Category Archives: Australia

Canberra vetoes mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic leaders are demanding an explanation from Foreign Minister Alexander Downer after plans for the Saudi Government to invest in the construction of an Adelaide mosque were vetoed by Canberra.

The Foreign Minister revealed yesterday that the Government objected to a proposal for Saudi cash to be injected into development of the new mosque, which is believed to be located at Park Holme in Adelaide’s southern suburbs. Mr Downer said federal authorities had also been investigating broad concerns on funding sourced from the Middle East after concerns that mosques could become breeding grounds for extremists. “Obviously we don’t want to see any extremist organisation penetrate into Australia,” he said.

But Ali Vachor, secretary of the Islamic Society of South Australia, which manages the Park Holme mosque, told The Australian the decision had halted construction of the building. Mr Vachor said a “great portion” of funding for the development was being sourced from overseas and had not been approved.

Construction was halted after the laying of a concrete slab and prayers are being conducted in a recreation room. Mr Vachor said yesterday the Islamic Society of South Australia would seek an urgent meeting with Mr Downer to determine the reasons behind the Government’s decision.

The Australian, 9 January 2006

Muslims in South Australia subjected to unfair treatment, report finds

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslims in South Australia are being racially abused “like never before”, a Government report has found. The trend has prompted the Equal Opportunity Commission to launch a new project to work with the SA Muslim community, described in the commission’s latest annual report as being “under pressure”.

SA Equal Opportunity Commissioner Linda Matthews said in the annual report that a “small minority are behaving in an unacceptable way” towards newly arrived Muslims. “For generations, South Australian Muslims have been an integral part of our community,” she said. “But in the last five years, the heightened global attention on Islam has seen local Muslims singled out for unfair treatment like never before.”

Roman Catholic Church Vicar-General Monsignor David Cappo, who also heads the State Government’s Social Exclusion Unit and is a member of the executive committee of Cabinet, told The Advertiser‘s Rex Jory racism was widespread among young Adelaide people. “They are very harsh to Asian communities. Now the Muslims are going to get it as well,” he said.

The Australian, 31 December 2006

Melbourne protesters march against racism

Posted on by Eddie Truman

An estimated 1,500 anti-racism protesters marched through the Melbourne CBD on Friday night.

The rally attracted protesters from the Socialist Alliance, the Greens Party and the Civil Rights Defence group. It stopped traffic as it weaved its way through the city to the Liberal Party state offices in Exhibition Street.

Organiser Kim Bullimore says the riots in Sydney have shown that political leaders lack the will to combat racism. “What we need is some leadership … actually take a stand,” she said. “I’m here today because I think that Muslim and Arab people should be welcome in our country,” one protester said.

Another said: “These riots have happened in Sydney due to tension that’s been building up for a long time. We don’t believe in a divided Australia.”

ABC News, 16 December 2005

Christian right in Australia given green light to incite hatred against Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two Christian pastors found to have vilified Muslims stood on the steps of the Court of Appeal yesterday after the ruling was overturned and vowed to keep telling “the truth” about Islam.

Pastor Daniel Scot, who conducted the 2002 seminar on jihad that led to the case under Victoria’s religious hatred laws, said: “Some Muslims have got the idea they have to hide the truth, and that’s very sad.” Insisting that he would continue his seminars on the Koran and Hadiths (Islam’s sacred texts), he said: “People should know it from the primary sources, and not be misled by politically correct teachers who don’t know the reality of Islam and want to glorify it with false pretensions and assumptions.”

Uniting Church justice spokesman Mark Zirnsak said he hoped the judgement would not be seen as a green light for groups to incite racial or religious hatred, believing that the law had been watered down. “There are groups who may be emboldened to test what they can get away with. People might be assaulted or insulted or mistreated because of their race or religion – that’s been our key concern.”

The Age, 15 December 2006

Mad Mel hails “a step forward down under“.

Muslims fear being used as scapegoats in Australian election

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic leaders believe the Federal Government will use the community as scapegoats in next year’s federal election campaign. Their fears are heightened by the Government’s failure to release the report of Prime Minister John Howard’s hand-picked Muslim advisory group examining how to tackle extremism, terrorism and other issues facing the Muslim community.

Muslim Reference Group member Yasser Soliman said the Government was holding back the group’s report while sending critical messages to the wider community, and “some people can read between the lines”.

Mr Soliman, the past president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said he was baffled at the delay. “It is commonly said, and not only by Muslims, that the reason is, they want to position the Muslim community as refusing to integrate and not contributing to the nation, and this report might challenge a few of those perceptions,” he said.

