New Delhi: The father-son duo of Indian origin, who carried out the worst-ever terror attack in Australia targeting Jews and killing 15 people, are believed to be followers of a Lebanese preacher known for his anti-Jew rhetoric.
“So just remember that. And finally, remember my dear brothers that what caused the death of Rasulullah was a Jewish woman in Khaybar who had poisoned a piece of meat, a piece of lamb that was given to the Prophet. And he ate from it, and even towards the end of his life, he says, I am tasting the poison from the day of Khaybar. So know that your Prophet was poisoned by these mischief makers.”
These were the concluding remarks made by a Sydney-based preacher, Wissam Haddad, in one of the five speeches delivered to a Muslim congregation, which were broadcast on social media in November 2023, weeks after Israel and Hamas were locked in a war in Gaza. Haddad is also known as William Haddad and Abu Abu Ousayd in his community.
These speeches, delivered primarily in Arabic, were transcribed into English and submitted to the Australian Federal Court by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an organisation of Australian Jews.
The organisation had filed a suit against Haddad’s speeches delivered at congregations organised by Al Madina Dawah Centre, which he established in April 2021.
Haddad is once again in the spotlight after Australian media reported that the surviving shooter at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, Naveed Akram (24), had links with Haddad.
Australia’s ABC News quoted counterterrorism officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that investigators have identified Akram’s links to Haddad, “a cleric whose influence has loomed over multiple generations of Australian jihadists”.
“Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, examined Naveed Akram in 2019 after uncovering his associations with a Sydney-based ISIS cell,” ABC reported Monday.
In a press conference on Monday, it was revealed that Australian Police had found IEDs and handmade flags of ISIS from Akram’s car, which he used to reach the beach Sunday.
Asked if Naveed Akram was a follower of Haddad and his preachings and had connections with ISIS, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not give a clear answer.
“Well, what we know already is, as part of the investigation, it goes to motive. And what is being investigated… is that it would appear that there is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organisation, by ISIS. Now, some of the evidence which is being procured, including the presence of Islamic State flags in the vehicle that has been seized, are a part of that,” he said.
“Radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem. It is something that has been identified globally as a problem as well. ISIS was created by an evil ideology that has been called out not just by the Australian government, but globally as well,” he added in the press conference on Tuesday.
In an affidavit to the Federal Court in May, Haddad had claimed to “have never given a sermon or lecture directed at any person of another religion, including any person who identifies as or practises as a Jew.”
But the Australian Federal Court had found in July that the series of lectures, titled ‘The Jews of Al Madina’, conveyed insinuations about Jewish people and that the speeches were likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Jews in Australia.
“As a consequence of finding that Mr Haddad and AMDC contravened 18C of the RDA by delivering and publishing the lectures, the court has made declarations to that effect and ordered the respondents to remove the lectures from their social media,” an Australian Federal Court ruled on 1 July this year.
“The court has restrained Mr Haddad from causing words, sounds or images to be communicated otherwise than in private, which attribute characteristics to Jewish people on the basis of their group membership and which convey any of the disparaging imputations identified as being conveyed by the lectures,” the court further ruled.
Who is Haddad?
In his affidavit filed with the Australian Federal Court, Haddad stated that he was with the “wrong crowd” in his adolescent years, spent several nights away from home, partying and clubbing, but got a wake-up call when his friends became seriously ill due to their actions.
Born to parents from Lebanon, who emigrated to Australia in 1970, Haddad enrolled himself at the Sydney Islamic College and studied subjects such as Jurisprudence, Creed and the Fundamentals of Islam.
He studied for a year and a half before withdrawing from the four-year programme due to family commitments, including becoming a father.
By 2007, he said in the affidavit, he established an organisation named Revesby Muslim Association with other community members.
“For the next 3 to 4 years, when I was running the Revesby Muslims Association, I continued to deliver sermons on one Friday per month. From recollection, there were usually about 100 to 150 people in attendance at these sermons,” he further said.
By 2012-13, he established an independent centre called the Al Risa/ah Bookstore, which sold Islamic books and gifts and also provided a prayer space in the back.
He said he had also delivered sermons to his audience and pupils when the Arab Spring movement began in West Asian countries, opposing governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and others.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Bondi beach shooter moved to Australia from Hyderabad in 1998, son Australian citizen by birth