The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ), the peak body rep­res­ent­ing the Jewish community nation­ally, has formally lodged com­plaints with the Aus­trali­an Human Rights Com­mis­sion (AHRC) against two Islamic preachers in western Sydney over speeches that were made late last year, record­ings of which have been uploaded online.

The com­plaints allege that the speeches included derog­at­ory gen­er­al­isa­tions about Jewish people, such as descrip­tions of them as “monsters”, “criminals”, “bloodthirsty”, raised on “terrorism, violence, and killing”, a “vile people”, and a “treach­er­ous people”, and claims that “their hands are in every­where in businesses…in the media”.

The com­plaints have been made under the pro­vi­sions of Part IIA of the Racial Dis­crim­in­a­tion Act which prohibit offensive behaviour based on racial hatred. The com­plaints are against:

(a) Wissam Haddad and Al Madina Dawah Centre Incor­por­ated; and

(b) Sheikh Ahmed Zoud and Awqaf Australia Bene­vol­ent Fund Limited.

The ECAJ is seeking, among other things, that the speeches be removed from the internet with a public apology, and that the respond­ents provide binding com­mit­ments that similar conduct does not occur in the future.

ECAJ co-CEO, Peter Wertheim, who is one of the com­plain­ants, said:

“We are taking this action not only to defend the honour of our community but also to protect the future of Australia as a peaceful and socially-cohesive society. Our country has provided a wonderful home to people of many different faiths and ethnic back­grounds. For the most part we all live together in harmony with mutual respect where everyone is free to observe their faith and their tra­di­tions. One of the rules of Aus­trali­an mul­ti­cul­tur­al society is that we do not bring the hatreds, pre­ju­dices and bigotry of overseas conflicts and societies into Australia. It is truly regret­table that gov­ern­ments and law enforce­ment agencies have failed to show proper lead­er­ship to enforce this rule, and that it has fallen to our community to stand up to the hate­mon­gers in our midst. We will do this regard­less of the human and financial cost. The issue is simply too important for Australia’s future.”