"Promised victory" eventPro-Palestine events glorify Hamas

Rhetoric raises Jewish community concerns

On Sunday, protesters gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park to commemorate Sinwar, where one speaker hailed him as a "legend".

A demonstrator carries a photo of dead Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at a rally in Melbourne ate the weekend. Photo: Instagram
A demonstrator carries a photo of dead Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at a rally in Melbourne ate the weekend. Photo: Instagram

Recent pro-Palestine rallies and conferences in Australia have sparked alarm among Jewish community leaders.

Participants have praised dead Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and made inflammatory statements about Israel.

On Sunday, protesters gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park to commemorate Sinwar, where one speaker hailed him as a “legend”.

“He died a warrior’s death amongst his men, one with his people in defence of his land, of the innocent Palestinian children slaughtered against a genocidal invader and occupier and coloniser,” the unidentified protester said.

They added that Sinwar had sacrificed himself to defeat Israel, vowing that the resistance lives on.

A day earlier, on Saturday, a conference in Sydney organised by “Stand for Palestine” featured activists from Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organisation that aims to establish a global Islamic caliphate.

Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun, addressing the conference, expressed elation at what he perceived as a shift against Israel.

“We are on that path to victory,” Dadoun said. “We are on that path of the civilisational struggle where we’re going to see Islam dominate” he said.

Dadoun, who is employed by the United Muslims of Australia which reportedly received mofre than one and a half million dollars in government funding last September, had previously made controversial statements about the October 7 attacks.

The conference, billed as the “promised victory” event, also saw Sheikh Mamoud al-Alzhari praising “mujahideen” and appearing to endorse the concept of jihad.

These events have raised serious concerns within the Jewish community.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News that a year of legal action and condemnation had failed to address the issue of glorifying the October 7 attacks.

“The blood lust we saw on our streets as news of October 7 was breaking was not isolated or an aberration. It was an expression of a supremacist world view that causes people to look at mass death, rape, torture and all manner of human misery and praise their conception of God” Ryvchin said.

He’s warned that Australians remain vulnerable not only to international terrorism but also to domestic extremism.

The ECAJ co-chief executive has called for decisive police action and clear political will to address the situation, claiming that at the moment, both are lacking.

The growth of organisations like Stand for Palestine, which has links to Hizb ut-Tahrir despite attempts to distance itself, has added to these concerns.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has been banned in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and was recently listed as a terrorist organisation by the Indian government.

While some political leaders have called for similar action in Australia, the government has so far resisted such measures.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has said that the United Muslims of Australia’s leadership has a history of working closely with the government.

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