Media Report 2025.06.10

Israel accused of breaching international law by storming Madleen aid ship
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-10/greta-thunberg-boat-interception-latest-doran/105397110

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran
In short:
Lawyers for the crew of the civilian aid ship ‘Madleen’ are accusing Israeli forces of illegally intercepting the ship in international waters.
Israeli forces seized the vessel and arrested the crew, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, in the early hours of Monday morning local time.
What’s next?
The ship was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, before arrangements were made to deport the crew.
Lawyers for the crew of the civilian aid ship the ‘Madleen’ have accused Israel of breaching international law, storming the vessel off the coast of Egypt and arresting the crew in the early hours of the morning.
The ship was trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by sea, and had been carrying a symbolic amount of aid when it was intercepted by Israeli forces.
The Freedom Flotilla, the group that organised the voyage, and the crew’s Israel-based lawyers said the ship was seized in international waters.
The World speaks with Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran about the Madleen’s interception
They argued the crew, including 22-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, should not have been taken to Israeli soil simply to be deported.
“We’re basically talking about people who were sailing in the international waters, and then Israel basically captured them and abducted them into Israel,” lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih said.
“And even the legal procedure they are willing to take does not apply to them, because they are talking about illegal people who entered Israel illegally.
“But the situation we’re talking about now is a situation that Israel brought those people inside of Israel, and now they want to deport them based on the claims that they entered Israel illegally.”
A drone view shows the aid ship Madleen anchored in blue seas with a clear sky overhead.
The Madleen set sail from Sicily carrying aid for Gaza earlier this month. (Reuters: Danilo Arnone)
Ms Abu Salih made the remarks outside Ashdod Port, about halfway between Gaza and Israel’s major population centre of Tel Aviv, where the Madleen was expected to be taken.
Israeli media reported the ship docked under the cover of darkness, almost 18 hours after being seized.
In a social media post at 10pm, local time, on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the ship had docked at Ashdod Port “a short while ago”.
Two ships seen at sea from a distance
Madleen (left) seen under escort of Israeli naval forces making its way toward Ashdod Port in southern Israel after being seized on Monday. (AP: Leo Correa)
“The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health,” the ministry said.
Israel had ‘obligation’, former IDF lawyer says
Former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) senior lawyer Eran Shamir-Borer rejected the claim Israel acted unlawfully.
He argued Israel had imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since 2009.
“Once a naval blockade has been imposed there is a right, even an obligation, to enforce it,” he told the ABC.
“Enforcing could be done not just with respect to an actual breach of such a blockade, but also if is an attempted breach.
“An attempted breach could be decided by way of the intention, declared intentions, stated intentions of those involved in the flotilla, those on board the vessel, and then you could just enforce this also on the high seas, actually from the moment when they have made their intentions clear that they want to breach a lawful naval blockade.”
Dr Shamir-Borer, now a director at the Israel Democracy Institute, insisted the naval blockade was also valid
He cited an inquiry by the United Nations in 2011 chaired by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, which found Israel was allowed to impose the measure to protect its security.
That probe was prompted by the 2010 Mavi Marmara attack, when nine people were killed as Israeli forces boarded a Turkish ship trying to deliver aid to Gaza.
Another UN inquiry, by the Human Rights Council a year earlier, had found the blockade was unlawful.
“Usually an enforcement of a naval blockade would take place on international waters, on the high seas the way that we call it under international law,” Dr Shamir-Borer said.
Global protests support Madleen
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had revealed authorities would force the 12 members of the Madleen crew to watch a video of Hamas’s deadly attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli government’s rhetoric about the ship sharpened in the hours after it was intercepted, labelling the crew “celebrities” seeking “selfies” for social media.
Israeli forces took command of the charity vessel that had tried to break a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and has detained its crew as it is steered to a port in Israel, officials said.
Before the interception, Greta Thunberg said the voyage was about highlighting the plight of the Palestinian population and not about the individuals involved.
Israeli authorities said the crew would be deported, but it was unclear how quickly that process would occur — particularly given direct flights to some destinations out of Tel Aviv were limited, given airlines’ reluctance to fly into the city while Houthi rebels in Yemen continued to fire missiles at Israel.
Protests in support for the Madleen erupted around the world, including in Sydney.
In the UK, supporters rallied outside the British Foreign Office in London, hearing that all contact with the ship had been lost in the early hours of the morning.
“Our signals were cut, we had a variety of comms channels and all of them were attacked,” Freedom Flotilla spokesperson James Godfrey said.
“We managed to broadcast for a little bit longer than maybe they anticipated. But they were attacked.
“Quadcopters [drones] appeared above us and they started spraying white chemicals over the boat and over the people, people took cover under some of the shelter as this bizarre white chemical got sprayed on them, strange noises were emitted by the quadcopters.”
European leaders offer assistance
Six of the crew are French citizens, including Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan.
France’s foreign minister said his country had sought assurances from Israel the crew members would be offered consular assistance after landing in Israel.
“We had warned the participants in this flotilla well in advance of the risks they were exposing themselves to,” Jean-Noel Barrot said in Nice.
“But we also made our position very clear to the Israeli authorities to avoid any incident, and to inform them in advance of what we have since done — namely, express our intention to exercise our right to consular protection.”
Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Gaza-bound ship boarded by Israel
Sweden’s foreign minister said her country was monitoring the situation
“Currently, our assessment is that no-one on board is in danger and that there is therefore no need for consular support at this stage,” she told Sweden’s Parliament.
“However, we and the embassy in Tel Aviv are in contact with local authorities and are also following the situation closely.
“Should the need for consular assistance arise, we will assess how we can best help.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Israeli army detains Greta Thunberg after boarding Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla ship
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-09/israeli-army-detains-freedom-flotilla-gaza-bound-ship-madleen/105393390

By Toby Mann and wires
Topic:War

Greta Thunberg releases a pre-recorded statement saying the Freedom Flotilla ship the Madleen has been intercepted.

What’s next?

Israel’s defence minister said the ship was making its way safely to the shore, and those who had been detained would be returned to their home countries.
Greta Thunberg and a group of activists who were sailing to Gaza to deliver aid have been detained by Israeli authorities after being warned not to approach the enclave.
Reports emerged that Israeli forces had intercepted and boarded the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s yacht, the Madleen, early on Monday morning.
Not long afterwards the crew, which includes the Swedish activist, released pre-recorded videos calling for support.
The coalition also released footage which appeared to show the moment the ship was located and boarded.
“The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies — confiscated,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement.
The Madleen set sail from Sicily nine days ago with the goal of delivering a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza and raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Greta Thunberg was detained on board the ship. (Israel Foreign Ministry/X)
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which said the crew members were safe and on their way to Israel, described the ship as “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities'”.
The Israeli navy had earlier instructed the Madleen to change its course as it approached a restricted area.
The yacht is carrying a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, all of which will be taken to Gaza, the foreign ministry said.
“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”
Israel imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
The blockade, which the Israeli government said was essential to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas, has remained in place through multiple conflicts.
The boat was expected to arrive at the Israeli port of Ashdod later on Monday.
Footage of boarding release
After the boat was intercepted, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition released a video of Israeli forces boarding the Madleen.
Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Gaza-bound ship boarded by Israel.
It shows the crew of the yacht, who are wearing orange life jackets, gathered in a small sitting area.
As the footage begins a woman can be heard yelling: “Guys, oh my God,” while a man appears to tell people to “ditch the phone” and “phones in the water please”.
Spotlights sweep across the inside of Madleen as the crew sit and raise their hands above their head.
“Assume your positions,” a man tells the crew.
He then seems to make a call on his phone.

