NSW Supreme Court says criticism of Israel not antisemitic in graffiti case
Published by Deepcut News
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Organisations 3
Pew Research Centre Royal Commission into Antisemitism and… ECAJ
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A NSW Supreme Court judge has rejected a bid to place a young Sydney man under a terrorism supervision order, finding prosecutors wrongly conflated hostility towards Israel with hatred of Jewish people in assessing whether he posed a future terrorism risk.
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A NSW Supreme Court judge has rejected a bid to place a young Sydney man under a terrorism supervision order, finding prosecutors wrongly conflated hostility towards Israel with hatred of Jewish people in assessing whether he posed a future terrorism risk.
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Mohommed Farhat vandalised property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2024.
The state’s attempt to portray Mohommed Farhat, who vandalised property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2024, as a future terror threat was rejected after Justice Desmond Fagan delivered an extraordinary criticism of the prosecution’s definition of antisemitism and its interpretation of material found on Farhat’s phone.
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Mohommed Farhat defaced cars and property with slogans including “F*k Israel” and “PKK coming”.
The 22-year-old caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage when he defaced cars and property with slogans including “F*k Israel” and “PKK coming”.
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Mohommed Farhat pleaded guilty to the offences in the Local Court.
He pleaded guilty to the offences in the Local Court and was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
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Mohommed Farhat was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
He pleaded guilty to the offences in the Local Court and was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
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Justice Desmond Fagan delivered his decision on July 30.
In a decision delivered on July 30, Fagan found the evidence fell well short of the statutory threshold, concluding the offending was motivated by promised payment rather than ideology.
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In a decision delivered on July 30, Fagan found the evidence fell well short of the statutory threshold, concluding the offending was motivated by promised payment rather than ideology.
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Throughout the week-long hearing, Fagan repeatedly distinguished criticism of Israel from hatred of Jewish people, lectured the court on the history of West Asia and rejected the prosecution’s interpretation of private messages, saying expressions of hostility towards Israel did not automatically amount to antisemitism.
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Throughout the week-long hearing, Fagan repeatedly distinguished criticism of Israel from hatred of Jewish people, lectured the court on the history of West Asia and rejected the prosecution’s interpretation of private messages, saying expressions of hostility towards Israel did not automatically amount to antisemitism.
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In seeking an extended supervision order, prosecutor Patricia McDonald SC argued Farhat’s actions and material extracted from his phone demonstrated an extremist pathway.
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She relied on messages discussing Hezbollah, the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli military operations in Lebanon and anger over events affecting southern Lebanon.
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Justice Fagan rejected that characterisation, finding the exchanges reflected young men discussing a conflict impacting their families and community, rather than evidence of antisemitism or future terrorism.
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The material did reflect hostility towards Israel, Fagan said, but that did not automatically amount to hostility towards Jewish people.
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“You do realise that the Pew Research Centre in the United States, a reputable polling organisation, has in June of this year released a poll showing that 79 per cent of Australians have an unfavourable view of Israel and … it may possibly be inferred that that would have to do with Israel’s destruction of the Gazan people.”
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Federal and state governments endorsed a controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism following the publication of Special Envoy for Antisemitism Jillian Segal’s Antisemitism Plan.
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Jillian Segal previously headed the pro‑Israel lobby group ECAJ.
Segal – who previously headed pro‑Israel lobby group ECAJ – recommended the definition be adopted by “all levels of government, public institutions and regulatory bodies”.
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The ongoing Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has also adopted this interpretation.
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University of Technology Sydney’s Dr Elyse Methven said Fagan’s observations were significant because they came amid growing efforts to treat disputed political language as having a single, set meaning.
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“Courts must pay close attention to context and meaning rather than relying on assumptions about what particular political expressions are presumed to represent,” the senior criminal law lecturer told Deepcut.
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The court’s decision has implications far beyond Mohommed Farhat’s case.
The court’s decision has implications far beyond Farhat’s case and enters a debate about antisemitism that has intensified since October 2023.
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