Canary In The Coal Mine

Jewish Soldier Described As 'Dirty Animal' Says Muslim Man

by Miles Godfrey, The Sydney Morning Herald and AAP |  News.SMH.com.au  |  August 23, 2011 

 

A Muslim man allegedly describes a Jewish soldier as a "dirty animal" who is "a thousand times worse" than a pig, in letters he sent to politicians and members of the Jewish community.

Man Haron Monis (Pictured), also known as Sheik Haron, is also accused of sending offensive letters to the families of soldiers who died in Afghanistan, and to the family of a trade official who died in last year's Jakarta bombing.

Monis is attempting to have quashed multiple indictments of using a postal or similar service to menace, harass or cause offence.

It follows an unsuccessful attempt in April to have his case dismissed in the NSW District Court.

In the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Tuesday, Commonwealth barrister John Agius SC said the letters were offensive and capable of causing harm to their recipients.

"In the one letter we have concerning a Jewish person, there are a number of attacks on that person, who I won't name," he said.

"This letter is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make, it's copied to the prime minister, the opposition leader, the defence minister and it's said to be copied to the Jewish community, whoever that is.

"It goes well beyond simply an Australian soldier innocently killing innocent Afghanis."

Mr Agius said the letter referred to a Jewish soldier who had killed a civilian, describing him as a "dirty animal".

"Some Jews who blame Hitler for violations of human rights are not much better than him," it continued.

Mr Agius went on to quote from the top of the next page of the letter, in a section he said was written about the son of an Australian citizen.

"When the body of a murderer of civilians is sent back to Australia, we must not respect the body, such a body does not deserve a respectful ceremony," Mr Agius read to the court.

"A Jewish man who kills innocent Muslims, civilians is not a pig. He's a thousand times worse. Some people don't eat the meat of pig but they are dirtier than pig.

"What's the point when some people don't eat pork while their behaviour is worse than dirty animals?"

But Monis' lawyer, Guy Reynolds SC, argued the alleged comments were made in a political context and were not necessarily offensive.

In written submissions, he argued that parts of the law under which his client had been charged were invalid.

Mr Monis's co-accused, Amirah Droudis, faces charges of aiding and abetting the sending of the letters.

Mr Droudis's barrister David Bennett QC told the court: "Insults are a legitimate part of the political discourse."

Neither man appeared at Tuesday's hearing.

Source:  http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/jewish-soldier-described-as-dirty-animal-20110823-1j82i.html

What a Pack of Burqas

by *Piers Akerman, The Sunday Telegraph  |  DailyTelegraph.com.au  |  July 24, 2011

 

A Muslim woman wearing the niqab outside Paris, France. Source: The Sunday Telegraph

 

In the middle of its cold summer holiday, Europe is struggling with two major issues - the fragile Euro economy and unwanted Islamic migration. The Left's obsession with Rupert Murdoch's media empire is no longer news.

Those among France's hard-working middle class who do mention Murdoch, proprietor of this newspaper, do so with admiration for the drive and determination he has displayed throughout his corporation-building career.

The big topic is the economic survival of the European community. French president Nicolas Sarkozy held a press conference last Thursday night after an all-day summit with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Greek prime minister George Papandreou and other European leaders and bankers on Greece's debt crisis.

The Clayton's solution Sarkozy outlined embraces a lowering of the interest rates on Greece's crippling loans and an extension of the period in which the nation may repay them. This is not an end to the problem, it merely places Greece on an economic drip and its loans on the never-never.

It's a classic European dodge. Push the problem into the future and hope that when it next erupts, someone else will have to deal with it.

That's the same way European nations have been dealing with the population explosion in their Islamic communities. Much was made of France's decision to ban the burqa, but the reality is the French government is all talk and no action. Not a single case has been pursued against an individual for wearing a full-face cover by the French police since the ban on face-covering headwear came into effect on April 11.

In an interview at his Paris office, Bernard Godard, head of the French Interior Ministry's Central Bureau of Religious Affairs, told me the police had been told to "avoid incidents".

He said about 40 women had been warned against wearing them, but there had been no arrests.

France has a population of some 65 million, which includes about five million Muslims, half of whom attend mosques or say they are religious, though only 500,000 attend mosques regularly. About 60 per cent say they eat halal food exclusively.

