Ray Hadley,the Brilliant Joe Hildebrand and Jonathan Holmes Media Watch

EXCLUSIVE: Media Watch and me - The incredible untold story
        
Joe Hildebrand
Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 (6:25pm)

There is an argument that responding to Twitter trolls just gives unnecessary attention to vindictive people with a tiny audience. The same could be said of responding to Media Watch but in the interests of editorial consistency let’s give it a go anyway.

Media Watch has an agenda against the Telegraph. One of many humourless ironies about the program is that it is guilty of the same editorial bias it constantly accuses others of having.

That much is fine: It can think whatever it wants. The problem is that Media Watch presents itself as an impartial arbiter of journalistic standards and some naive and sequestered people in the community—such as my mum and the Gillard Government—actually believe it.

The reason I know Media Watch distorts facts in order to pursue a particular vendetta is because for a long time they pursued one against me. I don’t say this to fish for any sympathy, but just to give some context to the show’s latest canning of the Tele on Monday night.

Joe is not the only one who has troubles with Media Watch 2GB's Ray Hadley alluded to this encounter with this pampered pooches and their banshees

My love affair with Media Watch began in 2007 when a ``researcher’’ called asking for a contact number for a family in a story I’d written. The yarn rapped Fairfax over the knuckles for running ads that praised a cult leader accused of child sex abuse. I happily handed over the number only to discover that when Media Watch ran the story it did so as though it had discovered the outrage itself and did not credit the Telegraph article that prompted it, let alone the paper’s assistance.

I wrote to them saying I thought this deeply unfair and they responded with words to the effect that it was not their job to report on the media every time it got things right.

The following year Media Watch attempted to score points off the deaths of six people in a Sydney Harbour boating accident. It accused the Telegraph and other outlets of wrongly referring to one of the victims by her second name instead of her first and even suggested that this mistake caused distress to her grieving family.

As it happened the young woman was a friend of a friend of mine and so I sent the program a letter telling them that, like Gough Whitlam and Paul McCartney (and indeed one John Joseph Hildebrand), she was in fact known by her second name. Media Watch later corrected the report but offered no apology to us—or the family whose distress they were once so concerned about.

It was not long after this second interaction that Media Watch suddenly took an intense interest in my reporting.

Half-baked smears included suggesting that I had invented swine flu projection figures that were in fact contained in an official NSW Health report and which were confirmed by two independent experts _ one of whom later backflipped after the government tried to hose down the story.

In another report I did on measures which reduced P-plater deaths by a quarter, Media Watch accused me of saying all but a quarter of P-platers died on the road.

A third involved an error made by another reporter in an item I was told to put in a gossip column I used to do. Not willing to dob in a colleague, I placed a correction in the column the following week saying only the error had occurred during production and was not made by me. In a nudge-nudge wink-wink way Media Watch hinted that I was lying. Nasty, biased and wrong.

Again, I say this only to provide concrete examples of Media Watch manipulating facts in an effort to fuel prejudice against this newspaper and its writers.

Which brings us to this week’s hatchet job. As all readers will know, The Telegraph has been waging a campaign against trolls and cyberbullying on social media. A huge number of people support it, some do not.

The problem for Media Watch is that it couldn’t just say it disagreed with the campaign and accepted online abuse as a price of free speech. It couldn’t admit that in recent years the show has gone from digging up genuine media scandals to pontificating from behind a desk like a televised version of Crikey. 
Instead it tried to claim that we had somehow got it wrong or were hypocritical or deliberately omitted facts.

First it suggested that we had failed to advise our readers to block trolls. This is just rubbish. Even before the launch of the campaign we ran a story whose very headline ran ``Deny trolls attention and they fade away’’. Two days later we said: ``Social media sites advise users who are attacked online to block trolls or simply switch off’’ but added that some users found this difficult. The same day a page three article quoted a Twitter spokeswoman’s advice: ``If there is something that you don’t agree with, or find insulting, it’s best to block that user.’’

On Saturday a story in the sports section—which perhaps nobody at Media Watch has ever read—was headlined ``Sign off from abuse’’. On Monday, the very morning Media Watch went to air, we ran a column by UTS psychologist Rachael Murrihy across almost an entire page that concluded: ``Block the person and contact the ISP host to have posts removed if possible.’’

