Keysar Trad

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Keysar Trad talks to ABC News about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict (July 2006)

Keysar Trad is a spokesperson for a section of the Australian Muslim community.

1 Background
2 Career
3 Controversy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

Keysar Trad was born in Lebanon and came to Australia at the age of thirteen under the Australian government's family reunion program. He met and married his wife, Hanifeh, when he was in his early twenties. They live in south-west Sydney and have nine children. ^[1]

After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1987, Trad decided to become a much more strict Muslim, rather than to follow the more liberal form of Islam that he observed around him in Lebanon and Australia. Trad began to take an active role at the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney shortly thereafter.^[1]

[edit] Career

Trad is well known for his former^[2] role as an interpreter and spokesperson for Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly.

He is also an author, having released several books, including one in which he claimed that Australian police were rapists and that the government was providing drugs to Lebanese youth.

After leaving the Lebanese Muslim Association, Trad founded his own organisation, the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia Inc (IFAA).

[edit] Controversy

Trad has become a highly controversial figure in Australia due to many of his activities, comments and views on matters relating to Islam:

He once translated some articles for "Nidal ul Islam", the magazine of an Australian-based group called the 'Islamic Youth Movement', of which Bilal Khazal was once a member.^[3] The group has since been investigated for alleged terrorism-related offences.
In 2005 he said, "The criminal dregs of white society colonised this country and...the descendents of these criminal dregs tell us that they are better than us." ^[4]
Despite publically stating that he rejects terrorism, Trad's refusal to criticise some terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, has led to allegations that he is not sincere in encouraging Muslims to reject it. In addition, his frequent criticism of Israel has led to many accusations that he is anti-Semitic. Moreover, in August 2006, shortly after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was agreed to in order to end conflict, Trad and Hilaly wrote to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, urging him to reject Australian peacekeepers. ^[5]
He offended many moderate Muslims, as well as some Australians of Turkish background, when he alleged "Atatürk was in fact an opponent of the practice of Islam" ^[6] when responding to Australian Treasurer Peter Costello's speech ^[7] suggesting Modern Turkey as a model for Islamic countries.
Throughout his years as Hilaly's spokesperson, Trad has been heavily criticised for continually defending Hilaly with his insistence that Hilaly has been taken out of context or misunderstood. For example, following the comments made by Hilaly in October 2006 which said that if a woman is raped it is usually her own fault, Trad said that Hilaly was talking about adultery, not rape. [1] Sydney Morning Herald Columnist Paul Sheehan (entertainment journalist) accused him of lying. ^[8]
In response to comments made by Sheik Hilaly on Egyptian TV, Trad once again suggested he was being quoted out of context.