Premier’s iftar dinner cancelled following Muslim community boycott

The premier’s annual dinner with Muslim leaders has been cancelled after more than 110 mosques and community groups announced they would boycott the event due to Victorian Labor’s stance on Israel.

Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed on Thursday morning that this year’s event would not go ahead, two days after her office insisted it would proceed, albeit as a smaller and more intimate dinner in light of the ongoing events in the Middle East.

Premier Jacinta Allan made the announcement while touring fire-affected communities on Thursday. Credit: Luis Ascui

“My role here in Victoria is to support the community, not add to distress and grief,” Allan said.

“It is my intent to mark iftar, to mark events through the Ramadan period, respectfully with private occasions. Sitting with families [and] providing support and care. I do not want to add … additional stress and distress to people who are already deeply grieving.

“It was in that context that we’ve made what is a difficult decision.”

Allan’s comments come after more than 110 Muslim community groups signed a letter calling for the dinner to be cancelled due to the Gaza conflict. The event had been planned for March 10.

Adel Salman, president of the Islamic Council of Victoria.Credit: Jason South

Almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health officials say, since Israel’s military campaign began in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel. The Israeli government says more than 1400 of its citizens have been killed.

During a Wednesday radio interview about the iftar dinner, Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) president Adel Salman described the attacks in Israel on October 7 as “legitimate acts of resistance”.

“What we don’t denounce, very clearly, is legitimate acts of resistance and for the Palestinians to rise up on October 7 and say we are no longer going to tolerate this siege, this occupation, that is legitimate,” Salman said during an appearance on the ABC’s RN Breakfast.

Asked on Thursday about Salman’s radio interview, Allan said she also condemned what was said.

“I could not disagree more strongly with the comments made yesterday by the president of the Islamic Council of Victoria,” she said. “They were comments that I felt only could cause more division and distress, and I strongly disagree with those comments.”

But the premier said the ICV’s funding from the state government would not be withdrawn because it was provided on the basis the organisation would provide mental health support.

“There is enough division coming from the Middle East without the need to unnecessarily add to that here in Victoria. I’ve had so many members of both communities tell me about the difficulties they are facing personally through their own grief,” Allan said.

The remarks were also condemned by Jewish groups. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin described the comments as “sick and depraved”.

After Salman’s radio interview, he issued a statement through the ICV to say the organisation condemns the killing of innocent civilians on October 7.

One of the organisers of the iftar dinner boycott, Mohammad Helmy, welcomed the premier’s decision.

“The cancellation represents a moment of reflection,” he said in a statement, adding it was important for leaders to take principled stances on human rights and justice.

One senior member of government, speaking anonymously to detail private discussions, said the event was not meant to be political and there were concerns it would continue to be a focus for community tensions if it went ahead.

“It is called the premier’s iftar dinner, but it doesn’t actually belong to them and has always been an expression of communities coming together,” the source said.

A government minister said they expected to be asked to attend smaller post-fast dinners with individual families or small groups in their electorate.

“I don’t think there was another choice, unfortunately,” the minister said of the cancellation.

The ICV said in a statement on Thursday that “the Muslim community has been seeking a clear message from the government that our concerns are being heard”.

“This decision is one step towards that.”

Earlier this month, Allan and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll had their electoral offices targeted by pro-Palestine activists who left fake corpses representing the children killed in Gaza. In early February, all four lower-house Greens MPs were also removed from parliament for 90 minutes and forced to apologise after holding up signs that said: “Vic Labor, stop arming Israel.”

Victoria signed a deal with Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturers, in February 2021 to establish a Melbourne-based centre to drive the development and commercialisation of defence technologies.

The state government also signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s defence ministry in December 2022. However, Carroll has previously said it was “unfounded and malicious” to suggest Victoria is linked to the manufacturing of Israeli weapons.

With Kieran Rooney and Rachael Dexter

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