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Sydney cleric on trial for ‘dehumanizing’ statements about Jews
[IsraelTimes] A Muslim cleric in Sydney who called Jews “vile” and “treacherous” is on trial for racial discrimination in Australia’s federal court.Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, …who has preached at West Sydney’s Al Madina Dawah Center… gave a series of speeches late last year designed to dehumanize and denigrate the Jewish people, according to a suit filed by The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).Haddad told the court Wednesday that statements made at his lectures were intended only for the Muslims attending his lecture, according to news reports. However, prosecutors showed that ads run beforehand promoting the lecture made it clear that the lectures would be recorded and uploaded to social media. Before the trial started, Haddad also uploaded a video to social media rejecting the court’s authority to try non-Muslims, reports say. The case is expected to run through the end of the week. ECAJ recently won a similar case against Sheikh Ahmed Zoud, a Sydney preacher who said in a recorded sermon that Jews were bloodthirsty, treacherous “monsters” who “ran like rats” when Hamas launched its war on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, shortly after he issued a public apology for his statements, he called in a separate sermon for Allah to “kill all” oppressors, without referring explicitly to Jews. Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community has faced relentless antisemitism since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The country experienced over 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, more than quadruple the number from the year before, according to ECAJ. Posted by: trailing wife 2025-06-13 |
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