7 OCT 2026Sydney (Hyde Park) protest riot
7 OCT 2026 Imams and the Grand Mufti travel to Gaza and meet with Hamas
In December 2012, the Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, led a delegation of Australian Muslim scholars to the Gaza Strip. The ABC reported: "Local television has shown pictures of Dr Mohammed meeting with Hamas's political leader, Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, on December 26." The ABC also quoted his remarks as translated by MEMRI TV: "We came here in order to learn from Gaza... to learn steadfastness, sacrifice, and the defence of one's rights from them."
Islamic Relief Australia's own documentary, uploaded to its official YouTube channel in July 2013, says: "Islamic Relief took an Australian Delegation of 22 Australian Muslim Imams & Community Leaders on a trip to Gaza, Egypt and the Syrian Camps in Jordan". The description lists the delegates. Sydney: "Grand Mufti of Australia: Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed", plus Yahya Safi, Abdul Salam Zod, Abdel Moez Nafti, Mohamed Khamis, Omar El Banna, Shady Al Suleiman, Khaled Taleb, Hassan El Setohy, Khodr Saleh, Walid Ali, Keysar Trad, Rafique Kirsten, Walid Ibrahim, Tamer Kahil and Mohamed Al-Zoubi. Melbourne: Abdel Aziem Afifi, Faisal Shehata and Fawaz Chawk. Adelaide: Riad El Rifai and Amin Abou-Samaha. Brisbane: Mabrouk Houadchia. These names appear only in the organiser's material, not in the ABC report.
The ABC noted: "The military wing of Hamas is listed as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the Australian Government." It also reported: "The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is up to the individuals in the delegation to make sure they do not breach Australian laws." A parliamentary committee report records that Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades were first listed under the Criminal Code on 9 November 2003 and re-listed on 18 August 2012, so that listing was in force at the time of the trip.
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7 OCT 2026 Innocence of Muslims movie – riots
Innocence of Muslims was a low-budget, US-made film that mocks the Prophet Mohammed. A trailer dubbed into Arabic was posted on YouTube in September 2012 (BBC). The ABC reported that protests against the film had led to more than 50 deaths "since the first demonstrations on September 11". The BBC named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula as the alleged producer. On 7 November 2012 a US judge sentenced him to a year in prison for probation violations linked to an earlier fraud conviction. The BBC noted: "None of the charges was connected with the content of the controversial film".
In Sydney on Saturday 15 September 2012, SBS (citing AAP and police) reported that at about 1pm "an unannounced and unapproved" group gathered at Town Hall and marched towards Martin Place. Fighting broke out with police when the group tried to enter the US consulate in the MLC Centre. Around 300 people then gathered in Hyde Park, where police used capsicum spray. SBS reported banners including "Behead all those who insult the Prophet". Six police were injured, two of whom were taken to hospital, eight people were arrested and at least two police vehicles were damaged (SBS; ABC).
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said: "I absolutely condemn the violence that we saw yesterday" (SMH). Khaled Sukkarieh of the Islamic Council of NSW told the ABC: "Violence is no way an answer to anything and we condemn the violence that's happened". By 24 October 2012, 12 people had been charged (SMH). Mohammed Issaka was jailed in November 2013 with a minimum of six months, for offences including assaulting a police officer (ABC). Former boxer Ahmed Elomar pleaded guilty to hitting an officer over the head with a flag pole and was jailed in June 2014 for four years and eight months, with a minimum of two and a half years (ABC).
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7 OCT 2026 100k Bounty put on Movie Maker
On 22 September 2012, a day after violent protests across Pakistan, the country's Railways Minister, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, offered US$100,000 for the death of the maker of Innocence of Muslims. The BBC quoted him: "I will pay whoever kills the makers of this video $100,000". The ABC (BBC/AFP) reported that he spoke to reporters in Peshawar and quoted him: "I also invite Taliban and Al Qaeda brothers to be partners in this noble deed."
The BBC reported that the Pakistani Prime Minister's press secretary said the government "absolutely dissociated itself" from the statement. Bilour's party, the ANP, called it a personal statement and not party policy. The US State Department told the BBC: "Therefore we find Mr Bilour's announcement is inflammatory and inappropriate."
The man named as the film's alleged producer, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was in hiding at the time (BBC). In November 2012 he was jailed in the US for probation violations unrelated to the film's content (BBC).
