<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An Islamist preacher's speeches that allegedly painted Jewish people as "vile and treacherous" were not racist but formed part of a robust discussion, his lawyer has argued.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sydney-based Al Madina Dawah Centre cleric Wissam Haddad has been </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/courts" rel="" target="_blank" title="accused of racial discrimination"><span>accused of racial discrimination</span></a><span> after a series of fiery sermons from November 2023, which have racked up thousands of views online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In one of his speeches, he appears to blame the roots of "the enmity that we see today" on "none other than the Jews ... because their forefathers had shown the same enmity to the Prophet (Mohammed)".</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/lauren-tomasi-shot-in-los-angeles-protests-anthony-albanese-responds/428fdfbe-4358-4ba0-8414-40cc4e0254dd"><strong><span>PM says he's raised shooting of Aussie reporter with Trump administration</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Haddad is being sued by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim and deputy president Robert Goot, who are seeking the removal of the allegedly racist speeches.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They also want Haddad to be barred from making similar comments again.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wertheim told the Federal Court on Tuesday the speeches used "overtly dehumanising" language.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/muslim-preacher-defends-dehumanising-sermons-on-jews/dd2c102b-0026-4cb7-8fbc-b11a7b46cbbf" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Making derogatory generalisations, calling Jews a vile and treacherous people, calling them rats and cowards ... are things which I think would be experienced by most Jews as dehumanising," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His barrister Peter Braham SC told the court the speeches drew on a large range of offensive tropes and were designed to threaten, humiliate and denigrate all Jewish people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court was told Haddad, who is also known as Abu Ousayd, addressed a camera and engaged with media coverage of his commentary.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/man-dies-after-alleged-hit-and-run-in-sydney-s-south-west/b2147077-7724-4ab3-8ef5-129944df7031" rel="" target="_blank" title="Man dies, woman arrested after alleged hit-and-run"><strong><span>Man dies, woman arrested after alleged hit-and-run</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But his barrister Andrew Boe argued the preacher's speeches were intended for a private Muslim audience of 40 people and he was not responsible for publishing them online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said it was unlikely any Jewish people would have come across the speeches if they had not received coverage by media organisations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It would be analogous to a person of a prudish sensitivity seeking out pornography on the web and then complaining about being offended by it," Boe said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Haddad denies breaching anti-discrimination laws and claims he was delivering historical and religious lectures on historical events from the Koran and the war in Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The speeches occurred in the context of a vigorous political debate characterised by an intensity of feeling on both sides and set against the background of a long religious history, Boe said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He advocated for the preservation of free speech and argued the boundaries of debate couldn't be set so narrow as to exclude views which were not polite, bland or balanced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wertheim said being exposed to challenging ideas in robust conversations did not insult him "as long as they don't cross the boundary into vilification".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyer told the court that the Jewish community lived with "a communal memory of past persecution and which remains conscious of threats to its safety by reason of race".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hearing continues.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 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