An American law professor who said at a pro-Palestine rally on 7 October that the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel marks “considerable celebration” has his visa under review, the Australian home affairs minister has said.
Khaled Beydoun, an associate professor in law at Arizona State University, made the remarks at a rally planned by Stand 4 Palestine on the steps of Lakemba mosque on Monday night. The speech was on the first anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage – about 100 of whom remain unaccounted for.
According to a recording of the speech aired on the ABC, he said: “In many respects, today is also a day that marks considerable celebration, considerable progress, and in some respects, considerable privilege. The level of global literacy around what’s taking place in Palestine has exponentially risen.”
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed he is considering the visa status of Beydoun who was visiting Australia with a number of speaking engagements.
“As soon as I heard about these comments I asked my department to conduct a visa check,” he said in a statement.
“At 8.30pm they confirmed this man is traveling on a visa. I immediately asked them to prepare a brief so I can consider his visa status.”
Guardian Australia attempted to contact Beydoun via LinkedIn but had received no response at the time of publication.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said Beydoun’s visa should never have been approved in the first place.
“But he did prove the point that many of us are making in the lead-up to the rallies on Monday, which is that the only reason you would organise a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday, is if you thought it was worthy of celebration,” he told Sky News.
Beydoun’s university describes the academic as “widely regarded as one of the leading experts on Islamophobia globally” and he has authored or co-edited three books on Islamophobia.
Close to 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 wounded in Gaza since Israel launched its military response to the 7 October attacks, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Questions over how to acknowledge the anniversary of the attack divided the Australian parliament on Tuesday, with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, refusing to support a parliamentary motion proposed by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, marking the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks because it also mentioned the need for regional deescalation and a ceasefire.
The motion also said the parliament “mourns the death of all innocent civilians, recognising the number of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza, and the catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
Dutton said it was “not the time” for a wide-ranging motion.
