Flydubai copilot's radicalization linked to Australia imam who called Zionists ‘bloodsuckers’

The Omani copilot who admitted to attempting to crash a flydubai aircraft carrying passengers to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport became radicalized while living in Australia between 2015 and 2017, according to Emirati investigators.

Hammam al-Hamami, who stabbed the flight’s captain, reportedly attended a mosque affiliated with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) while living in Australia. He later came into contact with individuals associated with MyCentre, an Islamic center led by Samir Mohtadi, also known as Abu Hamza.

Mohtadi, a Lebanese-born imam, has a history of anti-Jewish rhetoric, including describing Zionists as “scavengers” and “bloodsuckers.” The imam drew criticism last year over a sermon and social media post featuring inflammatory anti-Zionist remarks.

“O Allah, grant victory to our mujahideen in Palestine, strengthen their footing and grant them a clear victory,” Mohtadi said in Arabic. “O Allah, shake the ground beneath the feet of the Zionists. O Allah, deprive them of the blessing of security, scatter their gatherings and tear their unity apart,” he added.

In a post published on the official Facebook page of the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia (IISNA), Mohtadi rejected Israel’s right to exist.

“We do not believe in a country called Israel. Every righteous person believes that there is Palestine and that there is no Israel,” he said. “I have always said, and I have always believed, that Zionists are not normal. They are bloodsucking human beings; they are scavengers. They are not human, I swear by Allah.”

“God willing, may they all return to Russia, Ukraine, America and Britain, and may Palestine be cleansed of these filthy Zionist terrorists,” Mohtadi added.

He has also previously urged Muslim worshippers to reject Australia's liberal democratic values. “The war being waged here is far more dangerous than the war in Gaza,” he said. “They want to implant in our minds the idea that God does not exist. That is why this is a war over the mind. They want us to doubt Allah, to doubt the Day of Judgment and to doubt the Prophet.”

In January, flydubai hired al-Hammami despite concerns about his extremist background, according to earlier reports. His previous employer, Oman Air, had reportedly terminated his employment over concerns that he possessed “extremist materials” and held radical Islamist views.

On Friday, UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi confirmed that al-Hammami intended to crash flight FZ1073 as a terror attack. The hijacking attempt was thwarted by the actions of the wounded Indian captain, Captain Smit Machchhar, several Israeli passengers and two off-duty pilots.