NSW Supreme Court Justice Desmond Fagan launched a stinging rebuke of a widely adopted international definition of anti-Semitism in his ruling that denied an application for strict supervision of a hired vandal.
Mohommed Farhat is set to be released in October after serving prison time for a 41-minute graffiti and arson spree through Sydney's east in November 2024.
The 22-year-old was jailed in November after causing over $100,000 in property damage including leaving 10 cars covered in slogans such as "F*** Israel" and "PKK coming" - a reference to the terror-designated Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Prosecutors attempted to apply for an extended supervision order for Farhat upon his release, citing an alleged anti-Semitic intent as an indicator of the risk he would commit a serious terrorism offence.
Justice Fagan rejected the application, finding the slogans were political critiques and not an expression of religious hatred.
The judge found both prosecutors and the local court judge who sentenced Farhat had improperly conflated political critique of Israel with anti-Semitism and lashed out at the definition of anti-Semitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) that they cited.
Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, has relied heavily on the definition in her recommendations for addressing religious hatred against Jews.
But the definition, which has been adopted by the federal government, is "detached from the reality" of anti-Semitism in Australia, the judge said.
"The ... core text is so verbose and imprecise that it could not realistically be attributed to the ordinary, reasonably informed member of the Australian public," Justice Fagan said.
"Its tendency ... (is) a parasitic rejection of protest against Israel,"
Justice Fagan cited a poll conducted in June showing 79 per cent of Australians view Israel unfavourably for its conduct in Gaza.
"It would be preposterous to suggest that 79 per cent of Australians are anti-Semitic because they disapprove of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians," he said.
The judge further rejected the argument put forward by prosecutors that "F*** Israel" is self-evidently anti-Semitic, saying it was merely a "crude political expression of contempt".
Justice Fagan found no anti-Semitic meaning was intended by Farhat, in part because he was directed to paint the slogans by those who recruited him.
"I accept, unreservedly, the defendant's case that he was recruited to commit the index offences," the judge said.
Farhat's barrister Peter Lange SC previously argued his client has low intellectual functioning and is easily influenced.
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