Media Watch failed to mention any of this. Either it didn’t do its research (again) or it deliberately ignored it.

Even more cute was that it clumsily attempted to perform a little bit of wedge politics by playing a grab from my esteemed colleague Tory Maguire from The Punch telling Sky News she disagreed with the Tele’s campaign. In a refreshing departure from the usual conspiracy theory that News Limited staff are all working in concert to advance some sinister agenda, Media Watch suggested that because some News Limited staff had a difference of opinion this weakened our position.

Fine. Except what Media Watch didn’t say was that I was sitting right next to Tory on that very same show, at the very same time, discussing the very same topic. Seconds after Tory spoke I outlined exactly the point of the Telegraph’s campaign, encouraging abuse victims to block trolls and also explaining why sometimes blocking did not work.

But did Media Watch show even a token grab of that? No. Did it even tell its viewers I was there? No.

The purpose of the Telegraph’s campaign is to support victims of cyber bullying and abuse and bolster protections where merely blocking and reporting is either not enough or comes too late. It is not just about celebrities—or improbably handsome celebrity columnists—but even more so ordinary people who are less equipped to handle it. Like other anti-bullying campaigns we have simply utilised celebrities to spread awareness and let other victims know that they are not alone.

It does not call for new laws, it does not call for censorship and it does not, as Media Watch suggested in a link so tenuous it would make a Hollywood screenwriter blush, have anything to do with Andrew Bolt.

All of this we could have easily explained to Media Watch and saved them the embarrassment of their confused, selective and erroneous story. But as far as anyone at this newspaper can tell they made no attempt to contact us for a response.

All over the country ever-shrinking newsrooms struggle to keep up with the 24-hour media cycle and the ever-increasing demands of media’s brave new world. Journalists are working harder than ever to hold on to their jobs and keep news and information flowing to a hungry public. Media Watch, meanwhile, has a dedicated staff of 11 people whose sole job it is to hang shit on them for 15 minutes a week.

You’d think they could at least do a better job of it than that.

Sydney's Muslim Insurgency Riots Aftermath: Spin Doctors and apologists still performing CPR on Multiculturalism.

Migrants must follow Australian values, says Frank Lowy

Phillip Hudson
Daily Telegraph
September 19, 20128:30PM

FRANK Lowy, the boat person who became a shopping centre billionaire, has called on migrants to honour the ''great unwritten deal'' to follow Australian values and leave behind ideologies of hate in return for a better life in their new country.

Mr Lowy, who as a 15-year-old fled the Nazis in Europe 65 years ago, said Australia's multiculturalism had been a triumph of tolerance but would always face challenges such as last weekend's riot in Sydney.

He warned the internet and social media were being manipulated by people ''who set out to provoke''.

Delivering the inaugural Australian Multicultural Council Lecture in Canberra, Mr Lowy who is now a businessman and philanthropist, also called for a ''more muscular approach'' to civics education to teach everyone Australia's values.

Mr Lowy said while it might be ''handy for a newcomer to know that Don Bradman was our greatest cricketer'' it would be far more useful to have a bedrock understanding of what it means to be a citizen.

''You are welcome; you are free to worship; you are free to honour your heritage; and, we will respect the differences between us,'' Mr Lowy said.

''And in return, you should agree to live by the standards and values of this society, the one you have chosen to be a part of.''

''And agree to conscientiously pass on these values to your children and ensure that they receive a broad and balanced education, untainted by the ideology of hate.''

He said multiculturalism had enriched Australia in sport, the arts, science, medicine and business and asked if anyone could imagine a modern Australia made up entirely of Anglo-Celtic stock. 

''We would be a warmer and somewhat larger version of the Falkland Islands - a kind of British colonial left-over not in the South Atlantic but in the South pacific,'' he said.

Mr Lowy said when he fled Europe he was on a boat built to hold 70 people that was carrying 700 and the conditions were unbelievably bad with not enough water, food or sanitation.

He said he did not want to stumble into the asylum seeker debate ''even though I was a boat person myself - in a different era and in a different place''.

He said government had a sacred duty to protect borders and honour humanitarian obligations and there were no easy ways to strike a balance to meet those twin obligations.

Speaking at the function, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said multiculturalism was ''the meeting place of rights and responsibilities''.

