May 27, 2024
Rogue Labor senator Fatima Payman has come under fire from Jewish groups after she was pictured next to an Islamic leader who has described Hamas' October 7massacre as a "legitimate act of resistance".
Senator Payman was spotted in a photo posted to social media last week standing next to Islamic Council Victoria president Adel Salman, who earlier this year commented that Hamas' attack that killed nearly1200 Israelis was "for the Palestinians to rise up".
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Senator Payman should not be allowed to sit on any future inquiries into anti-Semitism. "How can someone who willingly stands for a photo with a person who calls the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust' legitimate resistance' sit on an inquiry to investigate anti-Semitism," he said.
The opposition called for her r to be expelled from the Labor Party after she last week visited the University of Melbourne pro-Palestine encampment to show support. The move was criticised as a deliberately provocative act, she was accused of backing protest activity fuelling anti-Semitic hate and vilification.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, said Senator Payman had faced zero consequences for deliberately flouting Anthony Albanese's direction that violent rhetoric had no place in Australia.
"It's hardly surprising she feels emboldened by that and has since visited the Melbourne University occupiers and caught up with extreme activists who think 7 October was a legitimate act of resistance," the Victorian Liberal senator said.
