Arabic → English transcript

Mr. Mustafa, allow me, while we talk, we will watch the video that

perhaps… perhaps was also watched by the prime minister of Israel,

Benjamin Netanyahu, and then Netanyahu said the following. He said, I watched

a video clip of a Jewish man attacking one of the killers and snatching the weapon

from him and saving lives known only to God. For Netanyahu,

the one who saved the lives is a Jewish man. Is it possible for you to tell us

who saved the lives? And what is your relation to him? Peace be upon you,

Abu Al-Sheikh. - You are most welcome. My dear brother, I send greetings

to all your viewers through your esteemed channel, and to correct you, I am Mustafa

Al-Asaad, I am a relative of Ahmad Al-Ahmad. - You are most welcome.

Ahmad Al-Ahmad is an Australian citizen of Syrian origin,

from the city of Idlib, from the village of Al-Nayrab. His full name is Ahmad Fathi

Al-Ahmad. Mr. Mustafa? Yes.

I apologize to you because the picture was cut off, but I can hear you well. The picture

has come back again. No, take it easy with it a bit, introduce me to Ahmad.

Once again from the start. He is Syrian from Idlib, go ahead. He is Australian.

By nationality, an Australian citizen of Syrian origin from the city of Idlib from

the village of Al-Neirab. His full name is Ahmad Fathih Al-Ahmad. Okay, and

what is your relationship to him? The relationship is that he is my cousin on my mother's side, I mean almost…

I do not know if you know how that works… I mean, kinship… Okay,

from the family. You were with him, you were in the hospital with him, where is he

now, Ahmad? Ahmad is now in St George Hospital, which is

in Kogarah in Sydney. Tomorrow morning he will receive treatment…

the removal of the bullets from his left shoulder. He was hit by two bullets,

one in his shoulder and one in his left hand. And we are waiting until

the morning to remove the bullets from his shoulder, God willing. Is his condition stable?

Why wait until the morning to remove the bullets? Right now

his condition is stable, thank God, but the doctors… said that tomorrow

morning, God willing, they will remove the bullets from his body. These

remain medical matters that I do not know about, the decision is up to the hospital.

I mean. Okay, did you talk to him? Yes, yes, I talked to him and saw him and sat

with him for almost a full hour, God willing. Okay, so the first question

that comes to mind… the video, if our colleagues allow it, let us watch the video

again, where he moves between the cars to pounce on one of the gunmen

and snatch the weapon from him. What was going through his mind at that moment

as he risked his life? Did he know that this attack was targeting Jews?

He does not know, it was not targeting Jews or targeting… he… what he

saw was an armed man shooting at passersby. When he saw people dying

and people… being struck by bullets, it did not mean… he did not come

so that he could bear, for example, to see people dying. It was a humanitarian act

more than it was any other kind of act. And any decent human being and citizen…

when he sees this kind of thing… surely he will not… and if he knows

he is able to stop death, he will not hold back. Did he tell you about moments

of fear? He did not think in his life… that he himself was exposed to death during the attempt

Disarming the gunman or seizing the weapon? I spoke to him and he spoke to me

about it. At first glance, he was not thinking about death. When

he saw people dying and bullets over his head… he told me, word for word,

“God Almighty gave me courage. Before I knew it, I just pounced

on him.” Okay, after he managed to seize

the weapon and suffered this injury… did he feel any regret because in the end

he got wounded, you know? Why would he regret it now? On the contrary, he did a heroic act, why

should he feel regret? On the contrary, he is very proud that he saved lives.

People who were… only God knows how many people were going to die, you know.

Lifespans are in God’s hands, but he did a heroic act, so why should he regret it?

On the contrary, he is very proud that he saved even one life, or even one person.

Okay, we know very well the situation in the Middle East and the relations of countries

with Israel… and what Israel is doing, and the sensitivities perhaps when it

comes to the Israeli state. But through the human discussion

the normal thing between you and him in the family… because now Israel is portraying

what is happening in Australia as if this attack is because of anti-

Semitism… before Israel finds out that the one who saved the lives of the Jews

is, in the end, a Muslim… from an Arab country. In your talk with

Ahmed… do you feel there is a negative view toward Jews… that

would justify Israel’s belief in antisemitism? Here in Australia

we live together with all nationalities, with all sects. In our whole lives we have never thought

about these things, or what this person’s nationality is, or what this person’s religion is.

I mean any person… when we see him here, he is Australian, we do not know

whether he is Jewish or Syrian… or Muslim or this or that…

we do not talk about religions here. An Australian citizen, whatever his background is,

we do not think about that here. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, we are

in Australia living together with one another, with all the nationalities of the world,

I mean. There are many nationalities in Australia and many religions. But…

We had never thought about this at all, and we had never asked anyone, “You,

what is your religion, or what is your background, or what is this?” And when Ahmad saw that scene,

and he saw people dying from bullets and gunfire, his conscience…

of course—he told me, he said, “I could not bear this,

God Almighty gave me strength and gave me faith so that

I would stand up and stop this person who is killing people. And I am sorry,

I mean, we have never in our lives known, for example, what this is…”

We do not know what his religion is or anything, when we are walking, there pass by a thousand

people… we do not know who this person is or what his nationality is or what his background is or

what his religion is. We know that we are Australian citizens living together

with one another in complete love. So, do you feel that society’s view of the Arab

community or of Australians of Arab origin… that society’s view of

them in Australia has started to change after this incident? These words

are not true, and I do not think this is going to happen… because we, thank

By God, Lord of the worlds, we live in Australia and we are Australian citizens.

We have been in Australia for a long time, we have never seen this kind of attitude and we have never

seen an Australian citizen, for example, speaking in a racist way.

We do not have racism in this country, praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, all of us

live together and work together. Sometimes we find ourselves, for example,

more than one nationality in the same gathering, for example, and all of us speak on the basis

that we are Australians, Australian citizens, but we do not talk to each other on the basis

of religions, or sects, or other backgrounds.