Politically correct, the French government does not attempt to determine what percentage of the Muslim population is unemployed, though it admits unemployment is high in low-income areas in industrial centres such as Lille, Paris, Lyons and Marseilles, which also happen to have higher numbers of Muslim residents.

It would be simple for the government to estimate unemployment levels but it chooses not to, knowing that the details would only inflame the situation.

Even in villages with populations of less than five thousand, a few hundred Muslims have been able to exert political influence beyond that warranted by their numbers.

France received its first major wave of Muslim immigrants from its former colony in Algeria in the '50s; others from northern Africa have since followed. As Godard said: "Britain has its Pakistanis, Germany has Turks and we have a mixed Muslim community."

Concerned that newly arrived imams would preach an aggressive form of Islam, the French government set up a school in 2005 to teach them the values of the republic. "The state looked at the training of imams from Algeria, Morocco and Turkey and considered how they would adopt to the French culture," Godard said. "There was a percentage that was not well trained that was potentially a problem."

Keen to stress the issue of extremism in Islam was not just a French issue but a European concern, he said the European parliament was considering a law to have imams taught to explain the Koran in a European context.

But there are problems as France is a secular nation and there are laws which prevent the government from teaching religion, so the problem has to be dealt with from the perspective of preventing theology upsetting public order. "The imams have a social role to play and the diplomas they receive deal with training in French history, secularism and other religions, as well as about the republic, the multicultural aspects of our society," Godard said.

Islamic migration is running ahead of the French imam training program with just 160 graduates over the past four years.

The pressures are also being felt elsewhere in Europe, which is becoming increasingly divided along political lines by problems created by local Muslim communities.

In Germany, where unemployment in the Turkish Muslim population is estimated to run at between 35 and 40 per cent, former central banker Thilo Sarrazin has created a storm with his best-selling book about the failure of the welfare state and out-of-control Islamic migration.

Despite the dream of a borderless Europe, the influx of Muslims has seen some Scandinavian nations call for the re-establishment of borders. This would destroy the grand vision held up by the creators of the European community as surely as any decision by a member nation to withhold funds from bankrupt Greece, or the other nations lining up to follow it over the economic abyss.

The common threads linking these destitute nations are their bloated bureaucracies and state welfare programs, policies which are being pursued vigorously by Australia's minority government, and their failure to address the immigration issue decisively.

Although no European leader has lied to electors as obviously as Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the political correctness subscribed to by the European community is as stifling of frank discussion as the threats to media freedom made by the Gillard government in response to deserved criticism. The lesson from here is do not follow the European model.

But - as with new tricks and old dogs - it is probably too late for Labor and the Greens to learn.

*Piers Akerman spent last week on tour in France.

 

Source:  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/what-a-pack-of-burqas/story-e6frezz0-1226100394925

Many Oz Muslim Women Prefer To Live Under ’Shadow Civil Code’ Sharia Law

by Geeta, ANI  |  HamaraPhotos.com  |  July 23, 2011

 

New Australian law to make Muslims lift veils. Photo: AP

 

Canberra - Thousands of Muslim women in Australia choose to live under a ’shadow civil code’ known as sharia law, as they consider it a more secular option than the country’s legal system.

Sharia law’s more controversial elements, including polygamous marriages, relationships where one person is legally underage, and its penal code, ensure ample opportunity for clashes with the traditional legal system.

Muslim women, however, believe that sharia law covers only private issues that go to the heart of their religious beliefs, and is only used when all parties agreed to its application.

"It’s not that the Australian laws are not good, it’s just that we choose to live like this," the Telegraph quoted a Muslim women, as saying.

The paper quoted another Muslim woman, as saying that she was aware of polygamous marriages in Sydney and that the women seemed happy. However, she said she would not personally enjoy the arrangement.

Earlier, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils suggested in a submission to the federal government that small changes could be introduced giving Muslims "legal pluralism".

But later it was made clear by Attorney-General Robert McClelland that ‘there is no place for sharia law in Australian society’. 

