The Minister for Home Affairs has denied a visa to American-Israeli influencer Hillel Fuld for Islamophobic rhetoric and his use of social media to deny “documented atrocities” against Palestinians in Gaza. Mr Fuld was due to speak in Australia at fundraising events in Sydney and Melbourne hosted by Magen David Adom.
In one post on X, “Mr Fuld claimed up to 15 per cent of Muslims were “radicalised”, that Islam was a “global plague”, stated that it’s “not safe to assume that all children in Gaza are innocent”, compared Gazans to Nazi-era Germans and stated that they should be “treated as such” and that “evil needs to be uprooted completely and totally with no mercy”.
In the report on the decision, the Home Affairs Minister stated “The visa holder has the potential to use speaking events and other platforms while in Australia to continue making inflammatory statements which have the potential to incite discord. I consider there is a risk that those views will be adopted by members of the community and potentially increase the level of hatred against particular segments of the community, namely the Islamic population.”
In response, Zionist Federation of Australia President, Jeremy Leibler, has been directly lobbying the federal government to overturn its decision and support the issuance of a visa to Mr Fuld. Leibler has said that Fuld’s visit was in support of a “humanitarian cause”.
The co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the self described peak representative body for Jewish Australians, has also been lobbying for the reinstatement of Fuld’s visa. Ryvchin told Sky News that Fuld was an “expert” and “uncontroversial figure” and labelled the decision as “preposterous”. He stated that the decision posed a threat to Israelis and the Jewish community and encouraged Jewish people to contact the Minister to request the reversal of the decision.
Leibler and Ryvchin join with the controversial right-wing group, the Australian Jewish Association, who appealed to the Trump administration to intervene.
Sarah Schwartz, Executive Officer, Jewish Council of Australia
“We are disgusted that pro-Israel Jewish organisations such as the Zionist Federation of Australia and Executive Council of Australian Jewry, have attempted to lobby the government in support of someone with blatantly Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian views. These organisations, who claim expertise on antisemitism, appear to be fine with racism when it is directed at Muslims and Palestinians. They should not be taken seriously by anyone as experts on racism.
Mr Fuld’s views represent an extreme racist position which should have no place in any Jewish communal spaces. We have been contacted by many Jewish people who are appalled that Mr Fuld has been invited to speak in Jewish spaces, including a Synagogue, and who are calling on these institutions not to platform him.”
Background
A group of alumni of a Jewish day school in Melbourne are coordinating an open letter asking Jewish institutions not to platform Mr Fuld. The open letter is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u9wacFKWk_mXJNL3RJkDtCU2L6t5HyeMrtoE-_af8JM
We can connect media to the authors of the letter.