Australia on Monday revoked the visa of Jewish-British-Israeli influencer Sammy Yahood, who warns of the dangers of radical Islam, on the claim that he “spreads hatred.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke justified his decision by saying that those who want to visit the country should come for the “right reasons,” and “spreading hatred is not a good reason to come.”
Yahood’s visa was canceled only three hours before his scheduled flight.
A statement from the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) said that the organization strongly condemns the Albanese Government for cancelling the visa of yet another Jewish visitor
AJA CEO Robert Gregory said, “Sammy Yahood was scheduled to visit Australia to speak at major synagogues in Sydney and Melbourne and to participate in a series of events with different Jewish organizations.”
“While we weren’t involved in planning the visit, just days ago, the Australian Jewish Association had secured Sammy to run a self-defense session in partnership with another synagogue. The event generated great interest from the Jewish community amid heightened insecurity in Australia.
“On the Australia Day public holiday, just three hours before his scheduled flight, Sammy was notified that his visa had been cancelled. Sammy now joins a growing list of Jewish visitors whose visas have been revoked by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, including former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, American technology entrepreneur Hillel Fuld, and Knesset Member Simcha Rothman.
“The persistent targeting of Jewish visitors by the Albanese Government has contributed to the rise of antisemitism in Australia. This latest cancellation reinforces deep concerns within the Jewish community that, despite the horror of the Bondi massacre and the government’s belated apology, the Albanese Government hasn’t changed and was never genuine.
“One of the events in Sydney was due to be attended by survivors of the Bondi massacre.
“This targeting is particularly galling given that the government has not acted against Islamic hate preachers. The misuse of Tony Burke’s ministerial powers was one of the reasons AJA opposed the so-called hate speech laws, which significantly expanded those powers.
“Whenever I speak to Jewish people around the world, they express great concern about what has happened in Australia. This is going to further tarnish Australia’s reputation.”
Yahood responded by stating: “I am a proud 25 year-old Jewish man, proud to have grown up in Britain, and proud as a Zionist to now live in the one Jewish state, Israel.”
“I have been physically attacked on multiple occasions purely for standing up for the truth, my identity, my values, and Jewish self-defense. I will not stop now.
“Islam is responsible for nearly 50,000 terrorist attacks since 9/11. I watched my hometown, London, being devastated by it, with now more than one rape being reported every hour in 2025. I believe that good people cannot simply stand by and just watch. We have a duty to our children’s future to stand up for our values and the survival of our cultures.
“As a Jew, I understand that all too well. If anyone believes I am hateful, they are wrong. I criticize bad ideologies; I do not target people. Tolerance of those who are not tolerant of you is nothing but suicidal empathy. It is pure weakness. As the Rambam (Maimonides) teaches, Courage comes from trust and faith, whilst fear comes from its absence.
“My assessment of our problem today is that our trust and faith have been dramatically broken down, so courage is now rare. Aristotle once said ‘courage is the ultimate virtue.’ Morality crumbles the moment good people stop standing up for it. That takes courage.
“Today, 3 hours before my flight, the Australian government cancelled my visa. I am supposed to be speaking about courage and bringing empowerment to both Jewish and Christian communities, but this has been denied. This may be a hindrance, but it will not silence my voice. I will continue to speak, to build, and to stand for courage, truth, the Jewish people, and the right of free people to defend themselves. I encourage everyone to do the same.”
He later added, “If you remember one thing in this whole situation – The UAE welcomed me in; Australia banned me for ‘hatred’ towards Islam…”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Yes it’s good to see a young idealistic Jewish fellow but with his passion he should go to a yeshiva like Aish and learn kiruv outreach. What is needed worldwide is to inspire secular Jews to come closer to Torah observance. I once asked Rabbi Avigdor Miller Ztl about Reb Meir Kahane. He said he should come back to America and go to all the colleges and with his talent be mekariv young Jews to Yiddishkeit. I was fascinated by his answer because most Rabbis did not know how to classify him and realize his talent. Chsssidic rabbis looked at him as a goy and young Israel rabbis looked at him as a tzaddik. A few years later i met this woman who organized in Israel a seminar on Torah Judaism. She invited various groups for this three day seminar such as Chabad and Breslev. Meir Kahane came to her why he wasn’t invited. She told him because you talk politics not Torah. So Kahane offered to talk about the concept of tsuvah repentance. He came day three and spoke about tsuvah for two hours. There were Arabs in the crowd and could not believe this was the Meir Kahane they heard about on the media. They were so impressed about his talk on this subject. I then remembered what Rabbi Miller said years earlier. To this young man I say the same. Bring back your fellow young Jews to Torah. If you are a good speaker you can brush up on kiruv through books and lectures by kiruv professionals. Even non Jews and Arabs would be fascinated. I once heard from Rabbi Amnon Yitzchok how an Arab was so impressed hearing a recording of his on a public bus that he stayed on the bus way past his stop. Torah can change people. We see it all the time. I recall years ago learning in yeshiva with a guy who was a ger but amazing he had belonged to the neo Nazi party in Virginia. I asked this blond tall blue eyed guy what made you become Jewish. He said that in the neo Nazi party they would look through translated gemorahs to try and find negative statements to use against Jews. He became so impressed of the Talmud that he decided to become a Jew. He told me his father was actually German. The Torah is fire and Divine. Open its book.
” strongly condemns the Albanese Government “…yup , that & $3.00 will get you on a subway train !