Melbourne Islamic centre mosque imam denies radicalising pilot who tried to crash flydubai passenger jet
A Melbourne Islamic centre linked to Israel terror plot pilot Hamman Al-Hammami received a Department of Home Affairs grant to promote multiculturalism. Now that mosque imam has denied radicalising him.
The leader of a mosque linked with an Omani flydubai co-pilot accused of plotting a September 11-style terror attack in Israel has denied radicalising the former Melbourne international student.
Hammam Al-Hammami, 29, is accused of attempting to hijack flight FZ1073 on September 30, which was scheduled to fly from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
United Arab Emirates Attorney-General Hamid Saif Al Shamsi has alleged that Al-Hammami, 29, had attempted to seize control of the aircraft and launch a suicide attack on the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv with the aim of causing a mass catastrophe in the style of the American September 11 attacks of 2001.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The UAE’s Public Prosecution also alleges Al-Hammami drifted towards extremism while studying in 2017 in Melbourne, where he attended a mosque affiliated with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology or RMIT.
They confirmed that through these visits, he became acquainted with MyCentre, managed by a Lebanese man known as Abu Hamza with the group allegedly receiving support from the Muslim Brotherhood, which isn’t listed as a banned terror group in Australia despite being the ideology behind Gazan terror group Hamas which is banned in Australia.
This masthead does not suggest that either MyCentre or Abu Hamza is guilty of any wrongdoing or misconduct in connection with Al-Hammami.
The imam of that mosque, also known as Samir Mohtadi, has posted a Facebook message denying radicalising the flydubai co-pilot, invoking Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
“Right through the ages … those who’re righteous, they’ve always been attacked, abused, accused, killed, imprisoned — and this is the way it is,” he said.
“There are circumstances, my beloved brothers and respected sisters, regardless how much you explain yourself to people, they’re fixated with their ideas and that’s it; you can’t change them.
“So, the best thing sometimes is not to say anything.”
MyCentre, a registered charity also known as the Multicultural Youth Centre Ltd, was awarded a $68,136 community language schools grant from very department charged with protecting Australia’s national security.
The Department of Home Affairs grant was approved in March 2024 to see Federal taxpayer money flow from June 11, 2024 to December 19, 2028 under the program which aimed to “strengthen the cohesion of Australia’s successful multicultural society by supporting more young Australians to acquire a second language”.
Clare O’Neil, a Melbourne-based Labor MP, was Australia’s minister for home affairs when the Broadmeadows-based centre in the city’s north, also known as MyCentre, was awarded the grant in a suburb where more than a third of residents were Muslim in the last published census.
The Multicultural Youth Centre Ltd also received $393,000 from the Victorian Labor Government’s Department of Premier and Cabinet in the 2023-24 financial year to build a new Centre for Muslim Women’s Wellbeing.
“In particular, it supports women from newly arrived and emerging refugee communities, who often have trouble accessing mainstream services,” it said.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke needed to explain whether his department was providing taxpayer grants to centres promoting radical Islam.
“This is an extraordinary and deeply concerning revelation,” Senator Hanson said.
“The radicalisation of the man accused of trying to hijack an aircraft and carry out a 9-11 style terrorist attack reportedly began in Melbourne as an international student.”
Senator Hanson and One Nation want the Federal Government to instead have greater powers to shut down prayer halls.
“The same government that refused to name radical Islamic terrorism for days after the Bondi massacre dragged its feet on a Royal Commission, and fails to confront Islamic extremism head-on is now at risk of funding extremism too,” Senator Hanson said.
An Indian co-pilot Captain Smit Machchhar heroically managed to unlock the cockpit door as Al-Hammami violently attacked him with an axe during the hijacking attempt, which enabled passengers to subdue him and take control of the plane.