“We are being boarded right now, we are being intercepted right now,” he says.
“Everyone here is safe … it’s very important that you know no one is wounded until the time they boarded our boat.
“Please raise the alarm.”
As the roughly four-minute video ends, another vessel appears in the left of frame and people wearing what appears to be khaki military outfits can be seen boarding the Madleen behind the seated crew.
“Calm down everyone, calm down, everything is going to be alright,” a man in the crew says.
UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says she spoke to the flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg as it was intercepted by Israeli forces.
The 12 people aboard the Madleen seemed to be prepared for this to happen.
Ms Thunberg, a Swedish citizen, posted a message urging people to pressure the Swedish government to do what it could to secure the release of the Freedom Flotilla crew.
“If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” she said.
In another pre-recorded message, Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila called for support for him and the other members of the flotilla who have been detained.
Israel intercepts Gaza-Bound aid ship with Greta Thunberg aboard | The World | ABC News
Freedom Flotilla organiser Huwaida Arraf said Israel did not have any authority to detain the volunteers who were aboard the ship.
“Their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately,” she said.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the ship was safely making its way to the shores of Israel and those aboard were expected to be returned to their home countries.
“They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over,”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
When the detained crew reached the port of Ashdod, the IDF had been instructed to show them a video depicting “the horrors of the October 7 massacre”, Mr Katz said.
Boat was warned to ‘turn back’: Israeli defence minister
As the ship travelled through the Mediterranean Sea, off the Egyptian coast, Mr Katz said he warned it not to travel closer to Gaza.
“I have instructed the IDF to act to prevent the Madleen hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza, and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end,” Mr Katz posted on social media platform X, along with a photo flanked by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials.
“To the antisemitic Greta [Thunberg] and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: you should turn back — because you will not reach Gaza.
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organisations — at sea, in the air, and on land.”
A drone view shows the aid ship Madleen anchored in blue seas with a clear sky overhead.
The Madleen set sail from a port in Sicily about two weeks ago. (Reuters: Danilo Arnone
In reply, Ms Thunberg, who has rejected accusations she is antisemitic, said the mission was “not about us nor the boat”.
“This is about the genocide, blockade and systematic oppression of Palestinians,” she posted on Instagram.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation closes all aid sites
Photo shows A woman wearing a hijab kneels down among a scattered mass of cardboard boxes.A woman wearing a hijab kneels down among a scattered mass of cardboard boxes.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which last week started handing out meals to hungry Palestinians inside the war-shattered Gaza Strip, said the sites would be reopened, but did not provide a date.
“People in Gaza don’t need anyone to come and save them, they need us to amplify and support their struggle for justice, that we end our complicity, put pressure and cut ties with those committing human rights violations. Keep all eyes on deck but above all, all eyes on Palestine and all oppressed people.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations of war crimes, including genocide, in its conduct relating to the war in Gaza.
The IDF has insisted it has been letting aid into the strip
It said 350 trucks carrying critical supplies were allowed to enter last week.
ABC/Reuters
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
‘Ditch the phones’: Israel boards Gaza charity boat with Greta Thunberg on board
https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/turn-back-israel-orders-military-to-stop-boat-carrying-greta-thunberg-20250609-p5m5u7.html

By Yesica Fisch, Marissa Newman, Wafaa Sharafa and Kareem Chehayeb
Updated June 9, 2025 — 3.09pmfirst published at 6.59am
Israeli forces have boarded the Gaza-bound aid boat Madleen and detained Greta Thunberg and other activists on board, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.
Footage posted by activist group the Freedom Flotilla Coalition showed a chaotic scene as the crew, wearing orange life jackets, sat with their hands up while someone shouted, “Ditch the phones. Phones in the water, please”. Searchlights shone from outside, and a loudspeaker could be heard.
In a post on X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’” was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel” and that those onboard were “expected to return to their home countries”.
Greta Thunberg and fellow activists to be deported
Footage posted by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to social media shows the scene onboard the yacht Madleen as it is intercepted by Israel.
It said the humanitarian aid aboard the boat, which was reportedly off the coast of Egypt, would be transferred to Gaza through established channels. The ministry later circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists.
In an Instagram update, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its “peaceful volunteers were rammed and intercepted before Israeli forces boarded the vessel. We lost all contact with them seconds later”.
“The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – confiscated,” it said in a further statement.
In a pre-recorded video message, Thunberg said she and the crew had been “intercepted and kidnapped in international waters”.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” she said in the video.
‘You should turn back’
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the boat to be stopped and that no one would be allowed to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which he said was aimed at preventing Hamas from importing arms.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists, I will say this clearly: ‘You should turn back because you will not make it to Gaza’,” Katz said in a statement.
The British-flagged vessel left Sicily a week ago with 12 people on board, including Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who is of Palestinian descent.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure of the boat, which it said was carrying Turkish citizens among its crew, calling the move a “clear violation of international law”. It said the intervention threatened maritime security and “once again demonstrates that Israel is acting as a terror state”.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its aim was to break the blockade and deliver a token amount of aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.
After an 11-week blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel began to allow some basic aid into Gaza last month and set up a new distribution system using a controversial new aid group, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive
On Sunday, the Israeli Army said it had recovered the body of Mohammed Sinwar, a senior Hamas commander who was killed in a May 13 airstrike at a Gaza hospital.
Sinwar’s remains were found in a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli military.
Hamas has yet to acknowledge the death of Sinwar, the brother and successor of deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attacks that triggered the devastating war in Gaza. Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar in October 2024.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said at least 12 people were killed and others wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza on Sunday as they headed towards two aid distribution points.
Israel’s military said it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces.
The past two weeks have seen frequent shootings near the new aid hubs where thousands of Palestinians, desperate after 20 months of war, are being directed to collect food.
An image released by the Israeli military shows what Israel says is the entrance to tunnels running underneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
An image released by the Israeli military shows what Israel says is the entrance to tunnels running underneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis.Credit: Getty Images
In all, at least 108 bodies were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory’s Health Ministry said. Israel’s military said it had struck dozens of militant targets over the past day.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.
AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Greta Thunberg aid boat reaches Israeli port
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/greta-thunberg-aid-boat-reaches-israeli-port/news-story/7ba8b298145072d3dfe589bb815e5ad9

