Tony Burke rival shared post celebrating October 7 attacks

A high-profile doctor running against Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in his western Sydney seat has outraged Jewish community leaders by sharing social media posts celebrating Hamas’s October 7 attacks and portraying them as a dream come true.

Cairo-born GP Ziad Basyouny made headlines in August when he announced his candidacy for Burke’s seat of Watson, becoming the first of several independent candidates from Muslim backgrounds expected to challenge Labor incumbents in previously safe electorates.

A Facebook page in Dr Ziad Basyouny’s name shared the message about October 7.Credit: Peter Rae

Watson – which includes suburbs such as Lakemba, Punchbowl and Greenacre — has one of the highest percentages of Muslims in the country, making it a target for Muslim campaigners who believe the Albanese government has been too supportive of Israel since the war in Gaza began.

On October 12 last year, five days after the attacks that killed an estimated 1200 people in Israel, Basyouny shared a Facebook post containing an illustration of a rock-throwing protester and a machine-gun-wielding paraglider, according to screenshots provided to this masthead.

A Facebook post shared by Ziad Basyouny in the days after the October 7 attacks.

The original post by another Facebook user, which Basyouny shared to his 132,000 followers, featured an Arabic caption saying: “Dreams, my friend, come true for those who seek and work to see them come true!”

Hamas militants used paragliders to breach the Gaza-Israel border on October 7 in their first known use of the tactic while 1987, the date under the image of the rock-throwing figure, is the year of the Palestinian uprising known as the First Intifada.

After initially saying that he would examine the Facebook post and provide a response, Basyouny did not respond to multiple subsequent requests for comment.

Sky News previously reported that Basyouny used a separate Facebook post to share videos of people appearing to celebrate the attacks in Sydney’s west on October 8, the day news of the massacre broke in Australia.

When asked about that post, Basyouny told Sky News: “It’s exactly what’s written. It was. It is obvious that this post was related to Palestinians celebrating being out of the cage.”

He went on to say that “all life lost is tragic, all life, every life lost is tragic. I condemn attacking civilians in any shape or form and that’s my position.”

Basyouny, who has since changed the name of his personal Facebook account, has identified Palestine as one of his top campaign issues, alongside the cost-of-living crisis, housing, education and health.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chair Alex Ryvchin blasted the posts, saying: “To see a candidate for political office in Australia sharing such content is contrary to our values and shows a basic lack of humanity.

“Anyone who takes pride in such acts is a danger to our society and manifestly unfit to stand as a candidate for any office.”

Ryvchin said the cartoon image was offensive because it “expresses delight for the progression of Palestinian terror from the First Intifada which began in 1987 to the October 7 attacks, during which hundreds of terrorists used hang-gliders to descend on a dance festival where they proceeded to methodically butcher more than 400 young people”.

Ryvchin called on Burke, who also serves as minister for multicultural affairs, to condemn the post. Burke’s spokesman declined to comment.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, condemned the post, saying it showed Basyouny “clearly has no place in our parliament”.

“Tony Burke should act in the national interest, not in his own political interests and call this person out but so far, we’ve had silence from the minister charged with keeping Australians safe,” he said.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network declined to comment.

The revelation of the post comes amid an ongoing political debate about the granting of visas to Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza, which has claimed an estimated 40,800 lives according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess this week said that “liking” a social media post in favour of the October 7 attacks would be a problem for anyone seeking to pass an Australian security check, clarifying previous remarks in which he said that “rhetorical support” for Hamas alone would not necessarily preclude someone from receiving an Australian visa.

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