Allow fair debate, no hate speech

Jewish Australians are entitled to object to the double standards prevailing as regards public debate over the Hamas-Israel war. Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke has been urged by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to overturn a visa cancellation of Israeli-American tech advocate Hillel Fuld, who was scheduled to speak in Sydney and Melbourne next week at fundraisers hosted by Magen David Adom Australia, the Jewish equivalent of the Red Cross. Mr Fuld, who has 176,000 followers on X, is blunt and outspoken, but his rhetoric lacks the intensity and personal vitriol of some preachers in Australia, such as Victorian Muslim leader Abu Hamza, also known as Samir Mohtadi, who has branded Zionists “bloodsucking humans” and “scavengers”, and called on Allah to “cast terror into the hearts of the Zionists”. Sheik Mohtadi’s registered charity, the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, receives Victorian government support and aims to build a $6.9m Islamic “sanctuary” in Mickleham, a fast-growing suburb north of Melbourne, Mohammad Alfares reports.

The Albanese government’s decision to cancel Mr Fuld’s visa has drawn global attention, including in Israel and the US. It was made on the grounds that his presence might pose a risk to “the health, safety or good order” of the Australian community, particularly among Muslim Australians. The Department of Home Affairs accused Mr Fuld of using social media to deny “documented atrocities” in Gaza, promote Islamophobic views and spread inflammatory content that could incite division amid heightened community tensions. In an X post in January, Mr Fuld claimed that 10-15 per cent of Muslims were “radicalised” and Islam was a “global plague” and compared Gazans to Nazi-era Germans who should be “treated as such”. In another post, he said liberal Western values could “never coexist next to radical Islamic values”. In a statement to The Australian about Mr Fuld, Mr Burke said the country did not want to import “hatred”. But in an email to Mr Burke, Mr Huckabee said Mr Fuld was “highly respected”. While he “holds strong views against terrorism and the kind of massacre that occurred on October 7, he would pose no threat to the people of Australia by his actions or words”.

Allowing visiting speakers – and local preachers, provided they do not descend into hate speech – have their say is preferable to bans and censorship because it exposes their views to scrutiny and debate. Given what Muslim preachers get away with in Australia, the Albanese government’s ban on Mr Fuld smacks of overkill.