AFP
Greta Thunberg and her fellow aid activists have disembarked their boat at Israel’s Ashdod port after they were intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday (AEST), preventing them from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted a picture of Ms Thunberg and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila beside an Israeli flag as they disembarked their ship Madleen, and said the ship’s passengers and crew were being checked to ensure they were in good health.
“The ‘Selfie Yacht’ docked at Ashdod Port a short while ago. The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The Madleen, which the Israeli navy intercepted in what activists claim were international waters on Monday, reached the port north of Gaza at around 8.45pm local time (2.45am AEST), escorted by the Israeli navy.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said the activists on board will be made to watch a video of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7 2023 before being deported.
The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in the Gaza Strip, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”.
At round 4.02am (10.02am AEST) on Monday, Israeli troops boarded the vessel as it approached Gaza, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the trip.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped,” Ms Thunberg said in pre-recorded footage shared by the coalition.
Video from the group shows the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with the ship’s captain confirming nobody was injured prior to the interception.
Israel’s foreign ministry, in a post on social media, said “all the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed”, adding it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
Turkey condemned the interception as a “heinous attack” and Iran denounced it as “a form of piracy” in international waters.
Organizers of the activist boat, the Madleen, said they hoped to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza and potentially open a…
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, an Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach the naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.
On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place for years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
The Madleen was intercepted about 185 kilometres west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates from the coalition.
President Emmanuel Macron requested that the six French nationals aboard the boat “be allowed to return to France as soon as possible”, a presidential official said.
Two of them are journalists, Omar Fayyad of Qatar-based Al Jazeera and Yanis Mhamdi who works for online publication Blast, according to media rights group Reporters Without Borders, which condemned their detention and called for their “immediate release”.
Al Jazeera “categorically denounces the Israeli incursion”, the network said in a statement, demanding the reporter’s release.
Adalah, an Israeli NGO offering legal support for the country’s Arab minority, said the activists on board the Madleen had requested its services, and that the group was likely to be taken to a detention centre before being deported
Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.
In what organisers called a “symbolic act”, hundreds of people launched a land convoy on Monday from Tunisia with the aim of reaching Gaza.
Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack of October 7, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Hate-spewing preacher Wissam Haddad’s sword post ahead of court battle with Jewish leaders
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/hatespewing-preacher-wissam-haddads-sword-post-ahead-of-court-battle-with-jewish-leaders/news-story/d1e49668f245f4d8fe66ea12914e93cb

Stephen Rice
A video released by hate preacher Wissam Haddad warns ‘we are not going to come unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have’, followed by the image of a sword. Picture: Instagram
A video released by hate preacher Wissam Haddad warns ‘we are not going to come unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have’, followed by the image of a sword. Picture: Instagram
Hate preacher Wissam Haddad has ramped up threats on the eve of his legal battle against Australia’s peak Jewish body, warning in a video “we are not going to come unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have,” followed by the image of a sword.
The video has been condemned by Jewish community members who believe it is an incitement to young radicals to commit violence, with Mr ­Haddad set to appear in the Federal Court on Tuesday to defend claims that he breached vilification laws over his sermons asserting Jews are “vile” and “treacherous” people.
The provocative post comes as radical American Islamist Sheik Ahmad Musa Jibril exhorts his followers around the world to help fund Mr Haddad’s defence, with a radical Salafi account linked to Sheik ­Jibril claiming the Sydney-based cleric is “one of the most ­targeted men in Australia by the disbelievers”.
Mr Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, is being sued by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry over alle­gations that he breached the Racial Discrimination Act through his sermons in the wake of the Hamas October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Mr Haddad or speakers at his Bankstown-based Al Madina Dawah Centre have called Jewish people “descendants of pigs and monkeys”, recited parables about their killing, and said people should “spit” on Israel so its citizens “would drown”.
In most cases, Mr Haddad has claimed that he was referring to or reciting Islamic scripture.
In a new video, Mr Haddad declares that he has “no problem facing the Jewish lobby … but they are the ones dragging us to court. So we’re not going to come unarmed. We’re going to fight them with everything that we have.”
At that point the image of a sword appears on screen and Mr Haddad continues: “But if this fighting means that it brings some sort of strength to the Muslim community, and it teaches a Muslim community that we should no longer be bullied.”
The image of the sword is then replaced with a raised fist.
“Isn’t it about time that somebody fights back? Isn’t it about time that somebody stands up to these bullies?
“And this is Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) something that I’m personally willing to do.”
The sermon appears to be one Mr Haddad delivered last month but the violent imagery has been newly added.
A video released by hate preacher Wissam Haddad that also warns ‘we are not going to come unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have;, followed by the image of a sword. Picture: Instagram
A video released by hate preacher Wissam Haddad that also warns ‘we are not going to come unarmed, we’re going to fight them with everything that we have;, followed by the image of a sword. Picture: Instagram
A Jewish community source told The Australian it was his view that Mr Haddad’s use of a sword was summoning his followers to join in a fight – “not a battle of ideas, but a physical battle”.
“He’s positioning it as an act of Islamic duty, a religious war ­between Muslims and Jews, which makes it even more alarming and chilling. He doesn’t have mainstream support in his own community, but it has the potential to incite young radicals to commit violence. It’s extremely dangerous.”
Mr Haddad’s GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $18,000 although it is still short of its $25,000 target.
The exhortation by Sheik Jibril to his tens of thousands of followers to help fund the case comes as an update by the organisers on the weekend declared “This is the silence before the storm” and asked Allah to “make us victorious”.
Sheik Jibril, an extremist Michigan-based cleric who preaches an ultraconservative ­Salafist brand of Islam, has called on American Muslims to wage jihad against the “infidel West” and has previously used his platform to call on young people to join the ranks of ISIS.
A survey conducted by The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence in 2014 identified Sheik Jibril and Australian preacher Musa Cerantonio as the most influential online cheerleaders for Western foreign fighters serving with Islamic State.
A convicted fraudster who spent eight years in prison, Sheik Jibril was then the most “liked” personality on Facebook among the foreign fighters they tracked and was being followed by 60 per cent of foreign jihadists in Syria on Twitter. Three days ago he urged his followers to support Mr Haddad, writing “may Allah protect him”.

The Sheik Jibril-linked account Salaficentral also urged ­followers to donate to Mr Haddad’s GoFundMe campaign, claiming the legal case by the ECAJ was “about silencing Muslims from standing for justice”
“Abu Ousayd is probably one of the most targeted men in Australia by the disbelievers – he’s a thorn in their agenda. They’ll do whatever they can to throw the book at him and find a way to imprison him,” the post states, amid a series of false claims concerning the case.

“We asked him directly about the conditions if he refuses to attend their courts, and he confirmed that he would be arrested for contempt of court and likely jailed. The intelligence services will do everything they can to ­silence him
“The conditions set on him include inviting them to the mosque for public gatherings, attending their prayers and places of worship publicly, and never mentioning the words ‘Jew’ or ‘Israel’ in a critical way – otherwise, he faces further imprisonment and a hefty fine.”
The ECAJ is simply seeking an injunction requiring declarations that Mr Haddad and the Al Madina Dawah Centre contravened section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, injunctions requiring the speeches to be removed from the internet and that they not publish similar content in the future.

