Retired Navy captain ousted from advisory board over alleged anti-Israel posts

The most senior former Muslim naval officer in the country, retired Royal Australian Navy Captain Mona Shindy, has reportedly been ousted from a Multicultural NSW advisory board after concerns were raised about alleged anti-Israel social media activity.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Defence Connect.

The former adviser on Islamic cultural affairs for the chief of Navy was reportedly removed from the position last month over claims she had shared an unverified report on social media allegedly linking Israeli Mossad intelligence activity to the Islamic State in Libya and posted allegations that “the system is infiltrated and run by Zionists. Humans need to reclaim the system” on social media platform LinkedIn. The posts were later deleted.

Captain (Ret’d) Shindy was reportedly removed from the group via a letter from NSW Multicultural Affairs Minister Steve Kamper earlier this year, but is considering legal action against the decision.

“Standard probity checks identified recent social media activity by Captain Shindy that raised concerns about her ability to meet Multicultural NSW’s statutory objectives and Code of Conduct requirement,” according to a statement provided by Multicultural NSW to SBS News.

“(The posts were) assessed as inconsistent with these expectations and could undermine perceptions of impartiality and her ability to provide unifying leadership on the advisory board.”

Captain (Ret’d) Shindy has extensive experience in the Australian Defence Force, migrating from Egypt to Australia before joining the Royal Australian Navy as an undergraduate engineer, becoming one of the first three women to serve on an Australian warship.

She has previously seen active service in Iraq in 2003 and was the Navy’s weapons electrical engineer as well as the Chief of Navy’s strategic adviser on Islamic Cultural Affairs. Captain (Ret’d) Shindy was also the first Australian Navy captain to wear a Hijab, as well as being the highest-ranking Muslim in the Navy.

She holds a master’s of commerce, diploma in export, management, and a master’s in politics and policy and was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross in 2015 for contributions to cultural and business reform initiatives she championed for Defence. She was also named the 2015 National Telstra Business Woman of the Year.

In a letter reportedly addressed to Minister Kamper, Captain (Ret’d) Shindy reportedly explained that as a Muslim woman of Arab descent, she was personally “very traumatised by what many authoritative, reputable and evidence-based bodies have called a genocide (in Gaza)”.

Captain (Ret’d) Shindy also wrote and published a memoir of her experience in the Royal Australian Navy, entitled Shattering Identity Bias.