• Australia cancelled the visa of Sammy Yahood, a Jewish influencer known for Islamophobic statements, hours before his departure.
• The home affairs minister stated, “spreading hatred is not a good reason to come.”
The Parliament of Australia has cancelled the visa of a Jewish Islamophobe Influencer who has previously called for a ban on Islam and was scheduled to speak at several events in Australia. The radical Australian Jewish Association (AJA) said Sammy Yahood’s visa was cancelled three hours before his flight was due to depart.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed on Monday evening that he had cancelled the visa, saying “spreading hatred is not a good reason to come”.
Yahood has made multiple posts on X, formerly Twitter, describing Islam as a “murderous ideology” and a “disgusting ideology”, and claiming it “cannot be trusted to simply ‘co-exist’”.
On 6th November, he wrote on X: “It’s time to ban Islam. It’s time to stop being tolerant of those that are not tolerant of us.”
Yahood, who grew up in the United Kingdom and recently moved to Israel, was due to run a series of “self defence workshops” and launch his “peace through strength” campaign.
The AJA criticised the cancellation and said Yahood was scheduled to speak at major synagogues and to other organisations across Australia.
“Sammy is the latest Jew to have his visa cancelled by this government. As in other cases, they wait until the last minute,” the organisation wrote on X.
“Parliament just voted to increase the powers of Toby [sic] Burke to cancel visas as an apparent response to support the Jewish community following the Bondi massacre.”
The AJA described one event, due to be held in Melbourne, as “a unique introductory session to self defence. Working through physical exercises to learn essential techniques and principles for personal safety. Let’s take accountability for our security together.”
Another Melbourne event, scheduled for 28 January, said it was aimed at “empowering Jews to stand unapologetically strong”.
Yahood confirmed the cancellation in an Instagram post, saying he was still flying to the United Arab Emirates and was “working to sort”. He said his fiancée, who was attending the events with him, would continue to travel to Australia.
Burke recently barred the entry of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, who was also scheduled to appear at AJA-organised events. Rothman has described Palestinian children in Gaza as “enemies” and called for Israel’s total control of the West Bank.
The home affairs minister has also barred the entry of other figures with a history of controversial or offensive statements, including the rapper Kanye West and former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked.
The cancellation, made under existing laws, comes one week after the federal government passed new legislation increasing the grounds on which the home affairs minister can reject or cancel a visa. Under the changes, the minister can prevent an individual from entering Australia if they believe the person has engaged in hate, vilification or extremist conduct under the character test.
