Jewish leaders claim Australian Muslim clerics yet to condemn savage Hamas terrorists

Jewish community leaders say the failure by Australian Muslim leaders to condemn the massacres committed in Israel by Hamas terrorists has left them with a “deep sense of betrayal” after years of working with Muslim communities.

Jewish community leaders say the failure by Australian Muslim leaders to condemn the massacres committed in Israel by Hamas terrorists has left them with a “deep sense of betrayal” after years of working with Muslim communities, including fundraising after the Christchurch attack.

The Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, issued a public comment on social media on October 10 condemning Israel as an “occupier” who “respects no law” and “adheres to no treaty”, but has not to date specifically censured the Hamas atrocities carried out on civilians.

In his lengthy post, the most senior Muslim in Australia said the central issue at stake was not about Hamas “but rather about the innocent Palestinian people who have been oppressed for more than seventy years”.

“Resistance against tyranny is a legitimate right for any human being, regardless of the brutality or sophistications of the occupier’s arsenal,” the Mufti said.

“It will only add to the brilliance that every measure of resistance takes on with their boldness and innovations.”

From Left to right, Labor MP Dr Anne Aly, Mr Ed Husic, Grand Mufti Dr Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, PM Anthony Albanese and Imam Shadi Alsuleiman at the 2nd National Muslim Community Iftar 2023 in Sydney.

The Daily Telegraph has requested an interview with Dr Mohammed and asked if he would condemn the massacre of 1400 Israelis, but has not yet received a response.

Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory said the “Australian Jewish community has worked tirelessly on behalf of many Muslim populations at every opportunity, including raising funds after the Christchurch attack”.

In 2019, then NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff, speaking at a Sydney candlelight vigil for the people of Christchurch at Town Hall in Sydney. He also travelled to New Zealand to pass on money raised in Australia for victims of the terror attack on Muslims. Picture by Damian Shaw

“There is a deep sense of betrayal and it has caused many in the Jewish community to reassess our relationships,” he said.

“I have personally advocated for Muslims persecuted by China, Iran and other places. I am unaware of a single Muslim cleric in this country who has unreservedly condemned the atrocities which included beheading babies, raping young girls and murdering Holocaust survivors.”

Mr Gregory said the reaction of Australia’s Muslim leadership toward the terrorist attacks in Israel had “been a huge disappointment”.

“Some have celebrated the massacre, some have incited violence and openly supported terrorism while the majority have remained silent. Their silence speaks for itself and is an indictment on Australia’s approach to immigration and multiculturalism.

His Eminence, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, Mufti of Australia. He asks in a statement if it is “time for the world to rid itself of its ideological blindfold? To see the stark difference between those who defend a land in which their roots extend for centuries, and those who came from all corners of the earth to occupy a land that is not theirs, driven by a religious myth about the Promised Land!!” Picture: AAP

“There is nothing to talk about with those who cannot separate their religion from terrorism.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the statement by the Grand Mufti had the “capacity to incite violence”.

“Not only does the statement fail to condemn Hamas it subtly praises its atrocities in referring to the “boldness and innovation” of the Palestinian “resistance”.

“With the greatest of respect to a religious leader, his words have the capacity to incite violence and fracture our fragile multiculturalism,” he said.

“It’s telling that the statement praises the “boldness and innovation” of the Palestinian ‘resistance’.

“The so-called Palestinian ‘resistance’, has found bold and innovative new ways to terrorise, torture and slaughter.

“Israel is not at war with Palestinians, much less Islam. This is a battle of humanity against barbarism.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has lashed out.. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

On 13 October a statement was put out by Faith NSW, including several Muslim clerics, condemning hate speech and calling for harmony among groups, but it did not address the Hamas murders. Nor did another official statement issued the day before, by 54 Muslim organisations in Australia, which said Muslims do not condone any activity that spreads hatred but failed to call out the actions of the Hamas terrorists.

Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said the Jewish community was “extremely disappointed and saddened by Muslim leaders in Australia’s continued failure to condemn the massacre carried out by Hamas on 7 October”. He said in the UK more than a dozen senior Muslim leaders have publicly condemned Hamas’s attacks.

“This is not about the conflict, it is about terrorism, and Muslim leaders ought condemn Hamas for bringing this upon their own people,” he said.

In 2019, following the New Zealand Christchurch massacre where 51 Muslim worshippers were gunned down at mosques, a delegation of Sydney Jewish leaders joined other international Jewish communities to visit those affected in NZ and contribute to a worldwide $1 million Jewish donation fund.

The then NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said it would have been easy to simply transfer the money but he wanted to send a message with his presence.

“An attack on one (faith) is an attack on us all,” he said at the time.

In Victoria, two Rabbis and that states’ peak Jewish community body walked out on the Jewish Christian and Muslim Association of Australia after some of the faith partners refused to condemn the atrocities by Hamas.