'Treating a gangrenous arm with painkillers': Silencing Islamic preacher Wissam Haddad's sermons leaves our community no safer

Sky News AU

2 days ago

The Federal Court's ruling on Wissam Haddad is a win for the Jewish community, but a hollow one.
A true victory would have seen Mr Haddad address the media outside the court and say 'I have seen the error of my ways. Jews are not the descendants of pigs, but my fellow Australians. I will now spread that message publicly and privately.'
But that's not what we heard.
We instead have a ruling from the Federal Court that the videos of offending sermons from Mr Haddad must be scrubbed from the internet, and the teachings not to be repeated in public.
What person who believes Jews control the world would have their mind changed by that ruling?
Surely they are more likely to have a deeper belief of their anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Australians have a strong sense of justice.
When people spread hateful messages, we want there to be punishment for it.
So when a hate preacher suffers legal consequences, it is easy to sit back and think the issue is solved.
But the goal must be set higher than that.
We want a harmonious society. One where different religions co-exist and hateful ideologies are rejected.
Forcing these ideologies underground and away from public scrutiny does not remove them from society but lets them fester in the dark.
This is the problem with 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which Mr Haddad was found to have breached.
It is not a cure for hatred in society.
It is treating a gangrenous arm with painkillers instead of surgery. Reality is kept from the patient as the situation worsens.
Section 18C makes it illegal to harass, intimidate, humiliate or insult someone on the basis of their race.
These are all worthy objectives, as society is better without people suffering those feelings for immutable characteristics.
But 18C can only catch people saying hateful things in the presence - physically or digitally - of those who can be offended.
It cannot catch people saying those views in private or thinking them - no law could.
People who believe Mr Haddad's hateful teachings will not be swayed by non-believers saying those expressions can't be repeated.
If anything, it gives them justification to think the truth is being silenced, and that it is not just holy to spread their views in secret, but brave and exciting.
And what becomes exciting to say becomes enticing to hear.
The views spread - unchallenged, as we who believe in a harmonious society remain ignorant of these hidden conversations - and the rot of antisemitism in our society grows.
Free speech is scary. It permits the spread of good ideas and bad ones alike, and bad ideas must be stopped from spreading.
History shows what happens when they spread too far.
But the solution to bad speech isn't less speech but more.
Bad ideas can be quietened by the law but not snuffed out.
It is only the advocacy of good ideas that has been the antidote to bad ones.
Support of slavery was the default position of the West for centuries.
This stain on our history wasn't scrubbed out by the law.
It was through right-minded people continuously and loudly preaching abolition that the public was won over, and slavery became erased through advocacy.
It will be a long journey for our society to rid itself of the hateful thoughts Mr Haddad preaches.
No society has managed it.
But every time these debates are played out in public, it gives us another opportunity to inch closer to the goal.
When these stories come up, they display the problem in full view.
They give our society a platform to state its morals.
They give right-minded influential Islamic leaders in Australia an impetus to reassert to their followers that hateful views aren't acceptable.
When these stories stop coming up - because the holders of these views avoid the law's sight - we don't have these opportunities.
It is good that Jewish leaders are advocating for their community, especially when so many of our institutions are playing dumb about the spread of anti-Semitism.
They should be applauded for their vigorous defence of people who rightly feel marginalised.
But for those who think the law is the way to combat anti-Semitism, I would ask: Would you feel safer knowing how many people wanted to cause you harm, or not knowing?
James Bolt is a Sky News Australia contributor.