Source:  http://hamaraphotos.com/news/general/many-oz-muslim-women-prefer-to-live-under-shadow-civil-code-sharia-law.html

Western Recruits to Al-Qaeda-linked Terror Group

by Steve Emerson  |  FamilySecurityMatters.org  |  July 21, 2011

 

 

An al-Shabaab fighter has revealed new details about Americans and foreigners fighting for the Somali terrorist organization. A recently released essay shows that the group's idealistic self-image hasn't just attracted young Americans, but has crossed the boundaries of nationality and age.

 

"Some of the members in our battalion migrated from as far as Australia, while others left the comfort lives of London and Minneapolis. Some were as old as sixty years, others barely reached eighteen," says al-Shabaab fighter Abu Yaser al-Maqdishy in "The Path of Departures – Reminiscing [about] the Martyrs of Somalia."

 

The document has also attracted some negative attention in jihadi forums, particularly when jihadists became aware about a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) update about the essay. One writer in the popular Somali forum alqimmah.net thanked the writer of the document "for all the efforts you put in tosupport our Omah [nation/Ummah]." But he reminded readers that "the Kuffar [disbelievers] are out there, so be careful in your steps," a caution for the writer not to reveal too much about the group's recruitment efforts.

 

The essay is primarily oriented at recruiting replacement fighters for al-Shabaab, which has suffered extensive losses to defection and running battles with government forces. Like many al-Shabaab materials, it uses the voice of a warrior to promote the glories of battle, as well as the group's ultimate goal of establishing a new Islamic Caliphate.

 

"You my dear believer might be that very person whom we are searching for. Due to the difficult state that our Ummah is facing, any contribution for Jihad and Mujahideen to stop the attacks of our enemies is vital," Maqdishy says.

 

Recruitment efforts play on the idea of defending Muslims and promoting the Caliphate idealized version of society. Coming from high-ranking American recruits like Omar al-Hammami, an al-Shabaab leader who is heavily involved in recruitmentand military training, the calls to violence have helped increase recruitment.

 

Al-Shabaab has been at the forefront of jihadi recruiting in the West, even in comparison to branches of al-Qaida. The organization's recruitment of Americans will be the subject of the third hearing on radicalization in America's Muslim community to be convened by U.S. Rep. Peter King on July 27. On Monday, 26-year-old Minneapolis man Omer Abdi Mohamed pled guilty to being one of the group's American recruiters, helping raise money and arrange travel to allow several men to join al-Shabaab's ranks.

 

More than 20 young men from the Minneapolis area are believed to have gone to Somalia to join al-Shabaab's jihad. Recent reports by a Kenyan journalist indicate another wave of recruits may have left the American Midwest for the impoverished and war-torn African country. Somali youth and aspiring jihadists have also come from as far as Sweden, Canada, Kenya, and Denmark.

 

According to Maqdishy, it's the creed of jihad and dying for honor that has brought Muslim men and women from all over the world.

 

"This is made possible by a creed deeply rooted in the heart of every believer and fighter for the sake of Allah," he says. "It is a creed that convinces its carriers' that since death is imminent and sooner or later everyone shall taste it, then why not die with the honor of martyrdom while serving the Religion of the Most High?!"

 

It's a belief that appears to resonate with many, particularly young male members of the Somali Diaspora.

 

"One of them was a teenage brother who left the opportunity of enjoying his youth in the pleasures of the United Kingdom," Maqdishy writes, about a young man who became a military leader on the battlefront. "He decided to seek the pleasure of Allah, and His Majesty's [Allah's] appreciation for his struggle, thus he migrated to the Somali-Jihadi arena, got trained, fought and then got killed in the service of his Most Beloved; Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted."

 

The document points out that the group hasn't just drawn young people. "Another pioneer on that day was a father of three kids in his forties who was a member in my battalion. He left his comfortable life in America only to start another life in the Everlasting One."

 

The group has also attracted non-Westerners and others outside the Somali Diaspora. "A well respected Recitor of Qur'an left his studies in Cairo to uphold the Qur'an in the daily lives of people."

 

"All of those and many more before and after them, paved a way for the generations behind them, a Jihadi way of life, full of martyrdoms, of which I refer to in this essay as 'The Path of Departures'."

 

The essay's bravado belies al-Shabaab's recent extensive losses. The group's extremist interpretation of Islam has prompted large-scale defections and animosity from the local population. Al-Shabaab's violent practices against wavering members and supposed criminals have led to high levels of desertion.