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7 OCT 2026 Toulouse and Montauban shootings – Mohammed Merah
Over eight days in March 2012, a gunman on a scooter killed seven people in three attacks in south-western France. On 11 March, paratrooper Staff Sergeant Imad Ibn-Ziaten was shot dead in Toulouse. On 15 March, Corporal Abel Chennouf and Private Mohamed Legouad were killed in Montauban, and a third soldier, Corporal Loic Liber, was left in a coma. On 19 March, the gunman attacked the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, killing Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his sons Gabriel and Arieh, and seven-year-old Myriam Monsonego.
Police identified the gunman as Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old French citizen of Algerian origin from Toulouse. After a siege at his flat lasting about a day and a half, a police commando shot him dead on 22 March. The BBC reported that prosecutor François Molins said Merah cited the fate of the Palestinians, the French military presence in Afghanistan and France's ban on the full veil as motives. The BBC also reported that France's domestic intelligence agency had known of his trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan and had questioned him in November 2011.
On 18 April 2019, a special Paris assize appeal court found Merah's brother Abdelkader Merah guilty of complicity in the terrorist murders and attempted murders committed by Mohamed Merah in March 2012. It sentenced him to 30 years' imprisonment, two-thirds of it non-parole. He had been acquitted of complicity at his first trial. (Translated from the French press release of the Paris prosecutor-general.)
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7 OCT 2026 Shady Alsuleiman sermon: “Palestine Belongs To The Muslim Ummah”
A sermon by Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman, president of the Australian National Imams Council, published on YouTube under the title "Palestine Belongs To The Muslim Ummah, Palestine Is In Our Hearts".
The place it was given is not known. Its content dates it to the November 2012 Gaza conflict, five weeks before he joined the Australian delegation to Gaza: he says Gaza is being bombed "every single night for the last few nights", quotes Barack Obama saying Israel has "the right to defend" itself, and says leaders who "came after the Arab Spring" have told Israel "the situation with Gaza now is different than four years ago" (the 2008-09 war). The earliest copy found on YouTube is a 12-minute version titled "Palestine Belongs To The Muslims Emotional", uploaded on 1 June 2013. The 14-minute version shown here was uploaded on 11 November 2014 by the channel AL MASHUD.
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Introduction
On 15 September 2012, several hundred people marched through the Sydney CBD in protest against the film Innocence of Muslims, which had set off protests around the world in the days before.
About 300 people gathered in Hyde Park. Banners included "Behead all those who insult the Prophet" and "Our dead are in paradise, your dead is in hell".
A young boy was seen carrying a placard reading "Behead all those who insult the prophet". His 25-year-old mother later went to police. Police said they were confident the child was at no risk, and took no further action.
Police formed lines as the march moved through Martin Place, city streets and Hyde Park. Confrontations developed between protesters and police.
Police used capsicum spray and deployed riot and mounted police. Eight people were arrested for offences including assaulting police and throwing a missile. Six police officers were injured, two of whom were taken to hospital. By 24 October 2012, 12 people had been charged. Mohammed Issaka was jailed in November 2013 with a minimum of six months, for offences including assaulting a police officer. Former boxer Ahmed Elomar pleaded guilty to hitting an officer over the head with a flag pole and was jailed in June 2014 for four years and eight months, with a minimum of two and a half years.
Government Response
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said: "I absolutely condemn the violence that we saw yesterday."
Muslim organisations and community figures publicly distanced themselves from the violent conduct. Khaled Sukkarieh of the Islamic Council of NSW told the ABC: "Violence is no way an answer to anything and we condemn the violence that's happened". Samier Dandan of the Lebanese Muslim Association said "the actions of a very small minority should not be used to tarnish the reputation of the whole community".
Superintendent Mark Walton said the group was "unorganised and clearly split into factions", and that while some had come to express community concerns, "other elements of the group were clearly here with another intent".
Police used imagery and other evidence to identify alleged offenders.
Summary
In September 2012, a protest against the film Innocence of Muslims turned into confrontations with police in central Sydney. Banners read "Behead all those who insult the Prophet", and a young boy carried a placard with the same words. Riot police, mounted police and capsicum spray were used. Six police were injured and eight people were arrested.
Political leaders condemned the violence, and Muslim organisations distanced themselves from it. The images became part of a wider Australian debate about radicalisation, integration, free speech, religious insult and the limits of protest.
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