The BFD | It Really Is an Islam Problem

In a seemingly bizarre response to the out-of-control spiral of anti-Semitism across the globe, the Biden administration has announced that its priority is… “tackling Islamophobia”. Similarly, when Jews were attacked in Caulfield, Melbourne’s Jewish heartland, Foreign Minister Penny Wong wittered about “Islamophobia”.

But such responses aren’t as mysterious as they might seem. Because what is abundantly clear is that, while the left are as passionate as they are ignorant about “Palestine”, the really feral Jew-hatred is endemic in the Islamic community. It was in Sydney’s Muslim heartland that fireworks and cheering crowds erupted in the streets when the news of Hamas’ horrific massacre in Israel broke. It was Sydney’s Muslims (with Greens MPs happily marching alongside) who chanted “Gas the Jews!” It was Melbourne’s Muslims who led the violence in Caulfield.

The unhinged, spittle-flecked hatred of Jews is deeply rooted in Islam. One of Muhammad’s first military victories was massacring the Jews of Khaybar (hence Muslims even today chanting, “O Jews, remember Khaybar). The daily Islamic prayer, al-Fatiha, explicitly curses Jews as under Allah’s wrath.

It’s so bad that even other Muslims are admitting it.

My partner is Jewish, and in my professional life I consult both Muslim and Jewish patients almost daily. Growing up a devout Muslim, I spent years attending mosques and Islamic community centres across Sydney. I studied sharia law, memorised the Koran, performed the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and wore a hijab from the age of 12 to 29.

I recently travelled to Israel, a country I once denounced as a colonial apartheid state. At university I joined student marches chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

But Dr Zaina Cheema is and was honest enough to recognise that there was something dark and rotten under it all. At a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy, I felt a knot in my stomach – something about the energy of the crowd had grown hateful.

But it’s only now, since the October 7 attacks, that I understand what that intuitive gut feeling meant: there is an additional malevolence in today’s anti-Semitism. It comes in the form of hatred towards Israel.

Islamic extremism, Cheema says, is a self-reinforcing ideology. Like many fundamentalist communities, secularists and moderates are hounded out.

This has led to communities becoming more insular over time, where hardline and intolerant rhetoric creates a culture of exclusionism, racism, misogyny, homophobia and anti-Semitism […]

Debate has been ignited across the nation following the hateful comments of brainwashed cleric “Brother Ismail”, who said: “The flag of ISIS and al-Qa’ida is the flag of the Muslim community.” Yet another cleric from the Al Madinah Dawah Centre, Abu Ousayd, also known as Wissam Haddad, has now posted a video denigrating Jews and justifying the impending end-times murder of Jews by Muslims quoting a religious prophecy.

There is no place in Australia for these extremist views or this version of Islam. Given the Al Madinah Dawah Centre’s support for terrorism and anti-Semitism, there must be an immediate suspension of activities and events there along with a review of all personnel affiliated with the organisation. The comments that emerged from the centre should bring a sense of shame to Muslims.

Yet, the opposite is happening.

Since October 7 there has been a deafening silence across much of Australia’s Muslim community. Only a few have condemned Hamas. In my view this highlights the dangerous rise of political and radical Islam. The Lebanese Muslim Association and patrons of the Lakemba mosque in southwestern Sydney – some of the most influential Muslim organisations in this country – have not condemned Hamas. We must ask why.

We have a pretty good idea why. Silence, as the saying goes, implies consent.

But there is much worse than silence erupting in Australia’s Islamic community.
Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun, a mainstream preacher and key member of United Muslims of Australia, stoked raucous crowds with a tone of elation and celebration following the murderous actions of Hamas. He holds four degrees and was, until recently, PR director at the Australian National Imams Council. This man’s words and actions cannot be ignored and must be denounced from across the Muslim community.

Don’t hold your breath. This is the same community, remember, that tolerated and encouraged the odious Keysar Trad.

It’s not like other Islamic religious authorities haven’t seen an admirable example for Australia’s Muslims to follow.

Hamas has been denounced by leading Islamic authorities, including the internationally recognised Islamic Fatwa Council. This alone should make clear to Muslims there is no place for Hamas apologists.

The Australian

And, yet, there they are.