''The right to maintain one's customs, language and religion is a balanced by an equal responsibility to learn English, find work, respect our culture and heritage, and accept women as full equals,'' she said.

''Where there is non-negotiable respect for our foundational values of democracy and the rule of law, and any differences we hold are expressed peacefully. Where old hatreds are left behind, and we find shared identity on the common ground of mateship and the Aussie spirit of a fair go.''

The PM repeated her criticism of the weekend riot.

''What we saw in Sydney on the weekend wasn't multiculturalism but extremism.''
.... and this loon PM Gillard and her Government of misfits,Communists,Greens progressives,Australia Haters, jumped up union officials and loons, are importing into Australia, illegally and legally as many of these "extremists" as they can, day in, day out, in numbers never before seen in this country and at a cost of billions of dollars.

How dare this jumped up former communist party secretary,student activist and Union GetUp financed affirmative action appointee PM from Wales, lecture Australians on Australian values.
Multiculturalism is the Antithesis of a cohesive, prosperous, law abiding and peaceful society,the kind of society that Madame Gillard and her Comrades and like thinkers are hell bent on destroying at all and any cost.
Multiculturalism is their most effective weapon in destroying social cohesion within Australian society, Islam, Muslims are their favourite Mad Dog that they let off the leash every once in a while to inflict their special brand of urban terror upon those Australian's that Madame Gillard and her ALP Comrades and supporters hate and despise so much.

As for Frank Lowy,the owner of the Westfield shopping center empire,talking up the stinking dead carcas of Multiculturalism and the Australian Labor Party maybe he is Australia's George Soros.

More of Frank and Julia's Muslim Multicultural Utopia

Sydney's Occupied Territories: Four more Women arrested following Genital Mutilation of two girls

Four more women arrested over female genital mutilation in NSW

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS
The Daily Telegraph
September 19, 2012 4:26PM

FOUR more women have today been arrested and charged in relation to the female genital mutilation of two young girls in NSW.

Detectives with the State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad have been continuing investigations since charging a Sydney sheik, a retired nurse and the parents of the two sisters.

Detectives with Strike Force Longfield said today that they had been working closely with NSW Health and the Department of Family and Community Services.

Earlier today two women were arrested in Sydney and two women in the Wollongong area. They were each charged with prohibition of female genital mutilation.

Police will allege the four women, aged 39, 68, 73 and 77, were each present at one or both of the procedures, also known as female circumcision, performed on the two sisters when they were aged six and seven.

The women have been granted bail to face Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday 7 November 2012.

Investigations by Strike Force Longfield are ongoing, and police continue to appeal for anyone with information about female genital mutilation to come forward.
Sheik Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri, 56, of the Dawoodi Bohra community at Auburn, and Helen Magennis, 68, a retired nurse of Campbelltown, and the children's parents were all previously charged in relation to the alleged acts on the girls.

The girls remain in the care of their parents.

From Sydney's Occupied Territories: Sheik and a Nurse charged over Female Genital Mutilation

Australia Shut the Gate before it IS too late.

Limit Muslim migration, Australia warned

SMH
Barney Zwartz
February 16, 2007

LIFE can become untenable when the Muslim population of a non-Muslim country reaches about 10 per cent, as shown by France, a Jewish expert on Islam says.

The Australian Jewish News yesterday quoted Raphael Israeli as saying Australia should cap Muslim immigration or risk being swamped by Indonesians.

Professor Israeli told the Herald that was a misunderstanding. But he said: "When the Muslim population gets to a critical mass you have problems. 

That is a general rule, so if it applies everywhere it applies in Australia."

Professor Israeli, an expert on Islamic history from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has been brought to Australia by the Shalom Institute of the 

University of NSW. The Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council is co-hosting many of his activities.

He said Muslim immigrants had a reputation for manipulating the values of Western countries, taking advantage of their hospitality and tolerance.

"Greeks or Italians or Jews don't use violence. There is no Italian or Jewish Hilaly [a reference to the controversial cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly of Lakemba mosque]. Why?"

Professor Israeli said that when the Muslim population increased, so did the risk of violence.

"Where there are large Muslim populations who are prepared to use violence you are in trouble. If there is only 1 or 2 per cent they don't dare to do it - they don't have the backing of big communities. They know they are drowned in the environment of non-Muslims and are better behaved."

