Hate speaker condemned

ISLAMIST group Hizb ut-Tahrir has been condemned by communal leaders after a video emerged last month of a hate rally it conducted in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba last year.

During the gatheirng, which was held on July 25 at the height of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Hizb ut-Tahrir spiritual leader Ismail al-Wahwah accused Jews everywhere of corruption and called Jews “a hidden evil”.

“The entire world suffers from the children of Israel … Who will set the world free from the children of Israel so that the world will be able to say that it has rid itself of that hidden evil?” he asked.

“This mission will be accomplished by none but you, O Muslims … The ember of jihad against the Jews will continue to burn.

“Judgment 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.”

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar subsequently tried to explain that in the context of the “brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza” the comments were “entirely appropriate.”

“When taken out of context, all sorts of ludicrous claims can be made,” he said.

But Executive Council of Australian Jewry executive director Peter Wertheim said attempts to excuse the comments as mere political protest against Israel were “a transparent lie”.

“Al-Wahwah’s rantings go well beyond Israel. He accuses the entire Jewish people of spreading corruption of every kind all over the world, and issues a blood-curdling cry to Muslims to ‘set the whole world free from the Jewish people’, through violence and bloodshed,” he said.

“This is more than mere incitement to hatred. It amounts to incitement to violence … [It] should result in al-Wahwah being prosecuted by the DPP under section 20D of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Hizb ut-Tahrir’s views and agenda were “totally inimical” to the core values of our democratic society.

“The authorities should certainly be considering the most effective way to curtail the damage they cause, whether that be through the use of existing or enhanced anti-vilification legislation or even greater legal restrictions on its activities,” he said.

B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said he was “outraged and repulsed”.

“It is imperative for community leaders to speak out and condemn the vilification, defamation and demonisation of Jews contained in the film, and to stand up and say no to incitement and to any form of racist speech whenever and wherever it appears,” he said.

GARETH NARUNSKY

Hizb ut-Tahrir spiritual leader Ismail al-Wahwah. Photo: AAP Image/Paul Miller