Wissam Haddad says attack on the synagogue was orchestrated to ‘draw public sympathy’ amid rising anti Semitism

The controversial Muslim preacher, who mounted a “kill Jews” speech in Sydney, says the anti-Semitic attack on a Melbourne Synagogue was part of a “conspiracy” by Jewish people.

An Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad - who called the Jewish race a “vile and treacherous people” - has dismissed the firebombing of a Melbourne Synagogue as deliberately contrived to “draw public sympathy.”

The controversial Muslim preacher -who mounted a speech in Sydney under the name Abu Ousayd in which he said Jews in the Quran were “cowards” like the Jews today and likened them to “rats,” - says the apparent anti-Semitic attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue was orchestrated to “draw public sympathy” and asserts it was torched as part of a “conspiracy” by Jews to win over public understanding. against a background of rising anti Semitism.

“If Israel would kill its own citizens in a Hannibal directive, call me a conspiracy theorist, but is it plausible that a synagogue would be burnt in order to draw public sympathy or swing a Parliamentary vote falseflag,” he asserted on his Instagram page.

An Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad - who called the Jewish race a “vile and treacherous people” - has called the attack on the Melbourne Synagogue a conspiracy theory to get sympathy. Picture: Instagram

The firebombing which is being probed by the Victorian and Federal Police was branded as “act of terrorism” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday after mounting pressure for him to denounce it.

“My personal opinion is yes (it is terrorism), but there is a technical process,” he said.

Authorities are meeting Monday to decide whether to officially designate the Friday firebombing as an act of terrorism.

“But if you want my personal view quite clearly, terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community and the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community,” he said.

Sydney-based Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, in a screen grab taken from Ousayd's social media. Picture: YouTube / MUSLIM UNAPOLOGETIC

“And therefore, from my personal perspective, (the act) certainly fulfil(s) that definition of terrorism.”

The Adass Israel Synagogue has been completely gutted by the arson attack, with the damage estimated to be worth millions of dollars after it was set alight by two masked men on Friday, leaving some worshippers with burns and destroying millions of dollars’ worth of artefacts.

There have been 2062 reports of anti-Semitism across Australia in the past year, with 905 alone in Victoria, including vandalism and hate speech.

Sydney-based Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, is being sued by the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry who alleged he breeched the Racial Discrimination Act in speeches made last year. Picture: YouTube / MUSLIM UNAPOLOGETIC

Haddad is being sued by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) which has launched proceedings in the Federal Court alleging he breached the Racial Discrimination Act in speeches made at the Al Madina Dawah Centre last year.

The council alleges Haddad, who posts anti-Israel comments on his Instagram page under the name Ousayd, branded the Jewish community “vile” and “treacherous” in a sermon at his Bankstown centre last November.