Australian Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Preacher Criticizes Australian Newspaper For Reporting On His Jihadi Activities And Antisemitism, Says Australian Press Should Cover War In Gaza Instead

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here. 

On April 1, 2024, The Australian, an Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, published an article titled, "Radical Preacher Abu Ousayd's 'Dawah Van' Charity Takes To Sydney Streets."

The article claimed that that the Sydney-based high profile cleric Abu Ousayd, also known as Wissam Hadad, "urged people to spit on Israel so Jews would drown, runs a charity called the Dawah Van, where he converts young Aussies and tourists to Islam."[1]

Abu Ousayd's Response

On Telegram, in response, the pro-ISIS cleric who runs the Al-Madina Dawah Centre (AMDC) in the Bankstown suburb of Sydney, posted a video refuting the article.[2]

"I just wanted to make a quick video in response to the article written by The Australian newspaper, speaking about the Al-Dawah Van, a community van which owned Al-Madina Dawah Center.  A van that invites people to Islam, [a] van that transform a local community."

He went on to accuse The Australian of fabricating the story that it had published about him, saying that the journalist who wrote the story should have focused his attention of the war in Gaza where "Israel attacks ambulance vans" that provide medical help to Gazans.

"I used to have respect for journalists and journalism at large. I used to have respect for journalists who used to go to a war zone, a conflict zone, and risk their lives to be eyewitnesses to what is happening to these places. It is unfortunate that I lost respect due to the actions and the article written by The Australian. An article speaking about a community van, where instead they could have been speaking not about one van but vans, ambulances owned by the Palestinian Red Cross who had put together a convoy in order to come to Gaza and to help the people there. And what was the outcome? They were bombed by the IDF. So instead of reporting on what all of us are worried about these days, about the murdering, the killing, the genocide in Gaza, The Australian and its reporters have chosen to speak about vans we own and certain words that we have said. Growing up and attending my local public school, the teacher used to tell us: 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words would never hurt me.' Maybe The Australian needs to apply that and report about what all of us really need to hear about, and that is the genocide that is taking place in Gaza."

Background

As detailed in an extensive MEMRI JTTM report published in August 2020, AMDC is affiliated with a network of Australian Salafi figures, some of whom have professed support for ISIS and been imprisoned on terrorism charges. One of the most prominent figures still associated with AMDC is Wisam (Abu Ousayd) Haddad, who avoided a prison sentence in 2015 despite a raid on his home turning up weapons, an ISIS flag, a machete, and a large number of extremist DVDs and terror-related newspaper clippings.[3]

Since then, he has continued preaching Salafi-jihadi ideology, but has avoided openly inciting violence or professing support for ISIS. Warning his followers about making incriminating statements that will allow non-Muslims to label them as terrorists, he told them: "If you're going to do something, if you're going to say something, make sure you're doing it for the sake of Allah and don't be stupid."

In August 2022, Abu Ousayd participated in the online conference, "Free Muslim Prisoners," along with British pro-ISIS preacher Anjem Choudary, who has since been imprisoned again.[4]

Abu Ousayd formerly owned the Al-Risalah bookstore and Islamic center, which shut down in 2014. He now preaches at AMDC, which began operations in 2019, and features prominently on the center's social media accounts, where videos of his Friday sermons and other talks delivered at the center are regularly uploaded. The preacher has been linked to high-profile members of both ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and has served as a leader of the Salafi community in the West Sydney area, dispensing religious material and opinions, organizing events and prayer gatherings, and running street-preaching activities.

On January 12, 2024, AMDC announced that its Saturday Shari'a School is open for enrollment for 2024. The school, which operates from 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturdays at the AMDC address, is for boys and girls from K-6, and teaches "shari'a, Quran, hadith, du'a [prayers], and Arabic." An Australian mobile phone number was provided as a registration contact.[5]