ECAJ is not seeking any damages or monetary compensation.
ECAJ’s alleges at least five sermons by Mr Haddad contained almost 40 defamatory imputations such as Jews were “mischie­v­ous and shifty … wicked people who love money, and abuse the weak and target Muslims”.
Justice Angus Morkel Stewart has previously said that “upon quick reading” the case against Mr Haddad was “damning”, and pushed back on an argument that certain sermons were protected by section 18D of the ­Racial Discrimination Act which provides exemptions to 18C for public interest rhetoric, given it runs counter to his own judgment in the successful case of Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi against One Nation’s Pauline Hanson.
Mr Haddad’s most recent sermons were first revealed in a series of stories by The Australian and prompted investigations from both NSW police and the Australian Federal Police.
He is considered a “central ­figure in the Salafi-jihadi network in West Sydney and throughout Australia” by the Middle East ­Research Institute and has boasted of his friendship with notorious terrorists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar while expressing support for terrorist groups including Islamic State and al-Qa’ida.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Imam Samir Mohtadi’s hate speech from pulpit
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/imam-samir-mohtadis-hate-speech-from-pulpit/news-story/ae4e678a32a2dd026ac47cf93168f2b6

Mohammad Alfares
A high-profile Victorian Muslim leader who branded Zionists as “scavengers” and “bloodsucking humans” has declared that Australia is waging a war on Islam, as he plans to build a multimillion-dollar Islamic “sanctuary” north of Melbourne.
Sheik Abu Hamza, also known as Samir Mohtadi, is spearheading a $6.9m religious development in the fast-growing suburb of Mickleham, where he aims to establish an Islamic facility to cater for the city’s burgeoning Muslim population.
But while fundraising millions through his registered charity, the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, Sheik Mohtadi has also launched inflammatory public attacks on Zionists, Australian politicians, the “West” and secular institutions.
In a hate-fuelled sermon delivered at the Australian Bosnian Islamic Centre in Melbourne’s west last week, which was attended by The Australian, the prominent imam prayed for victory for “our mujahideen (fighters) in Palestine” and called on Allah to “cast terror into the hearts of the Zionists”.
Sheikh Abu Hamza plans to build a multimillion dollar Islamic ‘sanctuary’ north of Melbourne
“Oh Allah, grant victory to our mujahideen in Palestine, strengthen their feet, and grant them a clear triumph,” he said in Arabic.
“Oh Allah, cast terror into the hearts of the Zionists and shake the ground beneath their feet.
“Oh Allah, take away from them the blessing of security, scatter their gatherings, and tear apart their unity.”
Sheik Mohtadi’s sermon then turned to Australia itself, as he accused the federal government and institutions of waging an ideological “war of no God”.
He preached to worshippers that they were not obliged to adopt the values of the country that had hosted them, granted them citizenship, and provided them full political, social, and economic rights – including the freedom of religion. He declared that as long as they had their own values, culture, language, and religion, they did not need to embrace Australia’s.
“There’s a war at the moment that exists in this country which is much more dangerous than the war in Gaza,” he said.
“Within this country, we need to understand that the war that exists here, which is much more dangerous (than the war in Gaza), is the war of no God.
“They want to instil in our minds that God does not exist. So this is a war of intellect … They want to convey this message through organisations, through governments, so me and you doubt Allah.
“They want us to doubt Allah, to doubt the Day of Judgment, to doubt the prophet.”
The hardline imam also lamented the removal of religious practices from local council meetings and said secularism was leading Australians into a moral collapse.
“Here in councils, at one stage, they used to begin the meeting with a prayer … now they don’t want this to happen. So they want to distance Allah away from our lives, and that’s why the majority of people (in the West) are in a state of loss.”
The planned $6.9m Islamic ‘sanctuary’ facility on a 12ha site in Mickleham.
The planned $6.9m Islamic ‘sanctuary’ facility on a 12ha site in Mickleham.
Sheik Mohtadi’s radical commentary comes as he leads efforts to build a mega Islamic facility, dubbed a “sanctuary”, on a 12-hectare (30-acre) site in Mickleham, complete with a mosque, Islamic schools, aged care and sports facilities, as well as a youth services hub.
So far, his charity has raised $4.8m of the $6.9m goal, with appeals urging “1000 believers” to donate $3500 each “for the sake of Allah”.
“Plant the seeds that grow for generations to come,” IISNA said in its online fundraising pitch.
While Sheik Mohtadi has attempted to position the Islamic centre as a community building project, his political rhetoric has intensified in recent months after he called former opposition leader Peter Dutton a “filthy human being”, a “racist” and a “grub” in the lead-up to the 2025 federal elections.
Speaking with The Australian on Monday, he defended his right to express his opinions on Zionism while living in a “democratic country”.
Sheik Mohtadi declined to explain why he thought Australia was waging a war on Islam, or answer questions about his criticisms of Israel and Zionism.
It’s understood the Hume City Council has not yet approved his planned Islamic “sanctuary” development.
In a separate social media post on IISNA’s official Facebook page, Sheik Mohtadi declared his outright rejection of the Israeli state and labelled Zionists as subhuman.
“We don’t believe in a state called Israel … every righteous human being believes there is Palestine and there is no Israel,” he said.
“I’ve always said and I’ve always believed that these Zionists are not normal … They are bloodsucking human beings … They’re scavengers. They are not humans, I swear by Allah,” he said.
“Inshallah, they all go back to Russia, Ukraine, America and Britain … and that Palestine is pure from these filthy terrorist Zionists.”
He then called on Allah to grant him one final wish: “Oh Allah … give me the ability to pray in Masjid al-Aqsa and to free Palestine from the terrorist Zionists”.
Despite these inflammatory statements, IISNA remains a registered charity and has previously secured state support for community events and education initiatives.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has condemned Sheik Mohtadi’s rhetoric as “vicious” and called for the immediate revocation of his organisation’s charitable status.
Its co-chief executive, Alex Ryvchin, said the imam’s statements revealed a dangerous and deep-seated hatred masked by anti-Zionist language.
“The sheik gives a demonstration on how those who harbour a deep contempt for Jewish people hide behind euphemisms such as ‘Zionist’,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“We have been called bloodsuckers and non-human before. It is a belief that has destroyed millions of lives. He proclaims his desire for a racially pure Arab Palestine entirely cleansed of Jews, demonstrating the violent motives of the anti-Israel movement.”
Mr Ryvchin also stressed that silence from within the Muslim community would be concerning and urged Islamic leaders and followers to publicly reject “this hate”.
“There should be outrage at these vicious words. It is essential that the loudest condemnation comes from his own followers and co-religionists who should disavow this hate,” he said.
“It doesn’t belong here. If the sheik benefits from charitable status which he uses to villainise other Australians, this should be immediately revoked.”
Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto said the claim that most Jews support genocide was a baseless slur.
“Samir Mohtadi’s rant is a disgrace, and a dangerous mix of antisemitism, lies, and incitement,” Mr Cassuto said.
“Zionism, which Mohtadi attacks, is simply the belief in Jewish peoplehood and the right to self-determination.
“This isn’t religious leadership. It’s hate speech, and it has no place in a free, democratic Australia.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ISRAEL JOINS US PRESSURE OVER BAN
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=283db4a3-efec-48ff-a2ee-6c642ae4c318&share=true

Mohammad Alfares
Israel has formally called on the Albanese government to reverse its decision to cancel the visa of Israeli-American tech entrepreneur and advocate Hillel Fuld, escalating diplomatic pressure on Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said she was “disappointed” by the decision and urged Mr Burke to reconsider, warning the refusal risked undermining ties between the two countries.
“This is very unfortunate and I’m actually disappointed,” Ms Haskel told Sky News.
“Australia is a sovereign state and it has the right to decide which foreigner can enter its border and which one can’t, obviously, but Hillel Fuld doesn’t hold any threat to the public or any kind of risk.
“This is not the first time. We’ve had quite a few cases now of Australian visas not being approved to some Israelis and we’re quite concerned about it.
“We see Australia as our ally and I hope that it will be reconsidered by the (Home Affairs) minister again.”
Her comments come just a day after The Australian revealed that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee had personally appealed to Mr Burke in a rare diplomatic intervention over the matter.
Despite the diplomatic pressure, it’s understood the department of Home Affairs has declined to review their decision.
The cancellation means Mr Fuld will be barred from entering Australia for at least three years, but he may apply for revocation within 28 days of being notified.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s co-CEO, Alex Ryvchin, called the decision “absurd” and “preposterous”.
“To think that he was someone that could be deemed of such ill character, that he should be excluded and banned from entering this country, is absurd,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“I think this is a very dangerous use of migration policy as a tool of statecraft, to try to keep out people who have mildly controversial views. There’s nothing in what he said that is so heinous and preposterous that he poses a risk to public order, and this ban should be overturned.”
The government made the decision to revoke Mr Fuld’s visa after citing concerns that his presence may pose a risk to “the health, safety or good order” of the community, particularly among Muslim Australians.
He was due to speak at fundraising events in Melbourne and Sydney this month hosted by Magen David Adom Australia – the local affiliate of Israel’s national emergency medical and blood service.
Departmental records obtained by The Australian show Home Affairs officials concluded that Mr Fuld had a documented pattern of sharing provocative content, including broad attacks on the Palestinian identity, denial of “documented atrocities” in Gaza, and claims that large segments of the Muslim population support terrorism.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
GRETA’S CREW MUST WATCH HAMAS HORROR VIDEO: ISRAELI MINISTER
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=3d368231-362a-421c-8699-5f8d5b59050e&share=true

