Back in February, I exposed Dr Akil Islam, a Queensland-based doctor who had amplified antisemitic social media posts, as well as those in support of terrorism. Following my post, a delegate of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner sent me a letter notifying me that my post constituted cyberbullying – presumably as a result of a complaint from Dr Islam. As I pointed out in an interview with Avi Yemini, it was preposterous that my post exposing antisemitic and terror-supporting posts would be deemed cyberbullying, rather than the vile posts I had exposed.
This morning I woke up to this email from the good doctor himself.
Subject: Remove abusive webcontent
Dear David,
I am writing in complaint to the material you have posted on online on your website israellycool.com characterising me as antisemitic and a terrorist. You then encourage others to make professional complaints against me. These claims are false and the complaints are unfounded.
Furthermore, you have broadcast this false characterisation of me on Youtube in your interview with Avi Yemini.
This constitutes cyberabuse as you are presenting me as a racist and a terrorist which I am not, and you are seeking to destroy my professional standing and ability to practice.
— Dr. Akil Islam MBBS (UWA) FRACGP FRACGP General Practitioner, Amaroo Medical, Mareeba QLD
Here is my response:
Dear Akil,
I totally reject your claim that I posted anything untrue or abusive.
The material I posted online are a video of you speaking at a rally and screenshots of actual social media posts you amplified. If you think your own words and social media activity characterise you “as antisemitic and a terrorist”, that is your own conclusion, but I did not misrepresent anything, nor did I imply both of these things. The title of the post is Dr Akil Islam (QLD) Engages in Antisemitism and Terror Support, making even clearer that I personally think you hold some antisemitic views and support Hamas as resistance fighters.
Either way, these are very troubling things to say and amplify, especially for a doctor, which is why people reported you to the medical board. I would never encourage anyone to report a doctor merely for being anti-Israel, but when you cross the line into antisemitism and terror support like you seem to have, then that is another story. The safety of patients is of paramount importance, and I am not willing to take any chances.
Instead of take accountability by considering how your actions likely make Jewish and Israel-supporting patients feel, apologizing, and promising not to continue publicly posting and saying such things, you have not only demanded I remove the evidence, but you also continue to engage in this disturbing conduct.
Like amplifying a post from someone posting a video of Black Panther leader and Jew haterKwame Ture, in which he articulates that us Jews are not the real Jews (who are African), while writing “Resistance Until Liberation”, and using the red inverted Hamas triangle:
So no, I will not be removing my posts, in which there are no untruths written.
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A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
