Influential leaders driving Islamic extremism in Australia

According to the University of California’s Press, the academic definition of radical Islam (or Islamic extremism) consists of two parts:

1. Islamic thought that states that all ideologies other than Islam, whether associated with the West (capitalism or democracy) or the East (communism or socialism) have failed and have demonstrated their bankruptcy.
2. Islamic thought that states that secular regimes are wrong because of their negligence of Islam.

Predictably, the Australian Federal Government refuses to call out, name and acknowledge the continued upswing and overwhelming prevalence of Islamic extremism in Australia. The Australian Labor Party (ALP), backed by the Australian Greens, continue to peddle their left-wing, woke political agenda which panders to the likes of Nasser Mashni from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN). Until the political pendulum swings back towards the centre-right of the spectrum, this will be the prevailing viewpoint.

Mashni validated the strength of such relationships by saying that “the Greens are to be commended for their policy position on Palestine and Israel. For too long Australian politics has been bogged down in the now defunct ‘two state solution paradigm’, it is well past time for Australian politics to speak to the facts on the ground. Israel is guilty of apartheid. In a time of increasing xenophobia, islamophobia, and antisemitism it is also particularly heartening to see the Greens stand firm on not adopting the discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates criticism of the State of Israel with antisemitism.” If there is ever a statement which I disagree with word-for-word, this by Mashni would have to be it!

There are more influential leaders driving Islamic extremism in Australia than can ever be mentioned in one article. I will provide additional content on this topic but here is a starting point to give you a taste of some highly influential Muslims preaching bias, hatred, aggression, venom, and potential violence to their Islamic communities. These aggressors take advantage of the freedoms and liberties in a democratic western country like Australia that they could never enjoy in their countries of origin.

Here are three leading Islamic figures taking different approaches to achieving their extremist goals in Australia, thus challenging the very fabric of western democracy and the values we hold dearly.

The Agitator: Wissam ‘Abu Ousayd’ Haddad

Australian Islamic scholar Wissam ‘Abu Ousayd’ Haddad discussed the concept of Jihad in Islam in his February class in southwest Sydney. When Haddad talks about Jihad, he is talking about “a physical fight. Not the fighting of the nafs [soul]. Although, your nafs are needed in order for your physical to go out in the path of Allah. So, we’re not talking about the struggle of the nafs, we’re talking about the physical jihad, the physical struggling against the enemies or Allah in order to make the word of Allah the highest.” Haddad teaches his students that the “peak” of Jihad is physical fighting for the sake of Allah and that Muslims should “never shy away from this.”

According to Haddad, “if all the Muslims in that region (the Middle East) spat on Israel, the people of Israel would drown, the Jews would drown.” Muslims in Palestine “are crying out to be saved from the descendants of pigs and monkeys,” in reference to Jews.

The Australian Newspaper reported in November last year that “Haddad, who runs the Al Madina Dawah Centre in Sydney, preached a sermon citing Islamic scripture and parables that referenced ‘the end of times’ when Muslims would be fighting the Jews and ‘the trees will speak’. They will say ‘oh Muslim, there is a yahud (Arabic for Jew) behind me, come and kill him.” The cleric has been pivotal in influencing and preaching extreme Islamic ideology via regular classes and sermons in Sydney for at least a decade, with his “al-Risalah Islamic Centre frequented by numerous men who went on to become high-profile terrorists committing atrocities in Syria.”

The Organiser: Laura Allam

As reported by the ABC website, “Allam is the founder of the Al Jannah Foundation, which states that its purpose is to provide humanitarian aid to families and people in need. In recent months, the organisation has been raising money for Palestinian families impacted by the Israel-Gaza conflict, and aims to re-settle some of them in Australia.” In March this year, Allam was charged with kidnapping and assault, with police alleging the woman lured a 31-year-old man into a trap and told a group of men to “hit him hard”. It was reported that allegations included the male victim being bundled into a car, attacked with a hammer and having his head stomped on.

The ABC website went on to report that “in documents provided to the court, police said the kidnapping victim was taken to a property in Melbourne’s north, where Ms Allam allegedly stomped on his head. They said the injured man was left at the property and managed to flag down a passer-by, who took him to hospital. His injuries included fractures to his back, fingers, cuts to his head and bruises to his shoulders and hands.” My understanding is that these allegations remain alleged until the Court reconvenes on this matter some time this month.

Allam is considered by the media to be one of the anti-Israel lobby’s highest profile campaigners in Australia. The Australian newspaper reported that “Allam headlined a Palestine to Parliament rally in February alongside some Greens MPs and others. She also has been high profile in the pro-Palestinian campaign scene in Melbourne, praising left-wing writer Clementine Ford’s position on the Middle-East war.” 

What a fascinating juxtaposition when looking at the recent push by organisations such as the Australian Football League (AFL) to take a strong and united stance on violence against women. The initiative was brought on by the horrific reality that 28 women have been violently killed in the first four months of 2024, most allegedly by men known to them.

The Educator: Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak

Tasnim Sammak is a Palestinian organiser and Monash University PhD Candidate in Education, exploring the emergence of Muslim youth political subjectivities. Leader of the community organisation Free Palestine Melbourne, Sammak has been a prominent and influential figure in the coordination and dissemination of anti-Israel propaganda at the grassroots level. According to their website, “Free Palestine Melbourne is a community organisation dedicated to raising public awareness of the Palestinians’ hundred year struggle for freedom.”

Sammak is a different type of Islamic fundamentalist, taking the educational and intellectual route to cleverly influence her sympathetic followers to harm Israeli economic interests by harnessing what she refers to as “consumer power”.

Rather than espousing physical violence and harm on Jews, Sammak believes that “this consumer power can be used to support Palestine, by ensuring that we are not purchasing products that are made by those that exploit Palestinians in one way or another. Very simply put, if you know the first three barcode numbers of a product you can avoid products made in Israel.” Sammak was also instrumental in providing opposition to the Sydney Festival BDS campaign in 2022, stating that “in providing a defence for taking money from Apartheid Israel to fund the arts in Australia, artwashing of both white supremacy and Zionism was in operation.”

Social media savvy and articulate, Samak was instrumental in leading and coordinating a recent blockade that stopped the Israeli-owned ZIM shipping from reaching a Melbourne port for numerous days. Victoria Police eventually stopped the blockade, deploying pepper spray to break up the disruption after fanatical opposition and resistance. According to Aljazeera, “ZIM shipping was founded in 1945 as part of Israel’s quest for statehood, initially helping Holocaust survivors travel to the new state of Israel.”  

These three very different Islamic fundamentalist leaders are only a drop in the ocean when it comes to the overwhelming groundswell of activism rising up to sway the minds of everyday Australians to oppose the existence and validity of the State of Israel and the safety of our Jewish community. I will provide more examples for your awareness in additional articles to follow.