Jared Malsin
Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists, who have been detained as they tried to deliver aid to Gaza, will be made to watch a video of Hamas atrocities before they are deported.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had told the military, which is towing the activists’ ship, Madleen, to Israel, to screen a 45-minute video of the October 7, 2023 massacre once they arrive at the port of Ashdod.
The video shows Israelis being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught, much of it filmed by the militants’ bodycams.
“It’s appropriate that Greta the anti-Semite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defence against,” Mr Katz said in a statement.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed Ms Thunberg was safe, posting a picture of her receiving a sandwich from a soldier.
“All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over,” the ministry said, adding that Ms Thunberg and her fellow activists “attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity”.
Officials said the activists would be deported, and the “tiny amount of aid” the ship was carrying would be sent to Gaza. The boat was carrying “less than a single truckload of aid,” it said, while adding “more than 1200 aid trucks have entered Gaza”.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip – they do not involve Instagram selfies. The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the ministry said.
“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to unauthorised vessels under a legal naval blockade, consistent with international law,” it had earlier posted on social media.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the activist group that organised the boat, said Israeli forces had boarded the vessel just after 3am local time and detained those onboard. It said the interception took place in international waters, posting a set of co-ordinates north of Egypt’s Port Said near the entrance to the Suez Canal.
Earlier, activists on the vessel posted videos they said showed the boat being sprayed with an unidentified white substance. The activists gathered in a group holding their hands in the air after throwing their phones overboard, according to a video posted by the group.
Asked about the activists’ claims, the Israeli military referred to statements from the Foreign Ministry.
The British-flagged 18m sailboat, nicknamed Madleen, departed from Sicily earlier in June carrying a cargo of baby formula, flour, rice, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits and medical supplies, according to the coalition. Also on board the boat were activists from Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey and Brazil. Among them is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament.
A previous attempted voyage to Gaza by a flotilla of aid ships in 2010 ended in an international fracas when Israeli commandos boarded the vessels, killing 10 Turkish activists on board.
The killings caused a rupture in Israel’s ties with Turkey, a major Middle East power that was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later apologised over the incident and Israel paid $US20m in compensation to the families of the Turkish civilians who were killed.
Organisers of the new sea mission to Gaza said that while the ship is carrying a small amount of aid, the group’s mission is a political attempt to challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza and potentially open a maritime corridor for other ships to bring aid to the Gaza Strip
The enclave is seeing a humanitarian disaster unfold after a year and a half of war between Israel and US-designated terrorist group Hamas.
“We are doing this because we have to keep our promise to the Palestinians,” Ms Thunberg said earlier this month.
In a pre-recorded video, she said: “If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel.” She asked friends and family to pressure the Swedish government to urge Israel to release her and her comrades.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition includes a range of pro-Palestinian activist groups from across the world, including the Free Gaza Movement, the European Campaign to End the Siege and the Turkish non-profit Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The charity is seen as having ties to Turkey’s ruling party.
The activists’ attempt to sail to Gaza comes after a year in which the group struggled to get the mission under way.
The group attempted to sail last year from Turkey but was stymied when the African nation of Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag of convenience from a pair of ships involved in the plan.
The new aid ship sailed as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening. Nearly half a million people in Gaza are facing starvation, according to a report in May by a UN-backed international famine warning system.
With Agencies
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ISRAEL ADMITS SUPPORT FOR ANTI-HAMAS ‘GANG’
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=d7d44db1-7402-4ee2-9c28-1ca068c329b6&share=true

Michael Blum
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the militant group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it.
Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a “criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks”.
Knesset member and former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu’s direction, was “giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons”.

“What did Lieberman leak? … That on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What is bad about that?” Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday.
“It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers.” said Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Centre in Tel Aviv. He added that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.
Some of the tribe’s members, he said, were involved in “all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that”.
An Arab ambassador said Netanyahu’s decision to arm one of Gaza’s most notorious criminal gangs as a foil to Hamas demonstrates “he has learned little since October 7”.
“Netanyahu worked to weaken the [Palestinian Authority] by bolstering Hamas in Gaza before October 7, and now he is doing it by bolstering this gang of criminals,” the ambassador said on condition of anonymity.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin confirmed on Friday that the military supported arming local militias in Gaza but remained tight-lipped on the details. “I can say we are operating in various ways against Hamas governance,” Defrin said during a televised press conference when questioned on the subject, without elaborating further
Milshtein said Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli “collaborator and a gangster”.
“It seems the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, Mr Milshtein said
“I really hope it will not end with catastrophe.”
With Agencies
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
BIBI’S ‘ARMING LOCAL CLANS’ STRATEGY IS A WISE ONE
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=458cb291-ed17-4887-b89c-3ecf89910513&share=true

