Sydney-based marketing expert ‘salutes’ Sinwar the ‘star’

An activist who lauded Yahya Sinwar as a ‘warrior and legend’ is a Sydney aviation worker who has previously applauded Palestinian plane hijacker Leila Khaled.

Jana Fayyad, marketing worker at an aviation firm and member of the Palestine Action Group Sydney. Picture: Matrix News

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An activist who lauded slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “warrior and legend” is a Sydney aviation industry worker who previously applauded Palestinian plane ­hijacker Leila Khaled.

It comes as Jewish leaders separately urged the government to block the visa of high-profile activist Shaun King on “good character grounds”, particularly given the American’s praise for Sinwar.

On Sunday, The Australian revealed how one activist at a pro-Palestine Sydney rally remembered terrorist Sinwar as a “legend to be told for centuries”. The activist – Jana Fayyad, a marketing expert in the aviation industry – did not respond to questions on Monday.

Other than calling Sinwar a “warrior”, she also “saluted” the slain Hamas chief, saying his “legend” would never be forgotten.

“The star of resistance, we will never forget you (Sinwar) and we will never forget your legend,” said Ms Fayyad, who in March described Khaled as a “liberator”.

“Long live the resistance, the resistance lives on.”

At a Melbourne rally on Sunday, pro-Palestine activist Mohammed Shaheen, flanked by BestFab steel manufacture boss Ihab Al Azhari and another activist known as Abdel-Rahman Al Qaisi, also chanted “we are your men, Sinwar”.

It comes after a Sydney conference that included Hizb ut-Tahrir activists and sheik Ibrahim Dadoun, who said that “Islam would bring justice to every corner of the world”.

Separately, Jewish leaders urged Immigration Minister Tony Burke on Monday to cancel, or block, Mr King’s visa. He was set to start an Australian tour on Tuesday in Brisbane but has since postponed it to January.

Since Sinwar’s death, Mr King has shared content calling the slain Hamas chief a “dear brother” who died a “martyr”, and told his 85,000 Telegram followers that he was a “leader, fighter, martyr”, suggesting the media should refer to the terror group and its deceased leader as “heroes”.

Mr King has toured the US with professor Khaled Beydoun, whose Australian visa was cancelled last week after telling a Sydney rally that “in some ways” October 7 was a “good day”.

A protester holds a portrait of Sinwar at a rally in Melbourne on Sunday.

AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein believed that on character grounds, Mr King should not be granted a visa, and nor should his planned speaking partner, Mansour Shouman, a Palestinian-Canadian journalist who has called into question the number of Israelis Hamas killed on ­October 7.

“These individuals make a living spreading racist lies and conspiracy theories … they threaten Australia’s social cohesion and should have failed the character test for entering Australia,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“It is in the interests not only of the Jewish community but of anyone who values Australia’s ­vibrant, harmonious and tolerant multicultural democracy that overseas purveyors of hate and racist untruths should not be granted entry.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said Mr King had used his platform to spread “extreme anti-Israel propaganda and boost ­notorious anti-Semitic accounts”.

“This includes open praise for terrorist leaders, sharing Hamas military propaganda and even re-sharing vile anti-Semitic nonsense about the ‘Jewish media’ attacking masculinity in a plot to enslave the world,” he said, adding that social harmony was already frayed, and Australia had too many “racist crackpots and online extremists” without Mr King’s presence.

Mr King is banned on Instagram, with Meta alleging it was “due to praise (of) designated entities”, although he said it was due to his content showing what was happening in Gaza.

American activist Shaun King.

In the US, he was accused of ­exaggerating his involvement in the freeing of two American hostages from Gaza, something he denies. Mr King has also been accused of fraud, including an ­incident where he was alleged to have held an unauthorised fundraiser in the name of a 12-year-old boy who was killed by police. He also denies those allegations.

The American activist said the previous October dates did not work for his family but that he was looking forward to touring soon.

Mr King said: “I understand that to one group Sinwar is a terrorist and to another he’s a martyr. Almost every Muslim head of state in the world publicly praised his life and death, including here in Malaysia, in Turkey, and in other nations seen as more moderate Muslim nations.

“Similarly, I see Benjamin Netanyahu as a terrorist, war criminal, and genocidal murderer, as do billions of people around the world, including the ICC, ICJ, etc, which Australia is party to. ⁣

“Will every Netanyahu supporter then be banned? ⁣Will every Israeli or Jew or conservative that ever expressed support of him have their visas revoked? Or is this just going to be a practice used against Muslims in Australia?”