Fuld slams Australia’s “cool kids club” decision
Tech entrepreneur says Australia is joining antisemitic trend after visa ban.
The Department of Home Affairs has cancelled Israeli-American tech entrepreneur Hillel Fuld’s visa days before scheduled Magen David Adom fundraising events, citing his social media posts as potentially inflammatory.
Fuld, whose brother Ari was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in 2018, spoke to The AJN about the decision.
AJN: What do you make of the government’s reasons for cancelling your visa?
Fuld: It’s like in school when all the cool kids do something, you know, everyone tries to be cool, right? The Australian Government’s jumping on the bandwagon. All the countries are antisemitic, all the South Africa, Canada, UK, etc, etc, etc. And, you know, the Australian government wanted to be part of the cool kids club. Just they want to join the trend.
AJN: The government cited specific social media posts as inflammatory. How do you respond?
Fuld: They could tell you that my tweets are inflammatory and Islamophobic and cite violence, which is, of course, absolutely ridiculous. The first tweet that they quoted is that I denied that there was a massacre in the humanitarian zone in Gaza, which the entire media reported and then retracted. So I was actually, of course, right. Another example is they quoted me saying that 10 to 15% of Muslims worldwide are radicalised, which, again, is based on data from the Pentagon. All the things that they quoted were anything but Islamophobic or racist.
AJN: You’ve mentioned the decision relied heavily on pro-Palestinian activist allegations.
Fuld: As of a couple of minutes ago, someone just sent me an article that these pro Hamas activists who tried to get me banned not only succeeded, but they sent a forged letter, a fake letter from the police department telling Magen David Adom not to even let me speak virtually. It was confirmed to be fake. These people are just consumed with hatred. They’re not stopping at anything. It’s totally insane.
AJN: What are the broader implications of this for Australia’s Jewish community?
Fuld: This has nothing to do with me. This is a precedent that is dangerous. It’s a slippery slope, and as soon as the government starts getting involved in banning people because of their opinions, where does it end? Does everybody who wants to come into Australia have to declare that they agree with the government and their policies? It’s absurd and it’s dangerous.
AJN: The decision apparently wasn’t taken at ministerial level but within the department itself.
Fuld: I would be surprised if no higher up officials gave a green light for this. But I have no idea how they operate.
AJN: What’s your message to Jews living in Australia?
Fuld: We see now in many other countries, such as the UK and Canada, that Jews are absolutely not safe. Australia, generally speaking, was considered pretty safe, but this is a really, really big deal, and again, it’s way beyond Hillel Fuld. When the government makes such a decision not to let in an American Jew just because of his pro-Israel opinions, you got to ask yourself, ‘is this home? Is this where I’m safe as a Jew?’.
AJN: In three years when this ban is up, do you want to come to Australia again?
Fuld: Again, I do hope it’s reversed. I’m not going to tell you that I feel safe coming to Australia after this. Who knows what will happen to me in the airport? So I’m not sure that I’ll feel comfortable and safe coming to Australia, but time will tell.