In Australia, Muslims account for about 1.5 per cent of the population.

Professor Israeli said that in France, which has the highest proportion of Muslims in Europe at about 10 per cent, it was already too late. There were regions even the police were scared to enter, and militant Muslims were changing the country's political, economic and cultural fabric, and demanding anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies.

"French people say they are strangers in their own country. This is a point of no return.

"If you are on a collision course, what can you do? You can't put them all in prison, and anyway they are not all violent. You can't send them all back. You are really in trouble. It's irreversible."

Professor Israeli said that in Australia a few imams had preached violence. "You should not let fundamentalist imams come here. Screen them 1000 times before they are admitted, and after they are admitted screen what they say in the mosque."

He said some Muslims wanted to impose sharia (Islamic law) in their adopted countries, and when propaganda did not work they turned to intimidation.

Professor Israeli said his task was to describe, not prescribe. He also said his warning did not include immigrants, including Muslims, who simply wanted to improve their lot. As long as they respected the law and democracy, their numbers — Buddhist, Muslim or Jew — were immaterial. It became material when a group accepted violence.

"The trains in London and Madrid were not blown up by Christians or Buddhists but by Muslims, so it is them we have to beware," he said.

Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said "Not only religious clerics need to be screened before entering Ausralia but also academics … this type of academic does nothing but create hatred, suspicion and division … We should review not only what the man has said but also those who have sponsored him, to see if they endorse those comments."

Green Loon says Geert Wilders not welcome in Australia

Controversial Dutch MP's visa bid stalls

7.30 ABC
By Hayden Cooper
18912

Supporters of controversial anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders fear he may be refused entry to Australia ahead of his planned speaking tour next month.

The right-wing Dutch MP has applied for a visa to come and give speeches in Sydney and Melbourne, but the application has stalled.

In a climate of tension after the weekend's Muslim protest in Sydney, the issue presents a tricky dilemma for the Federal Government.

Mr Wilders has a reputation the world over as a fierce opponent of Islam.

He has compared the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf, called Islam an ideology not a religion, and called the Prophet Mohammed a paedophile among other insults.

"Mohammed was a warlord, he was a terrorist and maybe a terrorist worse than Bin Laden ever was at the time, look at what he did in his time in the past, in his Medina time - this is not the example to follow," he told Foreign Correspondent last year.

His speaking tour of Australia has been organised by an obscure anti-Islamic group called the Q Society, which takes a similar hard line.

Spokesman Andrew Horwood says the group are "ordinary Australians who are concerned about the march of Islam into this country".

"We are non-political, we are a secular organisation, and we've seen what's happened in Europe and we're concerned about that," he said.

"Our charter is to educate the Australian population about what Australia will be like in 20 or 30 years' time with Islam if we choose not to understand it."

Visa delayed
Mr Wilders applied for a visa three weeks ago.

His staff and security were approved within days, but he is still waiting and his sponsors want to know why.

"We find it very strange that a visa is taking so long to come from a politician of a respected democracy," Mr Horwood said.

He's coming here to give the advantage of his knowledge, the advantage of what's happening in Europe, and I cannot see why it's not an automatic thing: 'yes, you're welcome here.'

Q Society spokesman Andrew Horwood
"It should be an automatic thing. He's coming here to give the advantage of his knowledge, the advantage of what's happening in Europe, and I cannot see why it's not an automatic thing: 'yes, you're welcome here'.

"I cannot understand why everything has just ground to a halt."

The reason is that the Dutch politician is on the Movement Alert List, a database of people of concern to Australia. 

It means his application is held up at the Department of Immigration headquarters in Canberra while more thorough checks are done.

He is on the list because of his previous brushes with authorities abroad.

In 2009 he was refused entry to the UK but later appealed and won.

He was also tried and acquitted in the Netherlands on hate charges over his controversial public comments.

It is not clear if he will be granted a visa.

Tricky call
Greens Senator Richard Di Natale says Mr Wilders is not welcome in Australia.

"We don't want to see Geert Wilders in this country. His views are not welcome here," he said.

"My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, as the world gathers against the believers in Syria ... seeking to hijack our sincere and blessed uprisings, children in Sydney would like to send their message of hope and support to the Muslims of (Syria), especially to the children and mothers," Ruqaya said in her speech.