 

Replacing local recruits with international ones represents a long-term strategy, and has drawn dozens of Western and East African fighters. The document appeals to English-speaking youth to keep the organization functioning, and to become its next great leaders.

 

"As we have lost some of our revered brothers, leaders and scholars in the last decade due to the barbaric new wave of crusaders, and while many of their positions are covered, their replacements are greatly needed," Maqdishy says. "We firmly believe and we are convinced by history again and again that despite these losses of great men, even greater leaders are made in the battlefields for the coming future."

 

Those who are not willing to join the battle are encouraged to invite their friends and to give money. "Never sit idle! Read and write, and spread everything that relates to our Jihad. Learn, train and attain all that can be of assistance to our honorable cause of raising the banner of "La ilaha illa Allah [There is no god but Allah]."

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributor Steve Emerson is an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and national security and the author of five books on these subjects, most recently "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US." Steve also writes for the Counterterrorism Blog and he is the CEO of theInvestigative Project on Terrorism.

 

Source:  http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9992/pub_detail.asp

Man Accused of Sharia Law Assault Called Bin Laden 'Soldier of God'

by Kelly Burke, Rachel Olding  |  SMH.com.au  |  July 21, 2011

 

Custody ... Wassim Fayad was granted strict bail in Burwood Local Court yesterday. He faces charges in relation to an attack on a man in Silverwater who was allegedly whipped with a cable. Photo: Nick Moir

 

A MUSLIM man who once called Osama bin Laden a ''soldier of God'' participated in a brutal flogging of a man to impose his religious beliefs and his standing in the Islamic community, police have alleged in court.

But unpaid debts, not alcohol, are thought to be behind the assault of Silverwater man Christian Martinez, sources in the Muslim community said.

Wassim Fayad, 43, was one of four men who allegedly broke into the Silverwater townhouse of Mr Martinez, 31, in the early hours of Sunday morning, held him down and whipped him repeatedly with a cable, allegedly as sharia punishment for drinking alcohol.

But Mr Martinez, an electrician by trade, was known to ''owe a lot of people a lot of money'', according to one local Auburn source, and the attack had nothing to do with sharia law, which punishes the consumption of alcohol with 80 lashes.

The Herald sought comment from Mr Martinez yesterday but he was not answering his phone. It is believed he has signed an exclusive contract to tell his story to Channel Seven.

The alleged instigator of the attack, Mr Fayad, also allegedly stole a CCTV hard drive and a quantity of Budweiser beer from Mr Martinez, who was a recent convert to Islam.

Mr Fayad is due to be released from Silverwater correctional centre today after being granted strict conditional bail in Burwood Local Court yesterday.

Mr Fayad, a father of six from Auburn, works part time at the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn and was reported in May as saying bin Laden was a soldier of God who ''died a martyr and … is now in paradise''.

The accused is a follower of the controversial Sydney-born imam Sheikh Feiz Mohammad and a regular attendee of the prayer hall attached to the bookshop, which recently was bought by the Auburn branch of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah (ASWJ Auburn) which supports Sheikh Feiz.

The spiritual leader returned to Australia in March after a six-year absence following controversial public statements made on the culpability of rape victims who wore immodest clothing.

It is believed the same prayer hall followers were behind the ruckus outside the Downing Centre Court last month, when a Muslim woman, Carnita Matthews, had her conviction overturned on appeal.

She had been found guilty of making a deliberately false statement involving a police officer forcibly removing her veil.

Mr Fayad's lawyer, Avni Djemal, in applying for bail said Mr Fayad had lived in Australia since he was two years old and ''his connections are here''.

The Magistrate, Tim Keady, said the allegations against Mr Fayad were serious and the prosecution had a ''strong case''. He will appear in court again on August 14.

Muslim groups condemned the attack, saying it was misguided if motivated by sharia law. Kuranda Seyit, the executive director of the Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations, said it condemned criminal actions in the name of religion.

"Anyone who takes the law into their own hands will be dealt with by the Australian judicial system,'' he said. ''If these men did what is alleged, then they have no understanding of sharia and should be discouraged."

The leader of the Lakemba Mosque, Sheikh Taj el-Din al Hilaly, called for the alleged attackers to be ''assessed for a mental disorder'' and if found guilty to be deported.

