A prominent Australian imam has said comments made at a pro-Palestinian rally at which another imam described October 7, 2023 as a “day of pride” and “victory” were inappropriate.
Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) President Sheikh Shadi Asuleiman was on Friday called to give evidence at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which has this week been examining the drivers of antisemitism and radicalisation in the community.
Born to Palestinian immigrants and raised in Sydney, Sheikh Shadi is also the founder of the United Muslims of Australia, a centre which seeks to engage and support the Muslim community.
He was asked about his response to an incident on October 8, 2023, in which Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun addressed a pro-Palestinian rally at Lakemba in Sydney’s south-west, following terrorist group Hamas’s attack on southern Israel.
Sheikh Ibrahim told the crowd he was “smiling” and “happy”.
“I’m elated, it’s a day of courage, it’s a day of pride, it’s a day of victory. This is the day we’ve been waiting for,” he said at the time.
‘Nothing to celebrate’
Speaker Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun described the Hamas attacks as an act of resistance. (ABC News)
The rally attracted widespread criticism, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying at the time there was “nothing to celebrate” about the attacks in southern Israel.
Sheikh Ibrahim posted a statement to Facebook the day after the rally, stating he did not “express any support” for the loss of lives on either side of the war in his speech.
“I do not condone nor celebrate the killing of innocent people on any side, particularly women and children,” he said in the statement.
“In my speech [on October 8, 2023] when I said ‘I’m smiling and I’m happy’ … I was referring only to the fact of the Palestinian people breaking the blockade after 16 years of grave suffering.”
Sheikh Shadi said Sheikh Ibrahim had resigned from his director position at the ANIC some time before the incident, and his comments were made without the knowledge or approval of ANIC.
“We believe the comments that Ibrahim Dadoun made on the 8th of October were inappropriate, especially during a time of heightened tension and a time where communities need to come together,” Sheikh Shadi said on Friday.
Sheikh ‘very cooperative’
Imam Ibrahim is the former director of ANIC. (ABC News: Cecilia Connell )
Sheikh Shadi said the ANIC sought explanation from Sheikh Ibrahim, who was provided counselling.
“Our approach … at ANIC is to always engage with our members,” he said.
“Our philosophy is very strong when it comes to excluding anyone even when they make serious mistakes, [exclusion] is unhelpful for the organisation, for the individual and for the community.
“We do believe that religious leaders have responsibility in their rhetoric and narrative and when we saw cooperation from an individual of concern, then we would like to keep these people in the folds of the Australian National Imams Council.”
Sheikh Shadi said the ANIC spoke with Sheikh Ibrahim, who was “very cooperative” and “knew that it was a mistake to use that language”.
“We asked him to clarify himself in the public, and he did so,” he said.
“We did not see there was a need for further action.”
Media coverage criticised
Sheikh Shadi says Sheikh Ibrahim was “very cooperative” when spoken with about the incident. (ABC News)
The commission heard ANIC signed a joint statement with a number of other Muslim organisations which addressed the comments made by Sheikh Ibrahim.
The statement said some media outlets took Sheikh Ibrahim’s words “out of context”.
“Throughout his entire speech, the Imam makes no reference to innocent lives lost,” the statement said.
“We deplore the media coverage and the rhetoric used to incite anti-Palestinian sentiments.”
Counsel representing various Jewish communal organisations, Nicholas Bender SC, asked Sheikh Shadi if the statement ANIC supported was “appropriate and adequate” in the way in which it described Sheikh Ibrahim’s speech.
Sheikh Shadi said ANIC agreed with the “general sentiment” expressed in the statement, but said the organisation did not play a primary role in drafting the statement.
An ‘attack on all communities’
Sheikh Shadi said ANIC agreed with the “general sentiment” expressed in the statement. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)
Sheikh Shadi said ANIC met with members of the Jewish community in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14, 2025.
“We stood by them and reiterated many, many times that while this is a targeted attack on the Jewish community, it is an attack on all communities, including the Muslim community,” he said.
Sheikh Shadi was also asked to discuss ANIC’s role in identifying and addressing ideologically motivated extremism in the community.
“We don’t use the term ‘radicalisation’ within our circles but we do believe that sometimes religious leaders from the Muslim community might have concerning ideologies that need to be addressed,” he said.
“The best way we that we do that is through awareness and engagement.”
Program combating Middle East war ‘misinformation’
Kelly Mischel says referrals to countering violent extremism intervention programs have increased. (Supplied: Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion)
The commission also heard from inaugural Commissioner for Countering Violent Extremism in Victoria Kelly Mischel.
Dr Mischel said referrals to the state’s various countering violent extremism intervention programs had increased over the past three years.
She said the jump often coincided with incidents of geopolitical significance such as the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the Bondi Beach terror attack, as well as the increase in awareness of countering violent extremism programs.
She said some were referred after having engaged with “misinformation” online about the war in the Middle East.
Dr Mischel said children as young as 10 were eligible to be referred to some voluntary programs.
“If someone could understand the concepts they are engaging with, and are potentially posing a risk in engaging in violence in response to those concepts and beliefs, then they should be eligible for intervention,” she said.
Dr Mischel said it was rare for a countering violent extremism program to be mandated for an individual, with just one program of its kind existing in Australia.
Under the scheme, Victoria Police can issue a support and engagement order to someone who has demonstrated they are radicalising towards violence.
Dr Mischel said no applications had been made through the program since its launch in 2021.
“The preference is to always provide a voluntary scheme to an individual,” she said.
“There are very few individuals who don’t engage in the programs … and out of those individuals who decline a program … sometimes the engagement with that individual, knowing they have been recommended or referred to a countering violent extremism program may be enough to start that diversion process and also make other people around them aware that they have been referred to a program.”
More on the royal commission