"These uprisings have demonstrated that this umma (global Muslim community) is alive and well, her love is for jihad, she is unshackled herself from the fear which she held, and she yearns to once again live under the banner of (the Islamic state).

"Children as young as myself can be seen on the streets joining the uprisings, risking their lives to bring food, water and medicine to their wounded family members, some of them never returning to their mothers ... Nobody is too young," she said.

Sydney Muslim Insurgency Riots: Ahmed Elomar refused Bail again

 "This country's got a great story when it comes to multiculturalism, it's part of my own personal story, it's something we should all be proud of and here we've got a man who is the antithesis of multiculturalism."

Greens Senator Richard Di Natale 

The final tricky call could ultimately fall to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.

Mr Bowen says no decision has been made and he has received no advice yet from the department.

Opponents of Mr Wilders do not want him here, but they fear rejecting the visa application is a bad idea.

"We don't think that he should come. The question of whether he should be granted a visa is a separate one," Senator Di Natale said.

We don't think that he should come, the question of whether he should be granted a visa is a separate one.

Greens Senator Richard di Natale
"I think that by denying Geert Wilders a visa, there is the potential to give his cause more oxygen.

"We don't want to do that."

After the weekend's Muslim protest in Sydney, the planned visit to Australia may well add to the tension.

The decision for the minister comes after he approved a visa for Taji Mustafa, the British head of Islamist group Hizb Ut-Tahrir.

Mr Mustafa, though, is not on the Movement Alert List.

"I inquired as to whether Mr Mustafa had any relevant criminal convictions, he did not," Mr Bowen told Parliament this week.

"I inquired as to whether he is a member of a proscribed organisation, he is not. I took all the relevant steps required methodically."

When the Wilders trip was first flagged a year ago, the MP mentioned the help of South Australian Liberal senator Cory Bernardi.

But Senator Bernardi has told 7.30 he has had no involvement in organising the visit.

Sydney Muslim Insurgency Riots: Ahmed Elomar refused Bail again

Former boxer Ahmed Elomar

Refused Bail Bail by Magistrate Clare Farnan in Central Local Court 
Tuesday 18 9 12.

Police prosecutors argued Elomar was part of a group which police believed approached the US consulate "despite police attempts to disperse the crowd".

Ahmed Elomar, 29, appeared by video link at Central Local Court.

Police argued that Elomar had been involved in the riot which "gave rise to serious risk of public safety", the court heard.
Around ten Muslim supporters some dressed in night attire,refused to stand when Magistrate Clare Farnan entered the Court and shouted out
at the end of proceedings.
No reports of assaults upon court staff or by standers have been received by Police so far.

Insolent Supporters Mock Court 

Backers taunted the court

The Daily Telegraph
September 19, 2012 12:00AM

ONE of the angry protesters featured on The Daily Telegraph's front page yesterday has walked into court right under the noses of police - and walked out again.

Wearing a white skullcap and sunglasses the man, who uses the name Abu Sayd, was among a group of supporters who attended court to support Ahmed Elomar. They appeared determined to act as a law unto themselves.

Sitting in Central Local Court as Elomar appeared via videolink, the group of at least 10 men laughed and waved at him during the bail application.

Elomar played with his beard and smiled back at his friends.

When the case returned after lunch the men didn't stand as Magistrate Clare Farnan came on to the bench, as is court protocol. After she said their friend would stay behind bars, the group stood up and shouted in Arabic .

Among media crews outside court were a number of police officers, who filmed the group as they walked in and out of the building during the day.

A police spokesman said police were still going through photographs and footage of Saturday's riot to determine exactly who had committed what offences.

"Then police will proceed to arrest and lay charges," the spokesman said.

Strike force McAlister, formed to investigate and identify those involved in the violent protest, appealed for members of the public with footage to come forward.

Digital photographs or footage can be uploaded to Crime Stoppers through the NSW Police website via the link: police.nsw.gov.au.

Sydney Riots: The radicalization of Muslim children you have when you are not radicalizing Muslim Children

Islamic Leaders Upset at Behead Mum

By Stephen Johnson,
YahooNews
September 18, 2012, 12:02 pm

Islamic community leaders deny their children are being radicalised after a mother whose young son held a sign calling for beheadings turned herself in to police.

