Jews Have To ‘Pay For Blood With Blood’: Australian Muslim Cleric’s Hate Speech Causes Outrage

Australian cleric Ismail al-Wahwah from the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir accused Jews of having “corrupted the world.” He said that Jews would have to “pay for blood with blood.”

Hizb ut-Tahrir released a statement on Tuesday and defended the top Islamic cleric in the country after he had called Jews as a “cancerous entity.” The organisation said in the statement that the video, where al-Wahwah was seen making the comments, had been recorded in July 2014. It also alleged that the Jewish Board of Deputies was “falsely exploiting the words of Hizb ut-Tahrir.”

According to the statement, the comments were made in reference to the offensive against the people of Gaza that “indiscriminately razed homes, schools, hospitals and mosques.” The organisations argued that the comments should be viewed in the context of “Jewish occupation.” On the other hand, according to some, the comments were believed to have made by the leader three weeks back in Sydney.

Communities Minister Victor Dominello said that al-Wahwah’s comments were “deeply disturbing.” “The freedom of speech that we enjoy in Australia is precious and we cannot allow it to be abused in this way,” the minister said, “Hateful and derisive speech has no place in our harmonious multicultural society.”

Dominello said that he had asked the Anti-Discrimination Board to pay attention to the video concurrently and expeditiously.” The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies made a written complaint to the NSW Anti-Discrimination commissioner on Monday. The board demanded that al-Wahwah should be prosecuted for another speech he made during the mid of 2014. The leader allegedly asked Muslims to “rid” the world of Jewish “hidden evil.”

Jewish community leaders compared Hizb ut-Tahrir with Islamic State after al-Wahwah’s comments. According to NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief Vic Alhadeff, al-Wahwah’s remarks were similar to the IS propaganda in the Middle East. He said that it was another “wake-up call for authorities.” Such “hate-preachers” are capable of inspiring “the next Man Monis,” Alhadeff said in reference to the Sydney Siege gunman.

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Hamzah Qureshi said that that the organisation was not in favour of advocating violence. He said that any comment by the group must be viewed in the context of the “bloody occupation of Palestine by the illegitimate Israeli army.”

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au