. While being interviewed, Birenbaum, whose eyes repeatedly dart off to the side, claims he was subjected to the “usual cesspool phrases” by the protesters as he unfurled his flag.

What were these “cesspool” comments?

Try not to laugh now.

The poor dear, who served time in the barbaric IDF, was exposed to such shocking words as “disgusting”, “shame on you”, “genocide”, “murderer” and “blood on your hands”.

In a spot of especially bad acting, he feigns emotional upset, looks skyward, and says, “you know, just another Wednesday for us Jews, sorry, Zionists, yeah.”

Because, apparently, every Wednesday, Jews, sorry, Zionists, yeah, in Sydney go out with huge Israel flags trying to get a rise out of pro-Palestine protesters, then wonder why they are greeted with a bunch of non-expletives.

Wow, they must really have it tough.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Birenbaum couldn’t rouse up any antisemitic slurs from pro-Palestine protesters he was antagonizing with a huge Israel flag, and he couldn’t provoke a xenophobic response from walking into a pro-Palestine restaurant while adorned with the Star of David.

Tell me again about “Australia’s Alarming Rise in Antisemitism™”?

Where There’s Antisemitic Graffiti, There’s Often a Birenbaum

In his textbook classic provocateur fashion, Birenbaum showed up to the pro-Palestine camp-in protest at Sydney University. He was captured painting graffiti in the University’s graffiti tunnel off Manning Road. The video below shows artistic street art that he sprayed over with eminently non-artistic Star of David symbols.

For reasons unknown, Birenbaum even paints over the word “Colombia”.

Not sure what ‘antisemitic’ acts Colombia has engaged in? Did the Colombian cartels and paramilitaries cut back their spending on Israeli mercenaries, who they infamously hired to train their hit men?

On January 16, 2025, Australians woke to the news that the former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry CEO Alex Ryvchin had been graffitied.

Birenbaum was there.

On January 30, police were notified that antisemitic graffiti had been sprayed on a wall near a Jewish Primary school in Maroubra.

Birenbaum, described as a “consultant for a software company who lives 10 minutes away from Maroubra”, was there. He arrived carrying an Israeli flag and said, “It feels like a told-you-so moment.”

On February 2, more antisemitic graffiti appeared in Kingsford.

Birenbaum was there.

MWM reports he later appeared on a popular news show on Channel 12 in Israel, berating the Australian Labor government for having failed to act on antisemitism and blaming pro-Palestine protests for the antisemitic graffiti.

For the record, there is no evidence whatsoever that the graffiti incidents have anything at all to do with pro-Palestine protests.

Birenbaum’s Hate

Birenbaum often tells the media his mission is to spread peace and love.

He sure has a funny way of showing it.

Along with trying to provoke confrontations with those sympathetic to Palestine, he delights in posting anti-Palestinian material.

For example, after the infamous incident in Lebanon in which Israeli pagers exploded, killing 32 people, including two children and injuring thousands, Birenbuam posted a meme reading, “Someone made sure you’ll do your BDS properly”.

Birenbaum Has Gone Quiet. But His Lawyer Hasn’t.

Up until recently, Birenbaum’s pro-Israel antics were keeping him ever so busy. A couple of weekends ago, he was at a Sydney Town Hall rally. After that, he traveled to Melbourne for the Advance Australia ‘Put Greens Last’ campaign in Prahran, where a loss of preferences caused the Victorian Greens to lose the seat.

He also filmed a Jewish-led pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne, labeling those Jews as antisemites (!) while attending the pro-Zionist one held at the same time.

He then returned to Sydney for his outing with the Telegrubbies. But after the failed News Corp stunt, he suddenly went quiet.

Multiple outlets have attempted to source commentary from the normally publicity-hungry Birenbaum, without success.

After the Cairo incident was exposed, Birenbaum closed his LinkedIn account and switched his ‘Ofir from Israel’ Instagram account to private mode.

Instead of facing the music, Birenbaum has hired prominent defamation lawyer Rebekah Giles, who threatened to sue El Masry if the statements on his Cairo Takeaway Instagram account were not removed by late Friday.

Birenbaum has described those statements as “wholly incorrect” and “scandalously false”, even though he was caught on camera participating in the disgraceful Telegraph ruse.

On Tuesday, the small business, no doubt feeling intimidated, posted a partial retraction and apologized for any harm done to Birenbaum’s not-so-sterling reputation. They removed some details from their original post.

On Monday evening, ABC’s Media Watch published a letter from Giles. In true lawyer fashion, she audaciously claimed “The only divisive and provocative conduct came from the owner and certain staff of the Cairo Takeaway on the day of the incident, their false and reprehensible claims that followed as well as their hateful and offensive social media posts.”

Giles further claimed that before arriving at the Cairo Takeaway, the Daily Telegraph “observed various interactions from a woman walking past my client saying ‘There’s a fucking Jew in Newtown’ to another person yelling out to a man wearing Star of David t-shirt ‘Go back to Israel.’”

No footage has been provided to confirm this claim, and given that it jointly emanates after the fact from a lawyer and a News Corp outlet, I remain skeptical as to its veracity.

What we do know is that, try as they might, News Corp have not presented even a single example of ‘antisemitism’ resulting from their outing with Birenbaum.

That they would even try to do so, in this age of division, is truly disgraceful.

Birenbaum is what many Australians would justifiably describe as a trouble-maker. He is a confrontational pro-Israel activist working to suppress pro-Palestine sentiment in a country that is not his homeland. He has come here from another country and is now trying to influence our political processes. As he does this, he viciously smears local politicians who point out that Zionists attempt to influence those in power.

Is there antisemitism in Australia? Of course there is. There is racism and religious discrimination against all manner of minority groups here. I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, and would bet any amount of money that I got called “wog”, “dago” and “greaseball” far more often than Birenbaum could ever dream of copping antisemitic slurs. Did Southern Europeans then, and Asians/Africans/Middle Eastern/Indian folks now, go out with camera crews attempting to create racial incidents where there were/are none?

Hardly.

As the waitress targeted by Birenbaum and the Telegrubbies told Media Watch:

“I think it is a revolting example … it's just divisive, it's trying to get us to separate even more.

I feel like it's trying to capture and prey on the sensationalism that's out there at the moment, rather than trying to cool it down … it’s being fanned.”

Australia’s One-Eyed Moralists

The “Australia’s Alarming Rise in Antisemitism™” crowd are nothing if not hypocritical. Had anyone taken the bait and allowed Birenbaum and the Telegrubbies to get under their skin on February 11, and uttered something that could even be remotely interpreted as antisemitic, the uproar would have been deafening.

The Spud, Bolt, Markson and the rest of the manufactured outrage mob would have launched into their usual orgiastic frenzy of exasperation, chastising Captain Rub’n’Tug and calling for tougher new laws (rest assured, they’re already on the way).

Had a pro-Palestine activist been caught in an ‘‘undercover” stunt trying to incite a reaction in a Jewish-owned establishment, the uproar would have been similarly thunderous.

But when an Israeli activist gets caught doing this, the only thing deafening about the above muppets is their silence.