The woman went to police on Monday but NSW Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward says the boy will stay with his parents.

"The police then went back to the house and assessed the children and assessed that they were safe so that is where they remain," Ms Goward told ABC radio.

Senior Muslim community figures have condemned the action of the woman, whose boy was photographed holding a sign saying "Behead all those who insult the Prophet" at Saturday's violent protest in Sydney against an anti-Islamic film.

The image quickly went viral, sparking community outrage and calls by Premier Barry O'Farrell for an investigation by the Department of Family Services.

Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan says while he welcomes the mother's decision to go to police, he disapproves of the behaviour.

"That's something that we don't encourage within our community, it's something we condemn," he told reporters at Lakemba mosque in Sydney's west on Tuesday.

Mr Dandan said he would try to talk to the mother, but added he had been told the boy may have found the sign on the street and was "caught up in the hype" during the demonstrations.
Even at such a young age the blood lust for decapitation over rides any innocence normally found in children in Australia.

"Does a child really understand what's written on that placard?" he said.

Silma Ihram, a board member of the Australian Muslim Women's Association, said she did not believe such incidents were widespread as she fronted the Lakemba news conference with Mr Dandan on behalf of 25 Muslim groups.

"We are sick and tired of everyone mocking our beloved Prophet," protester Houda Dib told 
"They have no right to mock our Prophet. We don't go around mocking anyone's religion."
One speaker called for calm, saying the aim of their protest had been to send a message.
"We are here for the sake of our God," he said.
"The message is clear, you cannot mock (the Prophet)."

As it happened: Violence erupts in Sydney over anti-Islam film

Radicalisation of Children ? No No Nooooooooooo Nothing to see here it's perfectly healthy for a small child to demand that anyone they disagree with be Decapitated.

"I don't believe that there is a radicalisation of children," she said.

Ms Ihram said that in a democratic nation, parents should feel free to take their children to demonstrations.

"We don't want to see a situation where people are afraid to take their children and participate," she said.

The radicalization of Muslim children you have when you are not radicalizing Muslim Children

Video captures 8-year-old 'Jihad girl' urging Islamic uprising

Daily Telegraph
September 18, 20129:35AM

8-year-old Ruqaya,Hizb ut-Tahrir,Bankstown,Taji Mustafa hate preacher,Syria,Silma Ihram,Pru Goward,Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan,Australian Muslim Women's Association,Lakemba Mosque 

SHE may be the youngest voice of Islamic fundamentalism to be broadcast in Australia.

This is a recording of 8-year-old Ruqaya urging other children to join the fight for a global Islamic state. As she sees it, “nobody is too young”.

Ruqaya delivered her speech to an audience of 600 at a conference called Muslims Rise, hosted by an Islamic group called Hizb ut-Tahrir. It was held in Bankstown in Sydney’s west on Sunday.  

Muslims Rise advocates the restoration of the Islamic caliphate - a global government for all muslims, operating under strict sharia law.

Ruqaya was one of nine speakers in a considerable line-up, which included a controversial keynote from Taji Mustafa, described by the Opposition as a "hate preacher".

"My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, as the world gathers against the believers in Syria ... seeking to hijack our sincere and blessed uprisings, children in Sydney would like to send their message of hope and support to the Muslims of (Syria), especially to the children and mothers," Ruqaya said in her speech.

"These uprisings have demonstrated that this umma (global Muslim community) is alive and well, her love is for jihad, she is unshackled herself from the fear which she held, and she yearns to once again live under the banner of (the Islamic state).

"Children as young as myself can be seen on the streets joining the uprisings, risking their lives to bring food, water and medicine to their wounded family members, some of them never returning to their mothers ... Nobody is too young," she said.

Sydney CBD Muslim Insurgent Riot Govt. and apologists start the SPIN

Why we must stop turning the other cheek

Ed Husic 
The Daily Telegraph 
September 17, 2012 
12:00AM

HOW many times have you heard something offensive or just plain wrong said about another person or group and then turned the other way - because it's simply not worth the grief of the subsequent argument?

I know I have. I don't think I'm the only one. But after the events in Sydney, I don't think we can keep turning away.