Source:  http://www.smh.com.au/national/man-accused-of-sharia-law-assault-called-bin-laden-soldier-of-god-20110720-1hp0n.html

Australia: Man Charged Over 'Sharia Law' Lashing

abc.net.au  |  July 19, 2011

 

Police say the ordeal lasted 30 minutes.

 

A man has been charged over an alleged sharia law punishment where a Sydney man was lashed 40 times in his bed.

Police say the 31-year-old victim woke to find four bearded men in his bedroom at Silverwater, in the city's west, about 1:00am (AEST) on Sunday.

The men allegedly held him down on his bed and lashed him with a cable 40 times during the 30-minute ordeal.

The victim has told police he was being punished under Sharia law for drinking alcohol.

Representatives of Sydney's Muslim community have condemned the attack.

Detectives arrested a 20-year-old man at his Auburn home last night.

He has been charged with aggravated break and enter and committing a serious indictable offence.

The man was kept in custody overnight to face Burwood Local Court today.

Police say officers were assaulted by a 16-year-old boy during a search of another Auburn home.

The teenager has been ordered to face court next month charged with assault, resisting arrest and hindering police.

Police say they are still looking for the other attackers.

 

Source:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-19/sharia-lashing-190711/2799862

New Australian Law To Make Muslims Lift Veils

by Rod McGuirk, Associated Press  |  BlueRidgeNow.com  |  July 10, 2011

 

Australian police said the additional powers to order the removal of face coverings would correct a loophole in the law. Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

 

Muslim women would have to remove veils and show their faces to police on request or risk a prison sentence under proposed new laws in Australia's most populous state that have drawn criticism as culturally insensitive.

A vigorous debate that the proposal has triggered reflects the cultural clashes being ignited by the growing influx of Muslim immigrants and the unease that visible symbols of Islam are causing in predominantly white Christian Australia since 1973 when the government relaxed its immigration policy.

Under the law proposed by the government of New South Wales, a woman who defies police by refusing to remove her face veil could be sentenced to a year in prison and fined 5,500 Australian dollars ($5,900).

The bill - to be voted on by state parliament in August - has been condemned by civil libertarians and many Muslims as an overreaction to a traffic offense case involving a Muslim woman driver in a "niqab," or a veil that reveals only the eyes.

The government says the law would require motorists and criminal suspects to remove any head coverings so that police can identify them.

Critics say the bill smacks of anti-Muslim bias given how few women in Australia wear burqas. In a population of 23 million, only about 400,000 Australians are Muslim. Community advocates estimate that fewer than 2,000 women where face veils, and it is likely that even a smaller percentage drives.

"It does seem to be very heavy handed, and there doesn't seem to be a need," said Australian Council for Civil Liberties spokesman David Bernie said. "It shows some cultural insensitivity."

The controversy over the veils is similar to the debate in other Western countries over whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear garments that hide their face in public. France and Belgium have outright banned face covering veils in public. Typical arguments are that there is a need to prevent women from being forced into wearing veils by their families or that public security requires people to be identifiable.

Bernie points out that while a bandit disguised by a veil and sunglasses had robbed a Sydney convenience store last year, there were no Australian crime trends involving Muslim women's clothing.

"It is a religious issue here," said Mouna Unnjinal, a mother of five who has been driving in Sydney in a niqab for 18 years and never been booked for a traffic offense.

"We're going to feel very intimidated and our privacy is being invaded," she added.

Unnjinal said she would not hesitate to show her face to a policewoman. But she fears racist male police officers might misuse the law to deliberately intimidate Muslim women.

"If I'm pulled over by a policeman, I might say I want to see a female police lady and he says, 'No, I want to see your face,'" Unnjinal said. "Where does that leave me? Do I get penalized 5,000 dollars and sent to jail for 12 months because I wouldn't?"

Sydney's best-selling The Daily Telegraph newspaper declared the proposal "the world's toughest burqa laws." In France, wearing a burqa - the all-covering garment that hides the entire body except eyes and hands - in public is punishable by a euro150 ($217) fine only.

New South Wales state Cabinet decided to create the law July 4 in response to Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione's call for greater police powers. Other states including Victoria and Western Australia are also considering similar legislation.

