EXCLUSIVE
An upmarket suburban cafe owner and one of his workers have been charged with assault after an alleged incident at the pro-Palestine rally in front of the Sydney Opera House.
Marcel Ghabbar, 31, runs Heirloom cafe in ritzy Mosman on the city’s lower north shore, along with his business 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 argument with the Israel supporter outside Sydney Opera House where some members of the crowd chanted ‘gas the Jews’ and ‘f*** the Jews’.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting either Ghabbar or Khalek shouted those slogans.
Marcel Ghabbar, 31, (left) runs Heirloom cafe in ritzy Mosman on Sydney’s lower north shore, along with business operations manager, Justin Khalek (right), 31, from nearby Neutral Bay
Officers will claim in court the alleged victim was assaulted and spat on before police stepped in to break up the incident.
All three are then said to have vanished into the crowd, along with other protestors allegedly involved.
But detectives from the specially set-up Operation Mealing task force launched an investigation after the alleged victim later reported the incident to police in Maroubra in Sydney’s east.
Police released CCTV footage on Tuesday of five individuals, including a blonde woman, they wanted to speak to in connection with last week’s incident.
‘Following inquiries, including a public appeal, two men, both aged 31, attended Mosman Police Station,’ said NSW Police on Wednesday.
‘They were arrested and taken to Day Street Police Station about 11pm on Tuesday.
‘Both men were charged with common assault and granted strict conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday November 8, 2023.
‘Inquiries are continuing.’
A third man, Omar El-Sohiby, 19, was also arrested in connection with the incident on Wednesday in 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 Centre Local Court on November 8.
Mr Ghabbar previously antagonised locals in Mosman, which has an above-average Jewish population, with a mural he had painted outside his Heirloom cafe in 2017 (pictured)
Mr Ghabbar previously antagonised locals in Mosman, which has a large than average Jewish population, with a mural he had painted on the wall outside the cafe in 2017.
Locals branded the coffee-themed artwork ‘Bogan Central’ and said it was ‘more Newtown than Mosman’ but he persisted after the local council said it did not need approval.
‘I think people really just showed a lot of support when we were given a bit of a hard time over it,’ he said after the artwork was completed.
‘The community got behind us, so I just wanted to thank them for doing it.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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