The weekend's protests were completely over the top and cannot be justified.

What triggered them was a deep hurt and outrage at a video that caused great offence to followers of the Islamic faith.

But violence is never the first response to this kind of offence. It's not the second response. Frankly, it's never the response.

There are always the misinformed, the foolish and the spiteful who will make comments to upset followers of all religions.

While many religions - including Islam - counsel against responding to provocation, we saw a completely unjustifiable response in Sydney and internationally.

As someone on Twitter rightly said yesterday: "No, we can't be responsible for what others say or do but we can be responsible for how we react."

A Twitter hashtag's been started up by DiversityAus board member Mariam Veiszadeh: #MAVSP or Muslims Against Violent Sydney Protests.

Showing the actions of one person can powerfully unify many, Mariam's sparked a vigorous response via social media bringing likeminded people together to stand up against violence and build understanding.

Ed Husic, the first Muslim to be elected to Parliament leaves after taking the oath during the swearing in ceremony at the opening of the 43rd Parliament, Canberra, on Sept. 28, 2010 Canberra, Australia. The opening comes five weeks after the federal election resulted in a hung parliament and left the country waiting while Independent MPs deliberated to ultimately form a minority government.

on Sept. 28, 2010 C

That's been followed by leading organisations representing Muslims from all walks of life condemning the violence.

The reaction from the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Australia will rightly be that a small but violent group among the 200 protesters weren't representative of the majority. And they're spot on. They were just as unrepresentative of the Islamic faith as the Cronulla rioters of 2005 were unrepresentative of the rest of the country.

But the problem is this: they are representative of someone. And this is where turning away will no longer work.

We need more and more moderate Muslims speaking up against violence - as has occurred - but more conversations also within communities to build an atmosphere of total "zero tolerance" for the type of reaction we saw on Saturday.

I bet you thought good ole Ed was not going to include the Obligatory BUT Monkey didn't you ?
Ed is a good Muslim and he would never leave out the usual Islamic caveat on what Australians must sacrifice in order for non Judeo / Christian's aka."his community"/co religionists, to behave like civilized human beings every now and then, aka. not BEHEAD us or gang rape our wives and daughters.

We also cannot turn a blind eye to those who deliberately whip up religious hatreds while claiming freedom of expression. While we cherish that freedom, does that give free licence to post videos claiming awful things just because they're free to do so?If you thought the signs at Saturday's protests expressed awful sentiments (which I did) then logic suggests that that video should be categorised the same way (which I do). analysis and criticism is one thing -Expression designed to be deliberately provocative and injure the deeply held views and values of others is something I'll never support or respect.

Ed Husic, elected in 2010, is the first Muslim to enter federal parliament.

Muslim Insurgent refused Bail over Sydney CBD Riot

Australia's Freedom FROM Information Minister calls for Video Ban

The Bolt Report, September 16 2012 Pt's 1,2 and 3

Why would the Australian Government help facilitate this.......

September 15 2012 : Sydney's "Harmony Day" who's responsible ?

The Australian in this Coffin.......

Muslim Insurgents Sydney Riot latest Video and Pictures

Sydney under attack from Muslim Insurgents

Muslim Insurgents Sydney Riot latest Video and Pictures

Muslim Insurgent refused Bail over Sydney CBD Riot

Pious Muslim Insurgent has a six page criminal record

Man refused bail over Sydney protest

Herald Sun

September 16, 2012 2:05PM

 

A FATHER of three charged with affray after a Sydney protest against an anti-Islam film turned violent has been refused bail.

Ahmed Elomar, a 29-year-old champion boxer, was one of six men charged over demonstrations in central Sydney on Saturday but the only one denied bail.

The other defendants will face court next month.

Elomar displayed little emotion as he appeared in Parramatta Bail Court via video link on Sunday wearing a T-shirt displaying the phrase "6th pillar".

He had been charged with affray and previously breaching bail for driving offences.

Defence lawyer Greg Scragg argued that his client had not taken part in alleged acts of throwing bottles at police during the Sydney protest, adding that a shoulder injury sustained from a skiing accident in August had been exacerbated by his arrest.

"He was caught up in circumstances that got out of hand," Mr Scragg said.

"His arrest was not justified. His arrest was done in circumstances of over-policing.

