Sydney Preacher Called Jews "Malicious" and "Murderers."

Australia’s Federal Court has banned Wissam Haddad—also known as William Haddad or Abu Usaid—from repeating statements made during his sermons in November 2023. In those sermons, he referred to Jews as "deceitful," "treacherous," "murderous," and "malicious"—characterizations the court deemed racist and antisemitic.

Justice Angus Stewart found that Haddad’s speeches contained "distorted generalizations" and "racial prejudices" against the Jewish community. His ruling requires notices acknowledging the breach of law to be prominently displayed on the website of the Al Madina Dawah Centre and on the group’s social media pages—including Facebook, Rumble, Instagram, and SoundCloud. The notices must remain accessible and must not be buried by new posts.

Haddad has 21 days to comply with the order, but by Thursday evening the notices had yet to appear. During the proceedings, he contested the requirement to pin the posts, arguing that it exceeded standard legal practice and amounted to turning the court's ruling into his own "advertisement."

The judge rejected these arguments, ruling that the measure was not excessive and aimed to prevent intentional concealment of the notices. "It will prevent them from being deliberately hidden by the posting of subsequent material," he wrote. The judge added that visibility was central to the remedy’s intent.

"The respondents disseminated unlawful lectures, and the requirement to promote the rebuttal in the limited manner described is not disproportionate but rather an appropriate form of redress," the judgment stated.

The content of the court-ordered notices emphasizes that Haddad’s actions—and those of the Islamic center—were "unlawful and based on racial hatred." The court found that three lectures, including one titled "The Jews of Al-Madina" and published on the Rumble platform, were likely to offend, insult, intimidate, or humiliate members of Australia’s Jewish community.

The lawsuit against the preacher was filed by Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and his deputy Robert Goot. They argued that the statements made in the sermons were deeply offensive to Jews and could incite violence against them.

Following the ruling, the plaintiffs said they viewed the court’s decision as a full vindication of their position. "No community in Australia should be subjected to dehumanization," they emphasized. Speaking to reporters, Goot added: "Freedom of speech must not be used to promote hateful antisemitism. Those who attempt to do so should understand that such conduct will not go unpunished."

The court ordered Haddad to remove the offensive lectures and prohibited him from making similar public statements about the Jewish people in the future.

He was also ordered to cover the plaintiffs’ legal costs, which are estimated to be in the six-figure range.