"I don't care whether a person is wearing a motorcycle helmet, a burqa, niqab, face veil or anything else - the police should be allowed to require those people to make their identification clear," State Premier Barry O'Farrell said in a statement.

The laws were motivated by the bungled prosecution of Carnita Matthews, a 47-year-old Muslim mother of seven who was booked by a highway patrolman for a minor traffic infringement in Sydney in June last year.

An official complaint was made in Matthews' name against Senior Constable Paul Fogarty, the policeman who gave her the ticket. The complaint accused Fogarty of racism and of attempting to tear off her veil during their roadside encounter.

Unbeknown to Matthews, the encounter was recorded by a camera inside Fogarty's squad car. The video footage showed her aggressively berating a restrained Fogarty and did not support her claim that he tried to grab her veil before she reluctantly and angrily lifted it to show her face.

Matthews was sentenced in November to six months in jail for making a deliberately false statement to police.

But that conviction and sentence were quashed on appeal last month without her serving any time in jail because a judge was not convinced that it was Matthews who signed the false statutory declaration. The woman who signed the document had worn a burqa and a justice of the peace who witnessed the signing had not looked beneath the veil to confirm her identity.

Bernie, the civil libertarian, said the proposed law panders to public anger against Muslims that the case generated in talk radio and tabloid newspapers, which itself is a symptom of the suspicion with which immigrants are viewed.

Muslims are among the fastest growing minorities in Australia and mostly live in the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. There are many examples to suggest they are not entirely welcome.

Muslim and non-Muslim youths rioted for days at Sydney's Cronulla beach in 2005, drawing international attention to surging ethnic tensions. Proposals to build Islamic schools are resisted by local protest groups. The convictions of a Sydney gang of Lebanese Muslims who raped several non-Muslim women were likened by a judge to war atrocities and condemned in the media.

In 2006, then-Prime Minister John Howard published a book in which he said Muslims were Australia's first wave of immigrants to fail to assimilate with the mainstream.

Government leaders have also condemned some Muslim clerics who said husbands are entitled to smack disobedient wives, force them to have sex and for suggesting that women who don't hide their faces behind veils invite rape.

"I wouldn't like to go and say this is Muslim bashing," said Ikebal Patel, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, of the proposed New South Wales laws.

"But I think that the timing of this was really bad for Muslims," he said.

Source:  http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20110710/API/1107100546?p=all&tc=pgall

Western Australia To Follow New South Wales (NSW) On Head Covering Law

by AAP  |  HeraldSun.com.au  |  July 5, 2011

 

WESTERN Australia is expected to follow the lead of NSW and give police powers to force motorists, including Muslim women, to remove head coverings, as a global Islamic group decried the move.

 

The NSW coalition Government plans to introduce the legislation in parliament next month after calls from the Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.

If passed, police will have the power to ask any person stopped during routine vehicle checks to remove burqas, niqabs or other head and face coverings at the roadside to verify their identities.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell made the decision after a Sydney judge last week quashed a six-month jail sentence given to a burqa-wearing mother of seven, Carnita Matthews.

Ms Matthews had been found guilty of falsely accusing Senior Constable Paul Fogarty of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was pulled over while driving in Woodbine west of the city in June 2010.

The video evidence implied otherwise but NSW District Court Judge Clive Jeffreys said it was not conclusively proved Ms Matthews was the one who had made the false statement and quashed the sentence.

Mr O'Farrell said today his Government's plan would clarify the law and give police "powers to establish identity".

WA signalled it would do the same, with Police Minister Rob Johnson planning to meet with WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan today to discuss the issue.

"I'm concerned at the idea of police not having the power to request drivers to remove helmets or other face coverings for ID purposes at the roadside," Mr Johnson told ABC Radio.

But Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global political movement that wants Muslim nations united under a caliphate, said the NSW proposal had nothing to do with police matters.

"For us, it's a case of political intimidation," Sydney spokesman Uthman Badar said today.

The face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women have become a contentious issue in Europe, where France has banned the wearing of burqas and full-face coverings in public.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand leaders were today calling for tolerance after two Muslim women wearing veils ran into trouble with Auckland bus drivers.

One was left crying on the street after a bus driver refused to let her on board because of her veil and another was told by a driver to remove her veil.

