The gloves are off in a fight between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the zealots among Australia's 300,000 Muslims whose rejection of secular society and the emancipation of women separate them from the 20 million population some have recently joined.
"It's not a problem that we have ever faced with other immigrant communities who become easily absorbed by Australia's mainstream," Howard said in remarks that were seen as dramatically resetting citizenship's default to give weight to responsibilities as well as rights.
"We want people, when they come to Australia, to adopt Australian ways," he said.
Howard was praised by fellow conservatives for not only confronting the radicals who espouse jihad but demanding that moderate Muslims stand up to them as well.
Keith Windschuttle, a critic of the color-blind immigration policy that in the 1970s replaced "White Australia," said Howard had at last stood up for mainstream Australia.
"For the past three decades, most members of our political class have been ensconced within the cultural relativism of multiculturalism," Windschuttle said. "If there has been a problem within an ethnic community, few leaders have ever blamed its members."
Howard was unequivocal in demanding change in what is a tiny fraction of the Muslim community. His was also a clarion call to the leaders of the moderate majority not to be intimidated by the radicals and to join him in persuading them to put up or shut up.
First to side with Howard was prominent Melbourne cleric Sheik Fehmi Naji El-Imam.
"If you live here, you have to keep [extremist views] to yourself," Fehmi said. "If you cannot keep it to yourself, then leave."
But his views were overwhelmed by more senior Islamic leaders. Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, describing Howard as "childish, irresponsible and uninformed," said his comments would "only magnify the wave of antagonism and hate toward Muslims."
Al-Hilali, the imam at Sydney's largest mosque, portrayed Howard's remarks as an early salvo in a re-election campaign.
"The easiest ways to claim public votes these days is to attack Islam and Muslims," al-Hilali said.
It's true: terrorist attacks in New York, Bali and London have shifted the ground and Howard reflects a common view that Islamic extremism is a challenge to secular society that must be taken up rather than ignored.
Howard's view is that successive waves of immigrants -- a quarter of the population was born abroad -- have integrated into mainstream society. There have been 6 million arrivals since 1945.
Treasurer Peter Costello, widely expected to take over the leadership of the ruling Liberal Party in the next couple of years, has also challenged the extremists.
Affirming that Australia was founded on democracy, the rule of law and the separation of church and state, Costello said: "If those are not your values, if you want a country that has Shariah law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you."
Wassim Doureihi, an Islamic leader and anti-integrationist, said: "It's becoming more and more clear that the issue is Islam itself, not radicals or moderates."
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
RSS