John Spencer
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed last week that Israel was arming local clans inside Gaza to fight Hamas.
Critics immediately called the move dangerous and reckless. Former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman even claimed one of the groups receiving weapons had ties to ISIS.
I fought in Iraq and commanded US soldiers on the streets of Baghdad, and I can tell you: This is not a desperate gamble.
It’s a hard-learned, historically grounded strategy, and one of the most effective tools in asymmetric warfare.
In 2008, I was on the ground in Baghdad when American forces shifted their strategy to arm local gang leaders and tribal groups, some of which had previously attacked US troops with roadside bombs, to turn them against Al-Qa’ida in Iraq. We knew who we were dealing with. My soldiers and I met with men who had blood on their hands. We also knew that defeating Al-Qa’ida meant splintering its power base, undermining its support, and making local authority figures an alternative source of control.
That strategy, part of the broader “Sons of Iraq” movement, crippled Al-Qa’ida’s hold on neighbourhoods, helped stabilise cities, and bought space for broader security operations.
This approach isn’t new. During the war in Afghanistan, US and allied forces armed local tribes and warlords to fight the Taliban. In World War II, the Allies provided weapons and support to resistance fighters and irregular militias across Europe, many with unsavoury records – because defeating the Nazis took precedence over perfection.
Wartime alliances are rarely clean. They are judged not by ideology but by whether they advance the mission. In Gaza today, the mission is clear: Destroy Hamas as a military force and a governing power.
Operation Gideon’s Chariots is Israel’s new large-scale offensive aimed at dismantling Hamas’s remaining strongholds. It involves five Israeli divisions conducting co-ordinated clear-and-hold operations across Gaza, with the goal of permanently denying Hamas the ability to reconstitute militarily or politically in cleared areas. Already, Hamas has lost most of its battalions and command structure. Its ability to control the population is slipping. Hamas has lost its stranglehold over food distribution, once a critical tool of leverage. The US-Israel Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has delivered more than 8.4 million meals directly to civilians, bypassing Hamas entirely.
Against this backdrop, arming rival clans makes strategic sense. It fractures Hamas’s monopoly on force, empowers Gazans to defend themselves, and denies Hamas safe haven in the communities it once ruled through terror. This isn’t nation-building. This isn’t a forever war. This is step one: Destroy Hamas.
There are risks. There always are when empowering non-state actors. We should seriously consider claims, like Mr Lieberman’s, that Israel may be arming ISIS-linked factions. But such concerns don’t negate the logic of the tactic.
Critics were vocal when Abu Mohammad al-Jolani – a former member of Al-Qa’ida, with early ties to what became ISIS – emerged as the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, in Syria. Today, HTS functions as the de facto governing authority in Syria. Some countries have cautiously recognised and engaged with Mr Jolani, while others rightly view him with deep concern. The situation is morally and strategically complex, but it underscores a truth about modern conflict: The character of the post-war actor is a secondary concern to winning the war itself.
In Gaza, the overriding priority is to defeat Hamas.
Victory over Hamas won’t come from airstrikes alone. It will take local ground knowledge, legitimacy within communities, and the ability to fill power vacuums before Hamas does. Empowering clans that oppose Hamas, regardless of past affiliations, is a tactical necessity. You don’t beat a shadowy, embedded enemy like Hamas without taking advantage of the internal fractures in the ­society it dominates.
Israel isn’t arming Gaza clans to build a new government. It’s arming them to destroy the government Hamas built through terror. That isn’t recklessness, it’s fighting a war. And it’s working
John Spencer is chairman of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Allow fair debate, no hate speech
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=3342c271-1d88-4336-b6cd-46ea62426704&share=true

The cancelling of Hillel Fuld’s visa smacks of double standards
Jewish Australians are entitled to object to the double standards prevailing as regards public debate over the Hamas-Israel war.
Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke has been urged by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to overturn a visa cancellation of Israeli- American tech advocate Hillel Fuld, who was scheduled to speak in Sydney and Melbourne next week at fundraisers hosted by Magen David Adom Australia, the Jewish equivalent of the Red Cross. Mr Fuld, who has 176,000 followers on X, is blunt and outspoken, but his rhetoric lacks the intensity and personal vitriol of some preachers in Australia, such as Victorian Muslim leader Abu Hamza, also known as Samir Mohtadi, who has branded Zionists “bloodsucking humans” and “scavengers”, and called on Allah to “cast terror into the hearts of the Zionists”. Sheik Mohtadi’s registered charity, the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, receives Victorian government support and aims to build a $6.9m Islamic “sanctuary” in Mickleham, a fast-growing suburb north of Melbourne, Mohammad Alfares reports.
The Albanese government’s decision to cancel Mr Fuld’s visa has drawn global attention, including in Israel and the US. It was made on the grounds that his presence might pose a risk to “the health, safety or good order” of the Australian community, particularly among Muslim Australians.
The Department of Home Affairs accused Mr Fuld of using social media to deny “documented atrocities” in Gaza, promote Islamophobic views and spread inflammatory content that could incite division amid heightened community tensions. In an X post in January, Mr Fuld claimed that 10-15 per cent of Muslims were “radicalised” and Islam was a “global plague” and compared Gazans to Nazi-era Germans who should be “treated as such”. In another post, he said liberal Western values could “never coexist next to radical Islamic values”. In a statement to The Australian about Mr Fuld, Mr Burke said the country did not want to import “hatred”. But in an email to Mr Burke, Mr Huckabee said Mr Fuld was “highly respected”. While he “holds strong views against terrorism and the kind of massacre that occurred on October 7, he would pose no threat to the people of Australia by his actions or words”.
Allowing visiting speakers – and local preachers, provided they do not descend into hate speech – have their say is preferable to bans and censorship because it exposes their views to scrutiny and debate.
Given what Muslim preachers get away with in Australia, the Albanese government’s ban on Mr Fuld smacks of overkill.
Letters The Australian
Israel’s ‘legitimate’ war
Taking hostages is a war crime, and that crime is repeated every day that hostages are held, not just on the day they are taken. Those who accuse Israel of war crimes but remain silent about the hostages taken and still held by Hamas, and those hostages who have been brutally killed in captivity, display no semblance of humanity or consistency.
This is compounded by their tacit acceptance of the hideous crimes perpetrated against Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, which precipitated Israel’s response.
Israel is engaged in a legitimate war of self-defence, and this of itself does not constitute a war crime. As in every war, innocent civilians become victims, but it is only when they are deliberately targeted (as in Hamas’s atrocities of October 7) that a war crime is committed. It is Hamas’s policy to put civilians in the way of Israeli strikes, for maximum propaganda effect.
We have just marked the anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings and the resulting expulsion from France of Nazi forces, and nobody has called this a war crime, even though thousands of innocent French citizens died during the fighting. The unintended deaths of civilians in war is a tragedy wherever it occurs.
Peter Davidson, Ashgrove, Qld
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Greta rides high on tide of narcissism
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=8a6cac70-69a7-4900-862b-3234848db50f&share=true

