Islamic leader tests Australian tolerance

By Sid Astbury Jan 13, 2007, 12:10 GMT

Sydney - Australians who don't have an alternative passport because their forefathers arrived with white settlers were told last week their convict heritage made them second-class citizens compared with more recent arrivals.

The slur came from Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the leader of Australia's 350,000 Muslims, and was made during a television talk show in Egypt, the land of his birth.

'We came as free people, we bought our own tickets, we are entitled to Australia more than they are,' al-Hilali said.

Prime Minister John Howard at first laughed off the remarks, but the uproar persisted, and he has again called on Muslims to show a willingness to join the mainstream by ditching their leader.

Howard, who last year appointed the 66-year-old to a government advisory body on the integration of Muslims, said al-Hilali was a 'growing embarrassment to his community.'

Others were more forthright, calling on the cleric to stay in the Middle East.

'I remind Sheik al-Hilali that if he doesn't like Australia, our heritage or our way of life, he doesn't have to come back,' Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said.

Al-Hilali, a passport-holder and an Australian resident for 25 years, is unlikely to stay away. He has been censured before for his extremist views and each time the Muslim community has closed ranks behind him.

Late last year he made international headlines when he told the congregation at Sydney's largest mosque that a woman in revealing clothes was herself to blame for a sexual assault 'because if she hadn't left the meat uncovered the cat wouldn't have snatched it.'

Howard condemned al-Hilali's defence of rape and urged Muslims 'to resolve this matter in a way that promotes the interests of harmony in our community and promotes the view Islamic Australians are fully integrated into Australian society.'

Howard warned Muslims of 'lasting damage to the perceptions of that community within the Australian community' if al-Hilali wasn't shown the door.

Instead, the community came out in defence of a leader with a long record of anti-Western statements. Thirty-four Muslim community organizations signed a petition urging him to stay on. There was even talk of a march in central Sydney to show support.

Al-Hilali has denied the Holocaust, defended suicide bombers, described the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US as 'God's work against oppressors,' and blamed Jews for 'all the wars and problems that threaten the peace and stability of all the world.'

Treasurer Peter Costello, deputy leader of the ruling Liberal Party and a likely future prime minister, demanded that Muslims respond to public outrage over the cat comments and denounce al- Hilali.

'You go right through the decade, the sheik has been anti-Semitic, he has supported jihadists, he has made statements that are absolutely offensive to women, such as the 'uncovered meat' one - it wasn't just that he had a bad day last September,' Costello said.

As in September, so in January: there has been no call for al- Hilali's resignation from his flock.

Despite a televised tirade in which he said Australians were the 'biggest liars and the most unjust' and that his adopted country offered 'no democracy and no freedom,' Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad said all that had happened was a 'slip of the tongue.'

Among the letters to newspapers was one from Mohammad Ahmed. He told The Sydney Morning Herald that he was 'insulted and appalled' by al-Hilali's television appearance and recommended that he not return to his home in Sydney.

'I live a successful, fulfilling life, which I attribute to the democratic laws of Australia and the freedom that they provide to everybody regardless of race, religion or culture,' Ahmed wrote.

The reluctance of Muslim organizations to condemn al-Hilali's views, and the indignation in mainstream Australia they have engendered, is likely to hatch further demands that Australian Muslims reaffirm their commitment to democracy, freedom of religion and the rule of law.

Just how angry many Australians are was evident in calls to radio talk-show hosts and in letters to the press.

'It's up to the Australian Islamic community to vote Hilali out of office and appoint someone who is appreciative of Australian values, who can speak English and who actually wants to live in this country,' Philip Ioannou wrote to The Australian newspaper. 'We need an imam who will speak out against Islamic terrorism, who will defend Western ideals of freedom of speech, and the rights of women and will cultivate a sense of togetherness with other cultures instead of branding them 'infidels.''

In an election year, with Howard's conservatives going for a fifth straight victory at the ballot box, the job security of al-Hilali is likely to become a key political issue.