Gross anti-Semitism goes unpunished in Australia

VIC ALHADEFF

CEO, NSW JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES, SYDNEY 

The six-month statute of limitations in which a prosecution could be mounted by the state, expired on September 3, with an appeal by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies for legal action against the preacher and his organisation dismissed, even though the Director of Public Prosecutions agreed that a “likely breach” of the law had occurred.

Describing Jews as “the most evil creature of Allah”, Ismail al-Wahwah, spiritual leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir – which has been banned in a number of countries but is legal in Australia – told a rally in Sydney (translated): “Moral corruption is linked to the Jews… If the Jews were given the whole world, they would want the heavens.

“That is the nature of the Jews. It is a delusion to think that there can be peace and coexistence… with the Jews…

“There is only one solution for this cancerous tumour: It must be uprooted and thrown back to where it came from. They have corrupted the world with their corrupt media. The Israelites have corrupted the world with so-called art, cinema and corrupt films, and with sex trade, drug trade and moral depravity. They have corrupted the world in every respect…

“Whatever the outcome is of today’s battle, it is not the final battle. There is a sea of blood between the Jews and us. They will pay with blood for blood, with tears for tears, and with destruction for destruction.

“They are deluding themselves if they think that this nation will ever surrender to a gang of foreigners… The ember of jihad against the Jews will continue to burn. 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.”

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, which represents the Jewish community of New South Wales – Australia’s most populous state – lodged an appeal with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, urging that the Director of Public Prosecutions take action against Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Wahwah.

The Anti-Discrimination Board agreed that there was a case to answer and referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the police.

However, in the 26 years since the anti-discrimination legislation was enacted in 1989, the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board has referred 30 cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions; not one has been prosecuted.

Hizb ut-Tahrir calls for the overthrow of Western democracies and the creation of a worldwide caliphate, but insists that it does not advocate violence. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said earlier this year that his government was considering banning it.

The incendiary nature of al-Wahwah’s speech was so outrageous that the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies regarded the case as a test of whether the law is able to deal with someone who publicly calls for the death of a group of Australians based on their ethnicity.

The fact that it has failed to do so has outraged the community and spurred it to step up long-held calls for the law to be amended. It argues that all 200 ethnic groups in the state are at risk as a result of the impotence of the law and that it gives a free pass to people to engage in race hatred and incitement to violence.

A multi-party inquiry into the legislation was held in 2013, but none of its 15 recommendations has been implemented.