Jack the Insider
Greta Thunberg’s poverty tourism has come to a halt. Channelling Pauline Hanson, the Swedish activist released footage on social media of the “If you see this video …” type.
“My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational (sic) forces, or forces that support Israel.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is, as far as we can tell, an armada of one boat that would look more at home sailing the Whitsundays. Besides the human flotsam on board, SS Madleen’s cargo contains “a symbolic amount of baby formula and rice”.
Presuming Gazans are even aware of this piece of hollow theatre that has unfolded in the Mediterranean, they cannot be nourished by analogies or metaphors.
Apparently, tired of saving the entire planet, Thunberg has determined to save little bits of it, one umlaut at a time. First Gaza, and with that solved by her mere presence, it’s off to traverse the 38th parallel in a gyrocopter, flinging out “Greta is Great” mousepads to confused North Koreans before she gives Kim Jong-un a piece of her mind.
Then, the big one. A trip to Moscow by canoe to stare down Vladimir Putin, who will be shamed into capitulating in Ukraine.
What’s next? Well, it’s only a matter of time before the Swedish activist underliqt (it’s Swedish for wunderkind) fixes the Liberal Party. Hooray!
This is a rescue mission that U2’s Bono would consider fruity.
Thunberg is accompanied by 11 other activists, including Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European parliament, so you know she’s got plenty of time on her hands. Also on board the good ship Madleen was Brazilian Thiago Avila, who described his attendance at the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon as “a great honour”. In the throes of grief, he referred to the terrorist leader as a “martyred saint and beloved leader who inspired people across the globe, and a historic figure in the anti-colonial struggle”.
French Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad had dibs on the top bunk amidship. Less than a week after Hamas conducted the October 7 massacre, Faiad likened IDF soldiers to Nazis, writing on social media that “Israel is carrying out a new Holocaust in Gaza”.
The term anti-Semitic is sometimes hurled about with abandon these days but in respect of the crew of Madleen, it would be difficult to find a group so profoundly prejudiced against Jewish people outside of commissioned officers of the Waffen-SS. Thunberg is the rock star on this flotilla of one, ensuring the world’s media’s glare is upon her rather than the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza.
In a world starved for entertainment, Greta Cares is the television show that simply must be made. Part travelogue, part footin-the-door journalism, Thunberg would travel the globe to confront the world’s leaders to wag an index finger directly in their alarmed faces and mercilessly upbraid them.
Watch Greta make Equatorial Guinea’s murderous President Teodoro Obiang burst into tears and pay back all the money he stole under the sheer force of a Thunberg raised eyebrow. See Greta frogmarch the vicious Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki mumbling apologies as he is led to the doors of the ICJ in The Hague.
Come to see Greta’s stern lecture of a lachrymose Myanmar acting chief wallah, Min Aung Hiaing.
Stay for Xi Jinping’s blubbering, head-bowed acknowledgment that communism was a joke that got out of hand.
Gen Z, that most awkward of demographics to appeal to, would tune in in their millions.
Greta could also urge Hamas to down its weapons, saving more than a few Palestinian lives right there in Gaza, but let’s not get too carried away. We could watch our Swedish hero do many things that would be overtly good but she prefers not to. Her perceived enemies are almost exclusively in the West, Israel obviously included.
Other than that, her real enemies are coalminers. If only Israel had coalmines, she could get a two-for-one activist deal going.
If only she could find an Israeli coalminer, he’d be in for a frowning he’d never forget.
Narcissism is infecting the planet. Are there any more narcissists about there than there used to be? Hard to say. The difference now is chronic narcissists like Greta Thunberg have platforms to vainly say “look at me”, where not so long ago they were only a nuisance to their families at dinner time.
Social media is to blame, of course. Greta has millions of followers across social media who, in something of a chicken-and-egg dilemma, require her to perform acts of protest on a regular basis or they will tire of her and look elsewhere for inspiration. She’s on the activist treadmill. It’s either hopping aboard the good ship Madleen for some performative anti- Semitism or irrelevance.
For now she is in custody in Israel, where she will be briefly detained before being deported with her 11 mates. For the firebrand Greta, the only consequence is one of mild inconvenience. The Madleen is being towed into an Israeli port as we speak. The pittance of humanitarian aid on the boat will be distributed in Gaza. It is doubtful even one life will be saved by her addle-headed sail into celebrity.
Greta Thunberg’s sail from Sicily to nowhere was never about better outcomes for Gazans. It was merely the shameless pursuit of celebrity, designed to prove her Western enemies – on this occasion Israelis – were seen as the bad guys. Those who see her as a genuine hero should ponder if shifting the spotlight from Gaza to some point on the high seas has provided any benefit at all to Gazans.
The currency of performative activism is not about ending injustice or saving lives, it has more to do with clickbait, more likes and more follows.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Protesters have targeted Albo’s Sydney electorate office after Israeli forces board Greta Thunberg’s ship
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/protesters-have-targeted-albos-sydney-electorate-office-after-israeli-forces-board-greta-thunbergs-ship/news-story/04788305157d81317be490e585ade35f

Protesters have rallied outside the Prime Minister’s Sydney electorate office after Israeli forces intercepted a boat of activists, including Greta Thunberg.
Clareese Packer
Greta Thunberg’s humanitarian ship has been intercepted by the Israeli military while trying to get to the Gaza Strip.
Protesters have gathered outside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Sydney electorate office after Israeli forces intercepted a boat of activists – including Greta Thunberg – that was attempting to challenge the blockade of Gaza.
Thunberg was among a group of activists on board the ship aid supplies when the boat was intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday Sydney time.
Greta Thunberg urged people to put pressure on the Swedish government to release her and the other protesters as soon as possible during a prerecorded video. Picture: https://www.instagram.com/gretathunberg/
Greta Thunberg urged people to put pressure on the Swedish government to release her and the other protesters as soon as possible during a prerecorded video. Picture: https://www.instagram.com/gretathunberg/
Several prerecorded videos were posted to X by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition following the interception, including one where Thunberg urged people to put pressure on the Swedish government to release her and the other protesters as soon as possible.
“If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg said in the video.
A snap protest in response to Israel’s boarding of the Madleen ship and detention of its crew has been held outside the Prime Minister electorate office in Marrickville. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
A snap protest in response to Israel’s boarding of the Madleen ship and detention of its crew has been held outside the Prime Minister electorate office in Marrickville. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
The Israel Foreign Ministry have dubbed the boat a “selfie yacht” of “celebrities” in a post to X, writing the boat was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel”.
“The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the Israel Foreign Ministry wrote to X about 10.54am AEST.
Further posts from the Israeli ministry said all passengers were “safe and unharmed”.
“They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over,” one post read.
“Greta Thunberg is currently on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits,” another read.
Footage of Greta Thunberg’s ship being boarded has been released after Israel said…
Protesters are calling for Mr Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong to pressure Israel to release the activists. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
Other signs read “Hey Albo it’s time. Sanction Israel now!”
The rally outside Mr Albanese’s office is one of a string of nationwide rallies. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
The rally outside Mr Albanese’s office is one of a string of nationwide rallies. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard
Students for Palestine (SFP) and the Palestine Action Group (PAG) called for the nationwide rallies in response to the interception of the Madleen ship.
PAG member Josh Lees called on the Albanese government to demand Israeli authorities release the activists in a statement issued on Monday afternoon.
“Israel’s illegal act of piracy, attacking a vessel in international waters, must be condemned and face consequences,” Mr Lees said in a statement.
“The Gaza Freedom Flotilla crew are heroes, who are exposing the complete failure of governments around the world, including our own in Australia, to lift a finger to stop Israel’s mass starvation and genocide in Gaza.
“We reiterate our call for Albanese to urgently place sanctions on Israel, and to finally end the two-way arms trade with that rogue state which is openly carrying out the horrific war crimes of deliberate mass starvation, relentless massacres of civilians, including those seeking aid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
A SFP co-convener also called on Mr Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong to expel the Israeli ambassador, cut military and economic ties with Israel, and pressure Israel to release the activists.
“The Madleen crew represent the hopes of all those who stand for humanity against the starvation and bombardment of Gazans, and they must be immediately released,” the SFP co-convener said in a statement on Instagram.
Mr Albanese’s office was out of use for about six months last year over safety concerns from continuous protests.
Some MP electorate office’s were also smeared with red paint and graffiti last year.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Snap protest called in Brisbane after Freedom Flotilla ship intercepted
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/snap-protest-called-in-brisbane-after-freedom-flotilla-ship-intercepted/news-story/3c290852092c877e99a61376b7175c06

