A man has pleaded not guilty after being charged over allegedly projecting pro-Palestine messages on to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House, in a case his lawyers say has significant ramifications for freedom of speech.
Fouad Masri, 50, allegedly used a projector to display a number of messages on to the stairs at the southern end of the forecourt on 11 October, including “reparation for Genocide”, “reparation for Holocaust”, “Minns stop supporting genocide”, “end the occupation”, “Palestine the right to defend itself”, and “occupation is terrorism”.
On Thursday, Masri, appeared before the local court at John Maddison Tower, where his lawyer, Bobby Hill, entered a not guilty plea on Masri’s behalf for the two charges he faces. Hill told the court, before the case was adjourned to February, that there would probably be a constitutional challenge against the lawfulness of the Opera House bylaws in criminalising such activity.
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Court documents obtained by Guardian Australia show police alleged that after Masri was approached by Opera House security, he dismantled the projector and tripod and was escorted to an exit point. Police then stopped him on Albert Street, after he had exited the forecourt, and issued him an official move-on order, which police say he complied with.
He was charged almost a week later under the Sydney Opera House Trust bylaw for contravening section 9(1)(g) for distributing an “advertisement” on the Opera House premises. He was also charged with conduct, or cause or assist in conduct of a public demonstration on the Opera House premises.
The bylaws, set out in the Sydney Opera House Trust Act 1961, govern the activity that is allowed to be conducted at the landmark, and prohibits certain activity.
Nick Hanna, who is also acting on behalf of Masri, told Guardian Australia: “In defending Mr Masri, we will challenge the constitutional validity of the offences with which he has been charged. Specifically, we will argue that these offences – which explicitly ban all form of political protest at the Opera House – impose an unjustified burden on the implied freedom of political communication.”
“This case will have important ramifications for freedom of speech in this country. The prosecution of Mr Masri is one of countless that have been brought against Australians who have voiced opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and our government’s complicity in that genocide. By defending these charges, Mr Masri is defending the civil liberties of all Australians, regardless of their views about Palestine.”
On 9 October 2025, the supreme court sided with the police’s decision to not authorise a protest by the Australian Palestine Action Group outside the Sydney Opera House, to mark two years since Israel’s war in Gaza began.
A separate pro-Palestine protest march that ended at the Opera House forecourt in October 2023 drew widespread political condemnation and controversy over antisemitic chants from some participants.
A UN commission found Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and massive destruction.
The protest group redirected the march after the court’s finding, and also called on the NSW premier, Chris Minns, to light the Opera House sails with the Palestinian flag. He refused the group’s request.
After Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, the NSW government lit up the sails of the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag.
The Opera House sails are frequently used for projections to mark major events.
The world-famous building has also been utilised as a stage for protest before. In 2003, Dave Burgess and Will Saunders took a tin of paint to the top of one of the sails and wrote “No War” in protest against the impending war in Iraq. The pair were convicted of malicious damage.
