Daily Telegraph tries and fails to stage antisemitic incident

Not content with the many existing instances of alleged antisemitic behaviour, The Daily Telegraph tries to create another one. Managing editor Michelle Pini reports.

THIS WEEK, Ita Buttrose, making a dramatic entrance wearing dark glasses and arriving in a wheelchair, was busily trying to justify in the Federal Court why journalist Antoinette Lattouf was promptly dismissed for sharing a Human Rights Watch post, which detailed facts about the war in Gaza.

The unfair dismissal case followed the sacking last week of cricket commentator Peter Lalor from his role with SEN for retweeting events in Gaza, which management said, 'made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe'.

And the Federal Parliament enacted further hate speech laws, apparently in an attempt to curb an “antisemitism surge”.

The Lattouf trial: A question of bias at the ABC

Democratic freedoms, employee rights and public trust in the national broadcaster are all on trial in 'Antoinette Lattouf v Australian Broadcasting Corporation' trial.

Not content with all the above, however, The Daily Telegraph was on the ground hunting for more “antisemitic” action.

On Tuesday (11 February), Sydney takeaway restaurant owner, Hesham El Masry, received a phone call from a staff member alerting him to an unfolding incident in the restaurant, to which police were promptly called.

Cairo Takeaway owner Hesham El Masry told IA:

A man had entered the shop, wearing a hat with a Star of David and a matching pendant. He ordered takeaway tea and after it arrived, remained in the empty store, just staring at the waitress who delivered it to him.

When the waitress asked if he needed anything else, he replied:

'Do you have a problem with me because I’m Jewish?'

El Masry explained the staff member then asked the man to leave but he refused, saying she was making him feel “unsafe”.

The waitress was taken aback but did not enter into an argument, even as the man continued his taunts. She asked him instead to leave the eatery and when he did not, she tried to disengage by walking outside.

As this played out, lo and behold, an entire crew from The Daily Telegraph magically appeared, with cameras in tow.

The team consisted of Danielle Gusmaroli (journalist), Rohan Kelly (photographer) and Jeremy Span (video producer).

The man proceeded to follow the waitress outside, mumbling to her that he hoped “the shop gets blown up”.

Jeremy Span and Rohan Kelly.
Hey, news corp, come and get your trash out of our community. pic.twitter.com/Vj8eT5b5bm
— Abu Omar (@TalaatSYehia) February 11, 2025

In the video above, the Cairo Takeaway staff member can be heard confronting Telegraph journo Gusmaroli with:

“That is out and out intimidation. Who comes into a restaurant and asks me a question about this gentleman, who I don’t even know?”

Gusmaroli replies:

“Is it not intimidation that you found it appalling that he came into your shop?”

A supportive crowd soon rallied around the restaurant staff, at which point The Daily Telegraph entourage eventually persuaded the man to leave and, according to other witnesses, the individual in question and the entire film crew then departed — in the same vehicle.

Police, who attended after the team had driven off, said it did not appear that a crime had been committed, though they are believed to be investigating further and have since requested CCTV footage.

A report by freelance journalist Alex McKinnon quotes Cairo Takeaway chef, Talaat Sehia, who was also present during the episode:

Other people in the street and from neighbouring shops, just random people, came out and started telling the Daily Telegraph people to leave, saying, ‘Get out of our community, you’re causing trouble’.

They left in the same car. All four of them. The two cameramen, the journalist and the Zionist guy.

The man who tried to provoke an altercation is believed to be a Zionist, who has previously disrupted pro-Palestine protests and is frequently called upon to comment by News Corp media. He has threatened to sue Cairo Takeaway for defamation.

El Masry told IA:

“I feel a bit deflated because it looks like nothing, but the staff are very distressed by the incident.”

So, The Daily Telegraph media crew just happened to be on the spot at the exact moment of the incident. The team also happened to have all their equipment handy. They didn’t leave until it was clear the crowd were supportive of the wait staff and then they drove off in the same car as the person who unsuccessfully tried to provoke an incident.

As El Masry put it:

“The optics are terrible for them [The Daily Telegraph]."

This is not the first time Cairo Takeaway has been at the centre of a News Corp beat-up.

El Masry told IA that he openly advocates for Palestine on social media and fundraises in support of Palestinian victims:

“I’ve got two young kids and I feel the pain of what’s happening around the world. I can’t condone support for the slaughter that’s happening [in Gaza].”

In 2023, street artist Scottie Marsh painted a mural of the Palestinian flag on a raised fist as part of the #FreePalestine movement on the wall outside Cairo Takeaway.

(Photo of mural by Scottie Marsh via @cairotaeaway | Instagram)

This attracted social media trolls and threats and, on one occasion, El Masry replied to a troll:'Cairo Takeaway does not want narcissistic Zionist pigs like yourself coming into our restaurant’.

Following the social media post, another Murdoch publication, Daily Mail, published a story with the headline:

‘Prominent restaurant owner says Jews aren’t welcome’

Daily Mail later amended the headline to, ‘Owner of popular Sydney restaurant Cairo Takeaway tells 'narcissistic' zionist 'pigs' to stay away from his venue in abusive Instagram rant that has divided customers’.

Though both incidents have been distressing for all the staff at Cairo Takeaway, El Masry says: