Wed, Feb 22, 2006 page5

• Howard advises Australia's Muslims to fit in

  • DPA
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  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."
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