October 28, 2024
The country's peak Jewish body has taken a radical cleric to the Federal Court after a slew of sermons referring to the Jewish community as "vile and treacherous people" and featuring anti-Semitic tropes.
The legal action is an example of the escalation of testing how, and whether, hate speech can be prosecuted in Australia.
It comes after state and federal police recently laid charges against people who waved the flag of listed terror group Hezbollah, and high-profile restaurateur Alan Yazbek for displaying the Nazi swastika.
On Friday, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry instigated proceedings in the Federal Court against extremist preacher Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, and his Bankstownbased Al Madina Dawah Centre.
The Australian in January revealed how the ECAJ had lodged a vilification complaint with the country's human rights body against the preacher and the Bankstown centre, given perceived police inaction and an inability to lay charges, partly due to NSW's "toothless" hate-speech criminal provisions.
The proceedings are made under part IIA of the Racial Discrimination Act which outlaws offensive behaviour based on racial hatred and brought to the court by the ECAJ's co-chief executive, Peter Wertheim AM, and deputy president Robert Goot. Mr Wertheim said attempts at mediation between the parties at the Australian Human Rights Commission had failed and that the court move was a last resort.
"We have commenced proceedings to defend the honour of our community, and as a warning to deter others seeking to mobilise racism in order to promote their political views," he said.
The ECAJ is seeking declarations that Mr Haddad and his centre contravened section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, injunctions to remove the sermons from the internet, and an order that the cleric refrain from publishing similar speeches in future.
Mr Wertheim and Mr Goot are also seeking publication of a "corrective notice" on the centre's social media pages and costs.
Mr Haddad, or speakers at his Al Madina Dawah Centre, have called Jewish people "descendants of pigs and monkeys", recited parables about their killing, described them as "treacherous people" with their "hands" in media and business, encouraged jihad, and urged people to "spit" on Israel so Israelis "would drown".
In most cases, Mr Haddad has claimed he was referring to or reciting Islamic scripture.
The ECAJ separately filed a vilification complaint at the Australian Human Rights Commission against Sheik Ahmed Zoud, who said Jewish people "ran like rats" from Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attacks.
That conciliation process continues but could be exhausted soon, and The Australian understands the ECAJ could file separate proceedings at the same court against Mr Zoud and his As-Sunnah mosque in Lakemba.
Mr Wertheim said Australia was a "multicultural success story" with different faith and ethnic communities living in "harmony and mutual respect", and that the court move against Mr Haddad was to protect the Jewish community, but also the country's social harmony.
Federal and state political leaders criticised that "policing" had fallen on the shoulders of Jewish leaders, with opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson calling it "profoundly unjust", saying the Albanese government had "vacated the field".
"Incitement to violence against another community is a crime and it should be enforced through criminal proceedings," Senator Paterson said.
NSW senator Dave Sharma said he was "appalled" that a community organisation had been forced to bring private legal action, "not only to protect its own members but to uphold values and norms we all cherish".
NSW Upper House deputy president Rod Roberts said no religious or ethnic community should be having to do "their own policing".
Attempts to contact Mr Haddad's legal representatives proved unsuccessful on Monday.
'We have commenced proceedings to defend the honour of our community' peter wertheim Executive Council of Australian Jewry CO-chief executive
