SYDNEY: Australia has canceled the visa of an Israeli influencer who campaigns against Islam, saying it will not accept visitors who come to spread hatred.
Sammy Yahood, who has commented on social media that Islam is a “disgusting ideology,” said Monday his visa was canceled three hours before his flight departed from Israel.
Yahood flew to Abu Dhabi anyway, but was blocked from getting his connecting flight.
“This is a story about tyranny, censorship and control,” he posted on X.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday that people who want to visit Australia should apply for the right visa and come for the right reasons.
“Spreading hatred is not a good reason to come,” he said.
Australia tightened its hate crime laws this month in response to a December 14 mass shooting on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
Yahood’s visa was reportedly canceled under the same legislation that has been used in the past to reject people’s visas on hatred grounds.
The conservative Australian Jewish Association, which had invited the influencer to speak, said it “strongly condemned” the visa decision by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government.
It criticized visa cancelations for other Jewish visitors, including far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman who was blocked last year.
“This latest cancelation reinforces deep concerns within the Jewish community that, despite the horror of the Bondi massacre and the government’s belated apology, the Albanese Government hasn’t changed and was never genuine,” the association’s chief executive Robert Gregory said in a statement.
Australia cancels visa of Israeli influencer
https://arab.news/yh5cy
Australia cancels visa of Israeli influencer
- His visa was canceled three hours before his flight departed from Israel
- 'Spreading hatred is not a good reason to come,' Australia’s Home Affairs Minister said
Pakistanis fleeing Iran describe strikes shaking ground under their feet
- Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country
QUETTA: Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Tehran shaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents. The conflict has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and NATO air defenses destroying an Iranian missile fired toward Turkiye.
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE
Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
