'Dehumanising' language

ECAJ takes on Islamic hate preacher in court

The court is set to determine if Haddad – and Bankstown's Al Madina Dawah Centre, which posted videos of the sermons online – contravened the Racial Discrimination Act

ECAJ deputy president Robert Goot (centre) and co-CEO Peter Wertheim (right) arrive at the Federal Court of Australia, in Sydney on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
ECAJ deputy president Robert Goot (centre) and co-CEO Peter Wertheim (right) arrive at the Federal Court of Australia, in Sydney on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

A four-day hearing into allegations controversial Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad made a series of “inflammatory” comments about Jewish people is underway in Sydney.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Peter Wertheim and deputy president Robert Goot are suing the high-profile Sydney Muslim preacher in the Federal Court over five recorded sermons he delivered just weeks after the October 7 attacks.

The court is set to determine if Haddad – and Bankstown’s Al Madina Dawah Centre, which posted videos of the sermons online – contravened the Racial Discrimination Act.

Haddad denies any breach, claiming the speeches largely referenced and quoted Islamic scripture and were a genuine discussion for the purpose of religious education surrounding the war in Gaza.

In a speech delivered on November 29, 2023, Haddad references an incident in the Quran in which the Prophet meets Jewish people at a fortress.

“And he actually calls out to them in a way and he says to them, descendants of apes and pigs, are you insulting me?” Haddad said.

Wertheim gave evidence on Tuesday about the response to the speeches, testifying that he found the language “dehumanising” because it included derogatory generalisations. He said many Jewish people would have felt the same way.

Lawyers for Haddad compared Jews watching the sermons then taking offence to “a person of a prudish sensitivity seeking out pornography and then complaining about it”.

Wertheim and Goot will ask the court for an order restraining Haddad from making further “insulting” comments about Jews. They also want the centre to remove the videos and publish a post about the court findings on its social media pages.

Both the applicant and respondent have relied on expert witnesses to assess the speeches and sermons of Haddad, with Wertheim enlisting American professor of Islamic studies and theology Gabriel Reynolds, with Haddad calling on Sheik Adel Ibrahim from the Greenacre Prayers Hall in western Sydney.

Haddad posted a video before the hearing stating that “we are not going to come [to the trial] unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have”, followed by the image of a sword.

Haddad was due to take the stand as The AJN went to press on Wednesday morning.

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