Another reference group member, Yasmin Khan from Queensland, questioned whether the Government-appointed group had been a “charade”. “You wonder whether it highlights everything the (Muslim) community has been saying about the group, that we were the PM’s hand-picked Muslims, chosen as a rubber stamp.”

Islamic Council of Victoria spokesman Waleed Aly said Muslims were certain they would have a major, though involuntary, role in the 2007 election. “Not only do Muslims have a suspicion that they will be pawns in the next election campaign, they now almost assume they will be. To them, it’s just a statement of fact.”

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Bikini march sparks retort

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslims, socialists, unions and other groups will conduct a counter-rally against bikini protesters who plan to march on a Brunswick mosque on Saturday. Police will monitor the demonstrations, with white supremacists claiming to have infiltrated bikini protest ranks, increasing the potential for confrontation.

Organisers of the “Great Australian Bikini March” had planned to march against the Michael St mosque last Saturday, anniversary of the Cronulla riots in NSW. Though the bikini march has been postponed until Australia Day next year, some supporters say they will still hold the rally on Saturday. The march has been promoted on white supremacist websites.

In response, the Islamic Information and Support Centre and the Socialist Party Australia are organising a barbecue and mosque open day for Saturday at the same time.

Herald Sun, 7 December 2006

Australian mosque to get police guard for bikini rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lakemba mosquePolice have been asked to protect Australia’s largest mosque next weekend because of concerns that a bikini march staged to coincide with the anniversary of the Cronulla riots may get out of control.

The caretaker of Lakemba Mosque, the Lebanese Muslim Association, says it is taking no risks, requesting at least 32 police officers to protect the place of worship on Saturday and Sunday. Association president Tom Zreik said he met police on several occasions to ensure there would be adequate numbers of officers present to defuse problems and arrest troublemakers.

“We are treating this as something that is funny and hilarious but also taking precautions,” Mr Zreika said of the bikini march. “Some people may see this as provocation and the last thing that we want is to see anyone being attacked.”

The organiser, Melbourne grandmother Christine Hawkins, has asked women nationally to dress in bikinis and colourful beachwear and rally outside large mosques to show their disgust at comments by leading Muslim cleric, Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly, who likened women to “uncovered meat”. A white supremacist website has promoted the march.

Members of Sydney’s Muslim community began raising their concerns last week, with hundreds joining an internet discussion to find a “peaceful avenue” to protect their mosque.

Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December 2006

Muslims scared to go back to Cronulla beach

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CronullaMany young Muslim Australians are still too terrified to return to Cronulla, almost one year on from the riots, a spokesman said yesterday.

Independent Centre for Research Australia president Fadi Rahman said: “When we speak with them behind closed doors they’re quite afraid to go to Cronulla on their own. They believe that what has happened should have taught everyone a good lesson but they honestly believe it has not changed anything and that there are still racist elements in the community. They are scared that [tensions] will escalate again.”

It is almost a year since rioters invaded train carriages to set upon youths of Middle Eastern appearance. Yesterday trains to Cronulla were again the scene of commotion – this time in the name of peace. Youth workers from western and southern suburbs chartered the “peace train” to take hundreds of young people from Bankstown to Cronulla. Line dancers, African drummers and indigenous performers snaked through the carriages to promote cultural diversity. A parade and music workshops were held at Dunningham Park beside Cronulla beach.

Sydney Morning Herald, 25 November 2006

Many comments by Australian politicians about Islam are racist: former PM

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser believes many comments by Australia’s politicians about Islam are racist.

Mr Fraser also said many of the words used to stimulate debate about the need for a set of Australian values were code for saying Muslims did not comply with Australian values. And he questioned whether the next federal election would be fought using a race card. Mr Fraser made the statements during the official launch of the Australians All website aimed at promoting an inclusive, diverse, multicultural, peaceful and prosperous Australia.

More than 40 eminent Australians are involved in Australians All – taken from the opening line of the national anthem – including ACTU president Sharan Burrow, the Reverend Tim Costello, Islamic Council of Victoria’s Waleed Aly, and Muslim Community Reference Group chair Dr Ameer Ali. The members say they were forced to begin the website because of a lack of positive political leadership and diverse discussion about Australian issues.

“I think, and we all felt, that Australia needs a voice for sanity, for reason, for inclusiveness, for acceptance, for respect for diversity, respect for difference, and knowing of course that people who live in this country accept Australian laws and the primacy of Australian democracy and all the things which are necessary for a peaceful and prosperous Australia,” Mr Fraser told reporters in Melbourne.

The Age, 16 November 2006