410
12th Jan 2007, 06:08
The following article appeared today in Dubai's "7 Days" newspaper.
Discuss
(Dear Mod, I know this is more suited to Jet Blast, and I assume you will send it there poste haste, but I wanted it to reach an Oz audience, (if only briefly), that it might not if posted in Jet Blast.)
http://www.7days.ae/2007/01/12/aussies-all-just-convicts.html
Aussies all just convicts
Australia’s top Islamic cleric has ignited fresh outrage in his adopted homeland by claiming Muslims have more right to live there than the descendants of convicts. On Egyptian television, Sheikh Taj Aldin al-Hilali called ‘Anglo-Saxons’ the world’s biggest liars and blamed the media for trying to bring him down for his controversial comment that scantily-clad women invited sexual attack. "It is a calculated conspiracy and terrorising our Islamic community. They started with me first in order to bring (the) Islamic community to its knees," he said in translated remarks.Hilali sparked a national outcry in October when he delivered a sermon containing the incendiary statement, prompting calls for his deportation and dividing Australia’s 300,000-strong Muslim community.
While Hilali claimed his comments were taken out of context at the time, he defended them on ‘Today in Cairo’ and said Muslims had more right to live in Australia than ancestors of the convicts sent here from England. "They are the biggest liars, the western people, especially the English people," he said. "The Anglo-saxons arrived in Australia in shackles while we paid for our tickets." He also claimed Australia’s courts were racist for sentencing gang-rape leader Bilal Skaf to 55 years in prison. The latest comments were met with renewed calls for Hilali to change his tune or face being evicted from Australia.
"This whole concept that women are evil and men can do what they like is totally and utterly unacceptable in our country and he either learns it or leaves," Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop said. Even Hilali’s closest supporters said they expected a backlash, issuing an apology and describing his comments as ill-advised. "As a Muslim I do apologise to anybody who is offended," said Kaysar Trad, the cleric’s spokesman.
"I do understand that some people will be offended by these comments."
Discuss
(Dear Mod, I know this is more suited to Jet Blast, and I assume you will send it there poste haste, but I wanted it to reach an Oz audience, (if only briefly), that it might not if posted in Jet Blast.)
http://www.7days.ae/2007/01/12/aussies-all-just-convicts.html
Aussies all just convicts
Australia’s top Islamic cleric has ignited fresh outrage in his adopted homeland by claiming Muslims have more right to live there than the descendants of convicts. On Egyptian television, Sheikh Taj Aldin al-Hilali called ‘Anglo-Saxons’ the world’s biggest liars and blamed the media for trying to bring him down for his controversial comment that scantily-clad women invited sexual attack. "It is a calculated conspiracy and terrorising our Islamic community. They started with me first in order to bring (the) Islamic community to its knees," he said in translated remarks.Hilali sparked a national outcry in October when he delivered a sermon containing the incendiary statement, prompting calls for his deportation and dividing Australia’s 300,000-strong Muslim community.
While Hilali claimed his comments were taken out of context at the time, he defended them on ‘Today in Cairo’ and said Muslims had more right to live in Australia than ancestors of the convicts sent here from England. "They are the biggest liars, the western people, especially the English people," he said. "The Anglo-saxons arrived in Australia in shackles while we paid for our tickets." He also claimed Australia’s courts were racist for sentencing gang-rape leader Bilal Skaf to 55 years in prison. The latest comments were met with renewed calls for Hilali to change his tune or face being evicted from Australia.
"This whole concept that women are evil and men can do what they like is totally and utterly unacceptable in our country and he either learns it or leaves," Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop said. Even Hilali’s closest supporters said they expected a backlash, issuing an apology and describing his comments as ill-advised. "As a Muslim I do apologise to anybody who is offended," said Kaysar Trad, the cleric’s spokesman.
"I do understand that some people will be offended by these comments."