Judge Jeffrey's written judgment on the Matthews case, which has gripped talkback radio and newspapers across NSW for days, is yet to be released.

But Mr O'Farrell indicated it was unlikely to be challenged by the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

"I was advised, and I'm not a lawyer here, that when it came to these sorts of decisions by the District Court, the only appeals likely were on questions of law," he said.

The Police Association of NSW welcomed the Government's plan saying it would close a loophole in the law.

"It will provide clarity and certainty for both the public and for police officers," the union's acting president Pat Gooley said.

The WA police union supported a similar move by its State Government.

But Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said while the state was watching the NSW case carefully, it had no plans to follow.

"Our legislation is more than adequate but we will watch with great interest what they do in NSW," he told ABC Radio today. "I have no intention to ask the Queensland government to do something similar here."

 

Source:  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/wa-to-follow-nsw-on-head-covering-law/story-e6frf7jx-1226088191247

Khomeini Celebrated in … Kansas City. On July 4

by Patrick Poole  |  PajamasMedia.com  |  July 1, 2011

 

Iranian front group Muslim Congress holds its annual convention honoring the Islamic regime.

 

Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic of Iran are gathering in Kansas City this weekend, as the Muslim Congress convenes their annual national convention. The topic? “The Divine Concept of Freedom.” Apparently, the American concept of freedom is insufficient, and they’ve chosen July 4 to express their dissent.

The Muslim Congress is a network of more than 120 Shia mosques, schools, and organizations operating in 24 states that are little more than fronts for the Iranian regime. In fact, the U.S. government is in the process of seizing through civil asset forfeiture a number of their mosque properties in five states owned by one of their member groups, because they have laundered money for the terror and weapons procurement branches of the Iranian government.

At the conference this weekend, they will be receiving a communication from the spiritual leader of one of the most murderous militias in Iraq, a group directly supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Their support for Ayatollah Khomeini isn’t subtle, either. The Muslim Congress website used to list Khomeini as one of their “prominent scholars” and maintained a lengthy biography, which curiously overlooks his leadership and direction in seizing the American embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and the subsequent 444 days that his minions held our diplomats in illegal captivity. Also missing: any mention of the tens of thousands murdered under his authority during the Iranian Revolution and early years of his rule. They conclude his biography with this glowing assessment of his achievements:

The Islamic Republic of Iran, having followed the guidance of Imam, now has a strong and powerful system both at the national and international level. Islamic tenets and laws are referred to when policies and decisions are made in government and this at all times ensures that any activities or proposals carried out are in the interest of the people.

Contrary to the views expressed by the Western media, the people of Iran have gained a new respect and dignity. They can proudly say that what they have is self-achieved that their modest dress is proper and is their cultural identity (and not an outdated custom), and that their values are Islamic and pure.

Those pages have been removed from the Muslim Congress website (which I’ve recovered through Internet Archive), yet many of the mosques and leaders are not shy about openly promoting their ties and allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian regime.

Their Tampa mosque features a picture of current Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at the very top of the front page of their website. And the alim of that mosque, Muhammad Ali Baig, who is also the top scholar at their seminary, boasts a large portrait of both Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei on his Vimeo page. And as the mosque’s constitution requires, the alim must “believe in, follow and be committed to the Leader.”

And the website of the mosque in Kissimmee, Florida, contains a direct link to the official website of Supreme Leader Khamenei. That same page also identifies jihad as one of the “branches of religion.”

The Muslim Congress Florida mosques hold no monopoly on allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini. In December 2004 the MOMIN Dallas/Fort Worth mosque convened a day-long seminar on the departed Iranian leader featuring that mosque’salim, Shamshad Haider — who will be speaking this weekend in Kansas City — and representatives from the Dallas office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). One of the other speakers at that Khomeini event was Mohamed Elibiary, who, as I reported back in October, was serving on the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism Working Group. He was sworn in just days later by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to the DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council.

So what’s happening at the Muslim Congress conference this weekend?

One of the highlights noted on the conference webpage is that they will be receiving a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to deliver a communication to the group from the top Shia religious official based in Najaf. Sistani is the spiritual leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which operates the Iranian-trained Badr militia as its military wing. The Badr militia not only regularly fought coalition forces in Iraq, but also was responsible for death squads targeting Sunnis. Sistani is also infamous for the fatwa he issued on his own website saying that gays and lesbians should be killed in the “worse, most severe way,” which his Badr militia quickly began to act on.

