Islamic cleric Wissam Haddad shares shocking conspiracy theory after Melbourne synagogue was firebombed
A fundamentalist Islamic cleric who labelled the Jewish race as ‘vile’ and ‘treacherous’ has spread a disturbing theory online in the wake of the Melbourne synagogue firebombing.
Controversial preacher Wissam Haddad told followers on Sunday he believed the Jewish community burned the place of worship ‘in order to draw public sympathy’.
The Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s east has been boarded up in the days since it was gutted by a devastating arson attack last Friday morning which rocked the Jewish community.
The incident has been labelled an act of ‘terrorism’ by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Police.
Mr Haddad claimed that the synagogue attack was a ‘false flag’ in a social media post.
‘If Israel would kill its own citizens in a ‘Hannibal directive’, call me a conspiracy theorist, but is it plausible that a synagogue would be burnt in order to draw public sympathy or swing a parliamentary vote falseflag,’ he wrote on Sunday.
The outspoken preacher previously told worshippers that Jews were ‘cowards’ in the Quran and still are today, before likening them to ‘rats’ under the name Abu Ousayd.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Haddad regarding his comments.
Controversial preacher Wissam Haddadis currently being sued over previous comments he made about Jewish peoples
A post shared to Wissam Haddad’s Instagram story suggested the firebombing was committed as a ‘false flag’ operation to draw sympathy
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry is currently suing Mr Haddad in the Federal Court as a result.
The organisation alleges he breached the Racial Discrimination Act in speeches made in 2023 at the Al Madina Dawah Centre in Bankstown.
Mr Haddad repudiated the suit in a video posted to YouTube last month, arguing he made the comments in reference to Islamic scriptures.
He claimed some anti-Semitic comments were ‘facts’.
‘I brought up verses from the Koran … and sayings (from) Mohammad that speak about the Jews, and said things that the Jewish community felt they’d been insulted over,’ he said at the time.
A firebombing was carried out against a Melbourne synagogue in the early hours of Friday morning, authorities have since classed it a ‘terrorist attack’
Messages and flowers are seen attached to the fence at the gutted Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s east
‘We can speak about the Koran and what it says about Jews, the Christians can do the same, and the Jews can speak about us … (The Jewish council) turned it into a big issue.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has since labelled the synagogue attack as a labelling the attack as an act of terrorism
‘My personal opinion is yes (it is terrorism), but there is a technical process,’ he said on Sunday.
‘…But if you want my personal view quite clearly, terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community and the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community.’
Victoria Police deliberated on the firebombing attack’s classification over the weekend and ultimately decided to treat it as an act of terrorism on Monday morning.
Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton made the declaration following advice from Australian Federal Police counterparts and ASIO.
He said it was ‘clear’ the ‘callous’ firebombing was ‘targeted and a horrific attack on the synagogue’.
‘By default, it’s an attack on the Jewish people,’ Commissioner Paton said.
Police are currently looking for three suspects, and the investigation will be handled by the joint counter-terrorism team.