Large crowds are expected to gather in the middle of Brisbane tonight in response to Israeli forces storming a Freedom Flotilla vessel as it headed for Gaza.
Danica Clayton
Protestors outside the Prime Minister’s Marrickville electoral office in Sydney on Monday. A snap protest has also been called for Brisbane. Picture: John Appleyard
Protestors outside the Prime Minister’s Marrickville electoral office in Sydney on Monday. A snap protest has also been called for Brisbane. Picture: John Appleyard
Large crowds are expected to gather at King George Square in Brisbane at 6pm on Monday evening in response to Israeli forces storming a Freedom Flotilla vessel as it headed for Gaza.
The snap protest has been called by Students for Palestine, urging for the Israeli military to immediately release the 12 activists.
Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, was one of those aboard the vessel Madleen en route to Gaza to deliver humanitarian cargo when it was intercepted by the Israeli military.
A video published Monday morning on Ms Thunberg’s Instagram account revealed the crew was “kidnapped” while attempting to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel,” Ms Thunberg said in the pre-recorded video.
Rallies have were held across Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Adelaide on Monday afternoon.
.
Students for Palestine co-conveners, Jasmine Duff and Bella Beiraghi, called for an immediate release of the crew members.
“The Madleen crew represent the hopes of all those who stand for humanity against the starvation and bombardment of Gazans, and they must be immediately released,” Ms Duff said.
“We call on Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong to immediately expel the Israeli ambassador, cut all military and economic ties with Israel, and pressure Israel to release the illegally kidnapped crew.”
“After months of deliberately starving those in Gaza, Israel has illegally taken 12 anti-war activists hostage, including Greta Thunberg. This kidnapping is an attempt to cover up Israel’s crimes against humanity, shows Israel’s willingness to violently suppress all those who oppose their genocide. The Madleen crew must be immediately released,” Ms Beiraghi said.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday confirmed that Israeli authorities intercepted the Madleen.
The Ministry said the Navy had directed the boat to change course as it approached “a restricted area”.
About an hour later, it said the boat was being towed to Israeli shores.
“The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on social media.
“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the ministry added.
– additional reporting by Maria Bervanakis
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Israel seizes Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8986873/israel-seizes-gaza-aid-boat-carrying-greta-thunberg/

By Crispian Balmer and Rami Amichay
Israeli naval forces have boarded and seized a charity vessel that had tried to break a naval blockade of the war-torn Gaza Strip and the boat with its crew of 12, including activist Greta Thunberg, is now heading to a port in Israel.
The British-flagged yacht, Madleen, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg, 22, said in a video released by the coalition, filmed before the vessel was captured.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the vessel was under Israeli control.
Israel has called Thunberg an “anti-Semite” and dismissed the aid ship as a stunt.
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on X.
All passengers were safe and unharmed, the ministry later said.
“They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over.”
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who was also on board, posted on X that the crew had been “arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2am”.
The yacht was carrying a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula.
The Foreign Ministry said it would be taken to Gaza.
“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it wrote.
The Swedish foreign ministry said it was in contact with Israeli authorities.
“Should the need for consular support arise, the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess how we can best help the Swedish citizen/Greta Thunberg resolve her situation,” a Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the president had asked Israeli authorities to release the French nationals on board as soon as possible.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military on Sunday to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza, calling the mission a propaganda effort in support of Hamas.
Katz said he had instructed that upon the boat’s arrival at Ashdod port, the activists would be shown videos of atrocities committed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
Hamas condemned the seizure of the boat as “state terrorism” and said it saluted its activists.
Israel imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
The blockade has remained in place through multiple conflicts, including the current war, which began when Hamas-led militants rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza and left its more than two million population largely displaced and at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has supported the Madleen operation and on Sunday, urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade.
“Madleen’s journey may have ended, but the mission isn’t over,” she wrote on X.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Israeli forces take control of Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/gaza-aid-boat-madleen-israel-greta-thunberg-freedom-flotilla-coalition

Crew of activists making symbolic attempt to deliver aid expected to be held in port until deportation hearings
Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem
Tue 10 Jun 2025 07.45 AEST
A boat seized by Israel’s military as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza was towed into an Israeli port after sunset on Monday, with the crew of activists including Greta Thunberg expected to be held there in advance of deportation hearings.
The Madleen was attempting to bring a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza, which faces a looming famine after more than 11 weeks of total siege and ongoing severe restrictions on food entering the territory.
In recent days Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and injured hundreds more as they tried to reach a handful of sites where a US- and Israeli-backed logistics organisation is handing out limited supplies.
Greta Thunberg
Israel released an image of Greta Thunberg after its military forces intercepted the aid boat. Photograph: Israel Foreign ministry
Thunberg and the other 11 members of the Madleen crew, including the French MEP Rima Hassan and the Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad, have been out of contact since Israeli forces took control of the boat in the early hours of Monday morning.
The legal adviser to the Israeli navy told the rights group Adalah, which is representing the detainees: “To the best of our knowledge, none of them are injured or currently require medical treatment.”
After reaching Ashdod they were due to be handed into police custody and “undergo a hearing prior to the issuance of deportation orders”, Adalah quoted him saying.
Although there was little expectation that Israeli authorities would let the small yacht get close to Gaza, even attempting to reach the territory by boat is risky.
In May, another boat sailing as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the Madleen’s voyage, caught fire off Malta and issued an SOS after what the group said was an attack by Israeli drones. Israel’s military declined to comment.
In 2010, nine activists were killed when Israeli commandos raided a small fleet of ships trying to take supplies including building materials to Gaza. Israel began blockading Gaza in 2007.
Among the last communications from the Madleen before it lost communications was a photo showing the 12-strong crew gathered in a circle, wearing lifejackets, with their hands in the air. A series of pre-recorded messages from crew members were later released online.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in a brief message, urging family, friends and supporters to put pressure on the Swedish government to secure her release as soon as possible.
The UK-flagged Madleen set sail at a time of mounting international pressure on Israel over the starvation of Palestinians inside Gaza.
In an apparent response to the huge amount of publicity generated by the group, Israel’s foreign ministry attacked the crew as “celebrities” on a “selfie yacht” when it announced the yacht had been seized. Shortly afterwards it followed up by posting an image of Thunberg being offered food and others being passed food and water.
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, made personal attacks on Thunberg and the rest of the crew in a post on X, and said they would be required to watch a film about the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, which launched the war. About 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 250 taken to Gaza, where 55 are still held hostage.
Israeli bombings and ground assaults in Gaza since then have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women, children and elderly people, and injured more than 125,000, according to health authorities in the territory, whose figures have proved accurate in past conflicts.
Huwaida Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser, said Israel had no legal authority to detain the Madleen crew in international waters and confiscate aid onboard, which included food, baby formula and medical supplies.
“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalised for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade – their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately.”
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories called for the UK to secure the release of the Madleen and its crew and urged others to challenge the blockade.
An Israeli soldier passes water to people in life jackets
An Israeli soldier passes water to those onboard the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht. Photograph: Israel Foreign Ministry/X/Reuters
“Every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity, and humanity to Gaza,” Francesca Albanese posted on X. “Breaking the siege is a legal duty for states, and a moral imperative for all of us.”
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to flee their homes and displaced multiple times since the war began, and last month food security experts warned the territory was at “critical risk of famine”.
Israel says food is reaching people in Gaza through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive group the current head of which is an evangelical Christian with no track record delivering aid in conflict zones.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in posts about its seizure of the Madleen that “close to” 11m meals had been delivered in the past two weeks. Even if those supplies were distributed equally, they would amount to less than one meal every two days for Gaza’s starving population.
The shortages and desperate hunger have combined to deadly effect, with Palestinians repeatedly killed by Israeli forces trying to reach GHF distribution points.
In the latest incidents on Sunday, at least four people were killed and many others injured, health authorities in Gaza said. The humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said one of the dead and 13 injured were brought to its emergency room in central al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Gaza.
MSF said in a statement: “Patients, all men aged between 17 and 30 years old, told us they were shot in Shakoush area, on their way to a food distribution site … They were carried in donkey carts, on bicycles, or on foot.”