One of the other listed speakers for this weekend’s conference is Abdul Alim Musa, an American cleric who heads the extremist As-Sabiqun movement in the D.C. area. Musa, a regular staple at Muslim Congress annual conferences, openly advocates for Islamic revolution and global domination. One of his most infamous statements occurred during an interview he conducted with Sean Hannity on Fox News, where he backed Osama bin Laden and denied that Hezbollah and Hamas were terrorist organizations.

Strangely missing from this year’s Muslim Congress conference line-up is another staple of their past conferences, the notorious Mohammad al-Asi. A January 2003 Washington Post article cited U.S. law enforcement and intelligence sources who said that Al-Asi is an Iranian agent who in 1994 pledged his allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei. In an appearance on Iranian TV, al-Asi said that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. The Anti-Defamation League keeps a running tab of his anti-Semitic statements, such as an article he wrote saying that the final hour will come when “the Muslims deal the deathblow to the Yahud [Jews].”

One of the most risible claims made on the Muslim Congress website is that it “has no ties or links whatsoever to any domestic or foreign entity or organization.” What makes that laughable is the U.S. government has indicted the head of one of their member organizations, the Alavi Foundation, and is currently pursuing a civil asset forfeiture lawsuit against the foundation claiming that it laundered money for the Iranian regime. Included in that lawsuit are the properties of several Muslim Congress member mosques in New York, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, and California.

The FBI press release on the civil lawsuit describes what the Alavi Foundation was up to:

The Alavi Foundation has been providing numerous services to the Iranian Government, including managing the Building for the Iranian Government, running a charitable organization for the Iranian Government, and transferring funds from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli. Likewise, Assa Corporation and Assa Company Limited (“Assa Co. Ltd.”) have been providing numerous services to Bank Melli in contravention of IEEPA and the Iranian Transactions Regulations promulgated thereunder, including transferring rental income generated from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli, following Bank Melli’s instructions with regard to Assa Corporation’s affairs, reporting back to Bank Melli on Assa Corporations’s financial situation and business dealings, and managing the affairs of Assa Corporation for the benefit of Bank Melli.

Not surprisingly, there’s no mention whatsoever of this matter, that the Muslim Congress might lose several of its largest mosques in the U.S. because of their efforts on behalf of Iran, or that many other Muslim Congress member organizations received money from the targeted Alavi Foundation.

As the rest of America celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence and its commitment to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” it’s doubtful that the residents of Kansas City will be aware that the avowed opponents of such ideals in the form of Iran’s U.S. Khomeini contingent will be rolling into town.

Patrick Poole is a regular contributor to Pajamas Media, and an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military.

Source:  http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/khomeini-celebrated-in-%E2%80%A6-kansas-city-on-july-4/

Australia: Holocaust Denier Wants To Settle

by Sarah Malik, AAP  |  News.SMH.com.au  | June 20, 2011

 

Holocaust ''revisionist'' Fredrick Toben outside the Federal Court. Photo: Greg Higgs

 

Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben says he doesn't want to be declared a bankrupt and can settle a bankruptcy order against him by a Jewish leader.

Toben told the Federal Court in Adelaide on Monday he wanted to settle a bankruptcy motion made against him by Jeremy Jones (Pictured Below), former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

"I am trying to settle the matter, I do have the money (to pay Mr Jones)," he told the court via video link.

"If there is a refusal to settle, if that is there, then this whole action is a abuse of process.

"I do not want to be declared a bankrupt."

The matter was adjourned to July 4.

Mr Jones wants to enforce a claim for $56,000 in court costs after successfully suing Toben for defamation for publishing anti-semitic material on his revisionist Adelaide Institute website.

Toben's barrister John Walsh told the court last week that Toben's former lawyers had failed to respond to the bankruptcy claim within the 21 days required.

He said Toben wanted a chance to avoid bankruptcy because he wished to stand for parliament at the next federal election.

Toben was sentenced to three months' jail in 2009 for ignoring a 2002 court order preventing him publishing anti-semitic material on his website.

 

Source:  http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/holocaust-denier-wants-to-settle-20110620-1gb9y.html