Ari Fuld was fatally stabbed in the back outside a shopping mall by a 17-year-old who then charged, knife drawn, at a woman in a falafel shop, intent on murdering her too. Blood pouring down his back, Fuld, an elite paratrooper with a black belt in karate, chased the assassin over a wall and shot him, before collapsing dead. Thousands attended his funeral, including the Prime Minister. Fuld was not just a hero, said the grateful woman whose life he saved, ‘He gave his life for me.’

Now, in a despicably base act, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke has banned Ari’s brother, Hillel, from visiting Australia.

Fuld was issued a visa three months ago on 10 March to speak at fundraising events in Melbourne and Sydney over the next week hosted by Magen David Adom Australia, Israel’s Red Shield of David, the national emergency, medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. Fuld was speaking at the events to raise money for a new ambulance station in southern Israel. It is hard to imagine a more worthy cause. The Red Shield saves lives without discrimination – even that of the terrorist who murdered Hillel’s brother.

Less than six days before the first event, Burke, cancelled Fuld’s visa, waiting until just before 6 p.m., when religious Jews have already turned off all electronic communications to observe the Sabbath. It was also the beginning of the King’s Birthday long weekend, leaving even less time to appeal the decision.

Burke banned Fuld claiming he ‘may be a risk to the community’ because he posted statements on social media, ‘denying documented atrocities’. When Burke talks about ‘denying documented atrocities’ he is not referring to the starvation, rape and torture of Israeli hostages in Hamas terror tunnels, nor the summary execution of Gazan civilians by Hamas terrorists, nor Hamas refusing to allow Gazan civilians to shelter in its tunnels, or exposing Gazan civilians to the dangers of war by firing missiles from hospitals, schools and mosques in densely populated civilian areas.

What Burke means is denying the ‘atrocity propaganda’ staged by Palestinian cameramen, an industry known as Pallywood. Its Hamas branch is Hallywood and its most famous ‘Ham’ actor is Gaza Joe, who has appeared in multiple ‘Hallywood’ productions starring in such diverse roles as a freedom fighter, blood donor, foster father, war correspondent, tour guide, radiology technician, patient, American Idol, and, memorably, a revived corpse.

These ‘atrocity’ soap operas play out daily on Qatar’s Al Jazeera, the ABC, the BBC, and throughout the West. In this looking-glass land, the Gaza Ministry of Health is an unimpeachable source of reliable statistics, and the whole Israeli Army is treated as if they were convicted war criminals.

The atrocity Fuld disputed was what Hamas called the ‘Flour Massacre’ of February 29, 2024. In his post, Fuld stood by the report of the Israeli Defense Forces, backed up by satellite imagery, which showed masses of Palestinians stampeding aid trucks driven by Gazan contractors. In the melee, people were trampled and run over by the convoy. The IDF said fewer than ten Palestinians, who charged at Israeli soldiers and ignored warning shots fired in the air, were shot in the legs. Hamas claimed, without any supporting evidence, that Israeli soldiers ‘massacred’ 104 civilians. This was the version favoured by Burke, who banned Fuld for standing by the IDF’s version of the incident, rather than that of Hamas.

Burke also banned Fuld for tweeting ‘Islamophobia rhetoric’ on January 6, which, it is claimed, was ‘inflammatory and concerning’ because it ‘could potentially increase the level of hatred against… the Islamic population’.

This seems unlikely. The Muslim population of Australia is eight times larger than the Jewish community, yet 70 per cent of all reported hate incidents between 2022 and 2024 were anti-Jewish, with 2,557 anti-Jewish incidents reported in 2023-24 versus 309 anti-Muslim/Palestinian/Arab incidents in the same period.

Fuld’s tweet references historical facts such as the 1929 Hebron massacre, the PLO’s founding in 1964 and the role of Unrwa and Qatar in inciting terrorism. Fuld argues that fear of Islam is rational, that the push for Palestinian statehood was relatively recent, that Arab massacres of Jews were not driven by Israeli ‘occupation’ since they predated Israel’s existence, that Hamas is responsible for the hunger in Gaza, and that far from engaging in genocide, Israel has put its own people at risk to reduce civilian casualties.

If Islamophobia is defined as ‘unfounded’ hostility toward Islam, how does Burke have the chutzpah to accuse Fuld of ‘Islamophobia’ when Fuld’s views are rooted not in baseless hatred, but the devastating tragedy that his brother was murdered by a jihadist?

Equally shameful, how can Fuld be banned for dismissing Hamas media claims when Hamas is a violently antisemitic, terrorist organisation that enshrines genocide of Jews in its founding charter and consistently lies about all aspects of the war that it is waging on Israel, starting with the mass war crime it committed of slaughtering 1200 civilians and taking another 251 as hostages on October 7?

Burke’s ban rests on Section 116(1)(e) of the Migration Act 1958, which allows cancellation if someone poses a risk to ‘the health, safety or good order of the Australian community’. But Burke does not show that Fuld incited violence or called for unlawful action, or has a history of violent speech, incitement, or disorderly conduct at public events.

On the contrary, when the terrorist who murdered Fuld’s brother was freed in exchange for Israeli hostages in February, Fuld wrote: ‘No one wants to see thousands of monsters walking freely, but anyone who watched the hostages reunite with their families couldn’t stay indifferent. It was one of the most emotional moments I can remember – watching those hostages embrace their families after 500 days of actual hell. In a way, Ari is responsible for that embrace…  His loss was a tremendous tragedy for our family, but his life is a tremendous source of pride. He saved lives when he lived. He saved lives when he died. And now, as these poor hostages come home, he continues to save lives long after he’s gone.’

This is the man of peace that Burke banned, not to preserve public harmony but to pander to the Islamists in Burke’s backyard, in the neighbouring electorates, and around the country, who support the terrorists in Gaza and terrorise Jews in Australia.