The nation’s peak Jewish group is urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny a visa to a prominent comedian who has called Israelis “genocidal … pieces of shit” and accused Israel of bombing its own embassy, reviving a debate about the limits of free speech on polarising topics.
Egyptian-American satirist Bassem Youssef, who has been described as the “Jon Stewart of Egypt”, is slated to perform in major venues including in Sydney and Melbourne in August and September. Tickets are already on sale.
An interview journalist Piers Morgan conducted with Youssef soon after the October 7 attacks, in which Youssef compared Israel’s conduct in Gaza to Russia’s war against Ukraine, has attracted almost 24 million views on YouTube.
Youssef shared a video earlier this year on social media of an interview with far-right influencer Candace Owens in which he described the 1994 bombing of the Israeli embassy in London as a “false flag” operation conducted by Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Two Palestinian men were convicted of being involved in the planning of the attack, but former British intelligence officer Annie Machon has claimed Mossad was behind the explosion.
Machon has also said the September 11 attacks on the US were orchestrated by the US government as a pretext for war and societal control.
Youssef also labelled the September 11 attacks a false flag operation in the same interview with Owens, whom Burke denied a visa in 2024 on the grounds she could incite discord.
In a social media post promoting his stand-up tour of the US and Europe, Youssef said he had to “spend so much time proving to the world how horrible Israelis are, how genocidal, brutal, merciless, just pieces of shit Israelis are” and then they often did it for him.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said: “Nobody from overseas who has a record of making debased generalisations about entire national or religious communities should be granted a visa to Australia.
“That kind of rhetoric should not be allowed to poison our political discourse or be given the opportunity to create and promote entirely baseless feelings of grievance, fear, suspicion and hatred between different sections of Australian society.
“At a time of unprecedented strains on the peace and harmony of our country, which have been highlighted by the [antisemitism] royal commission, the government needs to lead by example and apply its zero-tolerance-for-racism policy against granting a visa to this individual.”
The council has made representations to the Department of Home Affairs in a bid to convince the government to deny Youssef a visa.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni accused the council of trying to stifle free speech, saying antisemitism should not be used as a cover to shield Israel from criticism.
“This is not about community safety. It is about the ECAJ, a self-appointed political thought police, determining the prism under which one can criticise a foreign state and political ideology,” he said.
Youssef, who criticised Islamist groups including the Muslim Brotherhood as a television host in Egypt, has said he uses dark humour to puncture stale narratives about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He has said he would not let accusations of antisemitism deter him from criticising Israel.
“You can’t continue guilt-tripping people with the ‘antisemitism’ accusation. Your victimhood card has expired,” he said in a 2024 social media post.
Burke’s office was contacted for comment. Youssef and the company promoting his tour were also contacted for comment.
Israel is facing genocide charges brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice over the way it prosecuted the war in Gaza, where more than 75,000 Palestinians were killed in the first 15 months of the conflict according to The Lancet medical journal.
Israel has denied the genocide charge.
Burke has personally intervened to cancel dozens of visas applications on the grounds the visitor could undermine social cohesion in Australia, saying free speech was not his top priority.
“I really don’t care about receiving criticisms on freedom of speech. Like, do not care,” Burke told this masthead last year, noting he was taking a tougher approach than his predecessors on approving visas.
As well as Owens, Burke has denied visas to former Israeli cabinet minister Ayelet Shaked and Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Home Affairs also cancelled a visa granted to a Palestinian author who allegedly celebrated Hamas’ October 7 massacre.
Burke was considering denying a visa to controversial Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli earlier this year, but the war in Iran prevented Yehezkeli from travelling.
Youssef has almost 10 million followers on X and wrote a 2017 memoir, Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring.
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
