He got sacked for 'questionable' and 'ambiguous' art. Those descriptors show he is the man for the job
And yet anxiety over possible divisiveness seems to have been the guiding emotional principle applied by the board of Creative Australia, the government's main arts body, when it abruptly sacked Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino as Australia's representatives at the prestigious Venice Biennale next year.
The board, which this week reinstated the duo in a spectacular backflip, originally said it acted to avoid the erosion of public support for Australia's artistic community that might ensue from a 'prolonged and divisive debate'.
It is assumed that a prolonged and divisive debate about an artwork is a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be.
To be fair, the board's anxieties were well-founded.
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It was February 2025 and a caravan full of explosives had been discovered in north-west Sydney. This incident was quickly labelled an anti-Jewish terror plot but was later revealed to be a 'criminal con job'. The Peter Dutton-led Coalition was hammering the Albanese government (then behind in the polls) for being soft on antisemitism. Horrific pictures of burnt and maimed Gazan children aired on television nightly. Jewish-Australians were encountering antisemitism in their day-to-day lives. Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel forces were demonstrating on the streets and clashing in arts organisations.
Sabsabi, stridently pro-Palestine Lebanese-Australian, had made clear his view on Israel when he decided to boycott the 2022 Sydney Festival because it took $20,000 in funding from the Israeli Embassy.
His boycott was well before the horror of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on innocent Israelis, a day of rape, torture, kidnapping and slaughter from which more and more horror has unspooled.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Why 'racist' preacher couldn't be charged by police
An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
India backs Dalai Lama's position on successor
Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now. Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now. Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now. Only the Dalai Lama and the organisation he has set up have the authority to identify his successor as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, a senior Indian minister says, in a rare comment contradicting rival China's long-held position. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader and that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust would be able to identify his successor. He previously said the person would be born outside China. Beijing says it has the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor as a legacy from imperial times. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, made a rare statement on the matter on Thursday, before visiting the Dalai Lama's base in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala for the religious leader's 90th birthday on Sunday. "No one has the right to interfere or decide who the successor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be," Indian media quoted Rijiju as telling reporters. "Only he or his institution has the authority to make that decision. His followers believe that deeply. It's important for disciples across the world that he decides his succession." In response to the remarks, China's foreign ministry warned India on Friday against interfering in its domestic affairs at the expense of bilateral relations, urging it to be prudent in its words and actions. "We hope the Indian side will fully understand the highly sensitive nature of Tibet-related issues, recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama," spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular media conference. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Dalai Lama's succession plan. Rijiju, a practising Buddhist, will be joined by other Indian officials at the birthday celebrations. India is estimated to be home to tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists who are free to study and work there. Many Indians revere the Dalai Lama, and international relations experts say his presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with China. Relations between India and China nosedived after a deadly border clash in 2020 but are slowly improving now.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Anti-Trumpers would have to ‘agree' with US plan to stop Iran's ambitions
Strategic Analysis Australia Director Michael Shoebridge discusses the possibility of Donald Trump brokering a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Donald Trump is set to host Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. 'Even anti-Trumpers would have to agree that setting back Iran's regional ambitions to dominate the Middle East and setting back its nuclear program is a real net positive,' Mr Shoebridge said. 'It opens up other opportunities for reproachment between Arab states and Israel – but not while Gaza is still happening.'
