When I covered anti-vaccine mandate protests during the Covid pandemic, one thing was very noticeable: the absolute loathing of the legacy media. While legacy media journalists were complaining that crowds were ‘hostile’, independent media journalists got a warm welcome. Approaching people for interview, they would ask, ‘Are you independent media?’ On confirmation, they’d break into a warm smile and chat to their heart’s content.
Why were people so hostile to legacy media? Because they knew that, very far from ‘speaking truth to power’, let alone simply reporting the facts, the legacy media were telling outright lies for the powerful. They still are. In an echo of CNN’s risible “Fiery, but mostly peaceful protests” lie (said against a backdrop of burning buildings), Australia’s Channel 9 tried to characterise a violent anti-Israel terror supporter as a, quote, “peaceful protest leader”.
On Friday night, Melbourne was rocked by a coordinated wave of violent, antisemitic attacks. Burnt-out cars appeared across the city, tagged with “Death to the IDF”. A synagogue was firebombed during Shabbat. And just 1400 metres away, extremist protesters targeted a packed Jewish restaurant.
So how did Channel 9 respond? They gave one of the key agitators airtime. They even introduced Mohammad Sharab as a “peaceful protest leader”.
Who, in fact, is Mohammad Sharab?
A notorious anti-Israel activist is under investigation by federal and state police after calling for “armed resistance” on the streets of Melbourne.
New footage of Mohammad Sharab, who is currently on bail for unrelated charges of kidnapping and assault, shows him calling for death to America and its allies and references digging “tunnels,” alluding to Hamas’ terror tunnels.
Except that they’re not exactly unrelated: they’re all of a piece with his swivel-eyed Israel hating.
Sharab and Melbourne human rights activist Laura Allam face charges of kidnapping and assaulting a 31-year-old man in February, involving a brutal attack with a hammer. Their identities were revealed after a court lifted a gag order in March. Last month Sharab was spotted openly displaying a banned logo of a terror group at a rally in Victoria.
In fact, Sharab and Allam, CEO of an ‘Islamic humanitarian organisation’ (which sounds an awful lot like an oxymoron), allegedly kidnapped and tortured their victim for, allegedly, the sole crime of ‘working for a Jew’.
That’s not the only violent stuff this “peaceful protest leader” has been up to.
Mohammad Sharab and his offsider Ibrahim Salama have been charged and summoned to appear before court on September 3, for their roles in the attack on Rebel News reporter Avi Yemini outside the Victorian Parliament on April 30.
In a startling confrontation, Yemini faced threats and aggression from anti-Israel protesters while attempting to interview demonstrators regarding a previous violent attack on a Sydney Swans supporter.
Sharab pleaded guilty to two protest-related assaults. So very ‘peaceful’!
Let that sink in: a man with a record of documented, hate-fuelled violence was framed by a mainstream outlet as a peace-loving activist. Channel 9 even gave him a platform to justify his aggressive behaviour towards innocent Jewish diners. This isn’t journalism – it’s public relations for extremism.
Let me show you what Channel 9 refused to. Sharab physically assaulted independent journalist Rukshan Fernando during a peaceful protest outside Melbourne Town Hall. Rukshan walked away to de-escalate. Sharab followed – and attacked him. Twice.
That same night? He assaulted a group of Jews trying to enter a council meeting.
And this is the same man who’s been preaching violence at so-called “peaceful anti-genocide protests” since October 7. He openly supports terrorism, even proudly posing with a report that exposed his links to Hamas – the same group responsible for the October 7 massacre of over 1200 Jews. “Long live the resistance, long live Hamas!” he has shouted on camera.
His message is clear: “I’m not calling for peace – I’m calling for resistance.” And by resistance, he means terror.
Yeah, but apart from all that...
As the saying goes, however much you hate the legacy media, you don’t hate them enough.
