Sydney Muslim cleric tells court Jewish people can’t be offended by him calling them ‘vile’ as lectures were private

Wissam Haddad at the federal court in Sydney, where he is being sued for alleged racial discrimination. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

A Sydney Muslim cleric being sued for alleged racial discrimination has told the federal court no Jewish person could be offended over a series of lectures in which he described Jewish people in the seventh century as “mischievous”, “treacherous” and “vile” because the lectures were delivered to a private Muslim audience.

While giving evidence to the federal court on Wednesday, Wissam Haddad was taken to evidence of his own advertisements on Instagram, promoting several of the speeches, and which included the words: “the lecture will be recorded and then uploaded on YouTube”.