October 25, 2024
A Palestinian man was granted a visa to Australia despite associating with armed members of a banned terror group and once describing the mood in Gaza when missiles are fired toward Israel as "like a holiday".
The Albanese government is resisting pressure from the Coalition to review the migration status of Gazan artist Fayez Elhasani, who it can be revealed has previously appeared alongside Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants at memorial events commemorating its "martyred" members, including Mr Elhasani's deceased son and brother.
Mr Elhasani, who is not a member of the PIJ, was pictured on multiple occasions embracing gun-wielding members of the group, which is a designated terror organisation in Australia.
He also gave an interview to Al Mayadeen News in May last year where he said it was "like a holiday" for people on the streets of Gaza "whenever a missile is launched against the occupier", according to a translation.
Meanwhile a video shared on a website called Paltoday in May 2023 shows Mr Elhasani being hugged by PIJ militants and standing with men holding rocket-propelled grenade launchers in front of a banner depicting his brother Iyad AlHasani, who was a member of the group.
Mr Elhasani settled in Sydney in July after 10 of his family members, including children, were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
In 2012, Mr Elhasani stood among multiple armed militants gathered at a memorial for his son Remah, who had been killed that year in a strike the group attributed to Israel.
In 2017, at a separate vigil for Remah, Mr Elhasani was photographed with a young boy believed to be his grandson dressed in PIJ military clothing, and also standing with a senior leader of the PIJ's politburo, Ahmad Al-Mudallal.
Mr Elhasani has been contacted for comment.
Dr John Coyne, who heads the counter-terrorism centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the PIJ was a fusion of Sunni Islamic and Palestinian independence ideologies that wanted an "Islamic state of Palestine".
"They have most definitely been linked with terrorist attacks ... with the encouragement of politically motivated, ideologically motivated violence in order to achieve their outcomes," Dr Coyne said.
"That's why they're listed as a terrorist organisation (by Australia)."
Dr Coyne added that the listing of a terror group in Australia was "not taken lightly".
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said of Mr Elhasani's filmed interactions with PIJ members that a "picture speaks a thousand words".
"No one who associates with (these people) ... should pass a security check, let alone a character test, to come to Australia," he said.
"And yet that's exactly what Fayez Elhasani has done and the Albanese Government has welcomed him to our country on a visa."
Mr Paterson questioned why Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had not acted in Mr Elhasani's case.
Mr Burke was contacted for comment.
