Extremism wake-up call

Jewish communal leaders are uniting around efforts by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) to obtain a federal ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, after revelations the extremist organisation was involved in last November’s violence outside a Melbourne synagogue, the University of Sydney encampment and in wider pro-Palestinian unrest.

The ZFA will write to the government after a Nine newspapers probe detailed the outfit’s infiltration of pro-Gaza demonstrations and its role in the now disbanded USYD encampment.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott emailed staff on Monday “concerning allegations regarding external influences on the protest encampment … we are seeking advice from authorities”.

Nine’s investigation found Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia has attached itself to pro-Palestinian organisations to pursue the violent replacement of Israel with an Islamic caliphate.

The group was active in street violence near a Caulfield synagogue on November 10, forcing it to be evacuated.

ZFA president Jeremy Leibler said the Nine investigation “must be a wake-up call”.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir is promoting terrorism, hatred and violence. We will be writing to the Australian government, urging it to initiate the legal process for Hizb ut-Tahrir to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation,” he said.

Describing Hizb ut-Tahrir’s rhetoric as “antisemitic, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic and anti-Western”, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim urged federal legislation to widen the powers of the Home Affairs Minister.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said his organisation “has long warned of the danger” from Hizb ut-Tahrir.

“At the very least, it should be subject to much greater legal scrutiny.”

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told The AJN, the government “condemns the hateful comments by members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. We take advice from our security and intelligence agencies about whether to list organisations, and we don’t speculate publicly about that process.”

Macnamara MP Josh Burns said he has spoken to colleagues and raised serious concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir, emphasising, “There is a process for the consideration of the listing of terrorist organisations.”

Urging the Albanese government to promptly consider proscribing the organisation, Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson told The AJN Hizb ut-Tahrir’s involvement in unrest in Australia since October 7 was “deeply disturbing”.

“If you are involved in promoting, fostering, encouraging and even praising terrorist activity, that is grounds under the criminal code for your organisation to be listed as a terrorist organisation.”

In 2021, Dave Sharma, then MP for Wentworth, called on the Morrison government to prosecute Hizb ut-Tahrir after it posted a video of a rally with chants of “Destroy the Jews!” and “Oh Allah, give us the necks of those evildoers.”

In the previous year, its then spiritual leader Ismail al-Wahwah exclaimed, “To the entity of the Jews we say: Do not rejoice … The day will come when you will cry blood.”

Pressed on Sydney’s 2GB in 2017, Peter Dutton, as home affairs minister, said proscribing Hizb ut-Tahrir was a matter for then attorney-general George Brandis, but a ban did not eventuate.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in the UK, Germany, Indonesia and in many Arab countries.