‘No alternative': Jewish body wins landmark case against jihadi preacher Wissam Haddad in Federal Court
The Court found the Sydney-based Islamic cleric breached 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act after a Jewish organisation sought legal action, citing inaction by Australia's 'responsible authorities'.
Mr Haddad called Jewish people the descendants of 'pigs and monkeys' who would drown if people spat on Israel.
In November 2023, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police investigated Mr Haddad's sermons, but decided not to lay charges.
On Tuesday, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) won its case against Mr Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, after Justice Angus Stewart found his series of lectures called 'The Jews of Al Madina' contained remarks which were 'reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate' Australian Jews.
'They make perverse generalisations against Jewish people as a group,' he said.
'The imputations include age-old tropes against Jewish people that are fundamentally racist and antisemitic … Jews in Australia in November 2023, and there after, would expererience them to be harassing and intimidating.'
The Islamic cleric was ordered to have three of his speeches removed from social media and to cover ECAJ's legal fees.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim condemned the series of speeches given by Mr Haddad and said the case was not about the freedom of expression or religious freedom, but the abuse of such freedoms to promote antisemitism.
Mr Wertheim said he decided to take action against Mr Haddad after it became evident Australia's responsible authorities would not act to protect the vulnerable members of the Jewish community from 'hate-mongering, threats and violence'.
'We decided that we had no alternative but to take action ourselves so as to defend the safety and honour of our community,' Mr Wertheim said in a statement following the ruling.
Mr Wertheim said people were free to engage in robust debate about international conflicts - whether true or false, informed or ignorant - but a line had to be drawn.
'But that does not include the freedom to mobilise racism as a polemical tool to promote one's views – to dehumanise and vilify entire communities or individuals on the basis of their racial, ethnic or ethno-religious identity,' he said.
Mr Wertheim said the judgement demonstrated with 'crystal clarity' that when common decency is lacking, the law will 'draw the line' for the Jewish community.
The Islamic preacher's lawyer, Elia Tabchouri of Macquarie Law Group, told reporters outside the court his client maintained that his sermons were delivered in the context of 'religious instruction' which were 'never intended' to cause offence.
'The words he spoke were those from the scripture and he maintains that he has the right to quote religious scripture, as all parties do, the court has found he has that right,' he said.
'Further to that, the court has found that simply criticising what the Israeli nation has done in Gaza is not antisemitic, and that position has been affirmed by the court.'
The landmark case marks the first time an Islamic preacher has been taken to court for antisemitism.
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