<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/19/justice-desmond-fagan-sydney-anti-israel-graffiti-incorrectly-labelled-antisemitic-supreme-court-ntwnfb>
"For almost two years, Mohommed Farhat has been in prison after he pleaded
guilty to 15 offences in connection with property damage, including
spray-painting “Fuk Israel” on cars in Sydney’s east and setting another
vehicle alight in late 2024.
This week, the New South Wales supreme court justice Desmond Fagan ruled that
police, lower courts and various state agencies all incorrectly labelled
Farhat’s actions antisemitic, meaning he was treated more harshly.
Fagan wrote in his judgment, released on Tuesday, that “Fuk Israel” was “a
curse against a foreign state”. He also criticised the controversial
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism
as “detached from reality” and “inept”.
Farhat’s case came before Fagan this year when the state tried and failed to
cast him as a future terror threat based on what Fagan called the same
“misconception” about his motivation.
During a July hearing, Fagan told the parties: “This proceeding against this
man seems to me to have been derailed and gone completely haywire right from
the beginning by the police representation to the magistrate and submissions to
the magistrate and again to the district court judge that this content was
antisemitic. And it’s erroneous.”
On Wednesday, Fagan said that the case appeared to be a “serious miscarriage of
justice”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
