A Palestinian granted a visa to Australia says his terrorist son was ‘encouraged’ to ‘wage jihad’
A Palestinian man granted a visa to Australia said his dead son — a member of a terror organisation — was encouraged to “wage jihad”, and his grandson is being raised on the “same path”.
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A Palestinian man granted a visa to Australia said his deceased son, who was a member of a listed terror organisation, was encouraged to “wage jihad against the usurping entity” and his grandson is being raised on the “same path,” parliament has heard.
The Coalition has questioned how artist Fayez Elhasani passed the character test in the Migration Act, given his family connections and personal interactions with terror groups in Gaza. It’s accused Home Affairs Minister Burke of being “missing in action” over the case.
Further concerns have now been raised amid revelations Mr Elhasani appeared to openly talk about his son’s militant “jihad” against Israeli occupation of Palestine.
His son, Remah Fayez Al-Hasani, was a member of the al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which Australia has designated a terrorist organisation.
Remah was killed in 2011, with the PIJ militant group blaming an Israeli air strike for his death.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson told the Senate on Thursday about a Facebook post shared after Mr Elhasani attended the second international Al-Aqsa Call conference in Karbala, Iraq organised by the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine in August 2023.
The Return to Palestine account posted an image of Mr Elhasani speaking about his dead son.
“Ramah’s (sic) mother encouraged him to wage jihad against the usurping entity and today his son is being raised on the same path and way of jihad until … liberation of Palestine,” Mr Elhasani is quoted as saying.
Mr Paterson said the quote, which he read in the Senate, was “concerning” as it suggested Mr Elhasani was “fully aware of his son’s involvement in the activities of a listed terrorist organisation, and implies he is raising his grandson to follow in his father’s footsteps”.
Mr Elhasani settled in Sydney in July after losing ten of his family members in an Israeli missile strike following the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
Mr Paterson questioned how his visa was granted and whether it was assessed by ASIO before it was granted.
“(Mr Burke) must front up immediately to answer these questions and guarantee to the Australian people the Albanese Government has not, and will not, grant a single visa to any individual with links to a listed terrorist organisation,” he said.
As well as Remah, News Corp also previously revealed Mr Elhasani had another deceased son, Mohammed Fayez Al-Hassani, who was involved in the PIJ.
Mr Elhasani also has two deceased brothers who were members of the same group, and a third who was a senior commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is listed as a terror group by the US and EU.
It has also been revealed that Mr Elhasani had in 2019 hosted a meeting of political members of terror groups when he was director-general of the Rawasi Palestine Institute — an art, culture and communications organisation in Gaza.
Mr Elhasani was contacted for comment.
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