Crude Jew-hatred has roots in Sydney

OWN CORRESPONDENT

New South  Wales (NSW) Jewish Board of Deputies President Jeremy Spinak has written to the state’s Anti-Discrimination Board demanding that Ismail al-Wahwah, spiritual head of the Sydney chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir – which calls for sharia law – and spokesman Wassim Doureihi, be prosecuted under race hate legislation for inciting violence against Jews.

During a public rally held during the Israel-Hamas war on July 25 last year, Wahwah issued a tirade against Jews, accusing them of corruption, describing them as “hidden evil”, warning that the world would rid itself of them.

“The entire world suffers from the children of Israel today and complains about them,” he fulminated. “Who will set the world free from the children of Israel so that the world will be able to say that it has rid itself of that hidden evil?

“This mission will be accomplished by none but you, O Muslims… The struggle and the jihad will continue until the words of Allah come true. Judgement day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews… Tomorrow you Jews will see what will become of you – an eye for an eye, blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”

Reinforcing his message, the unseen crowd interjected with a chant of “Khaybar, Khaybar” – the full war cry being “Khaybar Khaybar Ya Yahud jaysh Muhammad saya’ud” (Khaybar, Khaybar O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return). Khaybar was the scene of a 7th-century massacre of Jews in what is now Saudi Arabia.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive, Vic Alhadeff (who grew up in South Africa) said the “unrestrained venom and hatred” could conceivably have “inspired another Mohammad Merah, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Mehdi Nemmouche, Said Kouachi, Amedy Coulibaly, Omar El-Hussein or Man Monis – the terrorists who murdered innocents in Toulouse, Boston, Brussels, Paris, Copenhagen and Sydney”.

“The problem we face today is not just violent Islamic extremism, it is also non-violent extremism, which is equally sinister and equally dangerous,” he said.

“Wahwah’s diatribe was not anti-Israel sentiment, as some insist, but crude Jew-hatred reminiscent of last year’s anti-Israel rallies in Sydney that descended into blatant anti-Semitism, complete with Nazi swastikas and placards evoking racist images that had nothing to do with the Middle East.

“It is unconscionable that a public figure can brazenly and outrageously incite such hatred. All people of goodwill have an obligation to speak out on these issues. We are either opposed to giving platforms to hatred and bigotry, or we are not. There is a choice to be made.”

Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in several countries. A spokesman for the group was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying the rally was a protest against Israel’s attack on Gaza and that allegations of anti-Semitism were “cheap” and a “McCarthyist attempt to silence dissent”.

Wahwah’s speech was delivered in Arabic and a subtitled video was recently released.

In a brief response, Hizb ut-Tahrir accused the Board of Deputies of “falsely exploiting the words of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The comments were made at the time of the recent offensive against the people of Gaza, an offensive that indiscriminately razed homes, schools, hospitals and mosques, killing thousands of men, women and children,” a statement said.

“Any words expressed at that time must necessarily be viewed in the context of this aggression and any references to Jews must necessarily be viewed as reference to Jewish occupation.”