Islamic preacher tells court he ‘never set out to insult Jews'

The Age

a day ago

Asked if what he was saying was 'the problem was the Jews in the seventh century and the problem is the Jews today', Haddad replied: 'Not in that general sense, no.'
He said his description of Jews as 'a vile people' was a reference to the actions of the Israeli government, and denied he was setting out to criticise Jews as a race. 'I never set out to insult Jews,' he said.
He said his speeches were 'taken from Islamic texts' and he was referring to 'Jews of faith' rather than ethnicity.
Haddad is defending the lawsuit on a number of bases, including that the claim must fail because the sermons were delivered in private at the Al Madina Dawah Centre, where there is 'no standing invitation to non-Muslims to attend', and only published online later.
Section 18C covers acts in public that are reasonably likely 'to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people'. The acts must be done because of the 'race, colour or national or ethnic origin' of that other person or group.
Members of the Jewish community gave evidence earlier on Wednesday that they first became aware of Haddad's speeches via either or both The Australian and Sky News.
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Braham foreshadowed he would submit that 'just about everything' that happened at the centre was designed 'for public consumption and to create, or attract, controversy'.
The sermons were published on the centre's Facebook and Rumble social media accounts. Haddad's lawyers say in written submissions there is 'no evidence' that he or the centre's incorporated association, of which he is a founder, were involved in uploading the speeches or had 'any awareness of that having been done'.
However, Haddad told the court that he 'knew they were being recorded' in November 2023, and that they were all going to be published online. He also agreed that he was, in effect, in charge of the centre.
Haddad's lawyers argue the sermons were not reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate Jewish people in Australia. It was 'only because of what appears to have been an extraordinary pursuit of Mr Haddad and the centre that any Jewish person in Australia was exposed to the speeches', the submissions say.
They also say the speeches were not delivered by Haddad 'to express any criticism or comment about Jewish people in Australia, by reason of their race or otherwise', but were intended to provide 'support and spiritual comfort to members of the Muslim community by placing the current events in Gaza in a historical religious context'.
Haddad's legal team also argue an exemption in section 18D of the law applies because the sermons amounted to 'a fair comment on any event or matter of public interest', and the comments were 'an expression of a genuine belief' held by him.
But the legal team for Wertheim and Goot say Haddad 'acted neither reasonably nor in good faith'.