"He was taken to the ground. While he was on the ground he was kneed in the back, he was sprayed with pepper spray."

Magistrate Andrew George said Elomar had breached bail for driving offences and could not be trusted to obey his bail conditions.

"His disqualified driving offence raises concern that he's a person who holds contempt for orders made before the court," Mr George said.

Elomar's matter was adjourned until September 18 for a plea or mention at Central Local Court.

Police were called to Parramatta Bail Court after one of Elomar's supporters threatened cameramen from the Seven and Nine networks with violence.

The police were summoned by court authorities. Ten supporters left the courthouse without incident.

My boy Trigger brainwashed by a Muslim cleric

Taghred Chandab 

Brisbane Times

 July 1, 2007

Ahmed Elomar and his wife Najatt on their wedding day.

Photo: Adam Hollingworth

THE angry father of an Australian boxing champion arrested in Lebanon said yesterday his son had been brainwashed by a radical Muslim cleric who had been based in Liverpool.

Father-of-five Mamdouh Elomar attacked Sheik Feiz Mohammed yesterday, saying his hardline approach to Islam was wrong. He told The Sun-Herald that he urged his children to stay away from the cleric and the Global Islamic Youth Centre at Liverpool.

"Sheiks like Sheik Feiz ruin people," he said from his south-west Sydney home.

"He is not a sheik. He is brainwashing all these children. I know my religion so I can tell him when he is wrong, but these kids believe everything he says and think it's their religion. Someone needs to stop him.

"Today our kids are either at one extreme, partying or using drugs, or at another extreme with their religion. I don't teach my children to hate non-Muslims. I have taught them to love everyone."

Mr Elomar's son Ahmed, 24, nicknamed "Trigger" in the boxing community, was arrested in Lebanon last month with two other Australians, Ibrahim Sabouh and Mohammad Basal, and accused of having links to a terror cell in Lebanon. The men have not been charged.

He had been holidaying in Tripoli, Lebanon, for two weeks with his wife, Najat, 25, and two sons aged five and three before his arrest 11 days ago. The young father was considering moving to Lebanon after falling in love with the country last year.

The Sun-Herald understands that the featherweight champion, who is also the nephew of Sydney terror suspect Mohammad Ali Elomar, left his wife's family home at 10am with several friends and was arrested several hours later. His father said it was still unclear if he was arrested in a raid or on the street for not having identification.

"I know in my heart that my son has done nothing wrong," Mr Elomar said. "But if he has, I support the Lebanese Government and army. Ahmed is a good boy and cheeky, but he has a soft heart."

He said he had never heard of Ibrahim Sabouh, but thought his son might have known Mohammad Basal.

Ahmed, also known as "the Lebanese cowboy" because of his passion for Arabian horses, was devastated after his uncle was arrested in November 2005.

"It's disappointing because my uncle's not like that," he said in 2005. "It's upset the whole family."

Meanwhile, Sheik Feiz, who is working as a carpenter in Malaysia having earlier moved to Lebanon to escape constant ASIO surveillance, said through an associate last week that he was aware that he was wanted for questioning in Lebanon.

He said he was outraged by the allegations that he and his friends were linked to a terror cell.

"We should be entitled to say what we want so as long as we don't hurt anyone," he said through his associate.

"I know they [Lebanese authorities] want to talk to me, but I am not afraid because I haven't done anything. I will leave it in God's hands."

Sheik Feiz also said he had spoken to a Lebanese citizen captured with the Australians who witnessed one of the men being beaten.

He said he wanted the Australian Government to try harder to help its citizens.

Australia's Freedom FROM Information Minister calls for Video Ban

One of Australia's very own "Arse Clown Idiots in Search of a Village" ,Federal Minister for Freedom FROM Information and Propaganda, Senator Stephen CONroy calls for Banning Mohammed  Video... It's not known if he has ordered You Tube to remove any more material he deemed offensive to His and his Governments Muslim pals 


Conroy urges YouTube to pull video

The AGE
September 16, 2012 - 6:13PM

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has called for YouTube to consider taking down a video that ridicules the Prophet Mohammed which sparked a violent protest in Sydney yesterday.

A spokesman for Senator Conroy said the video, Innocence of Muslims, by an American filmmaker who calls himself "Sam Bacile" was "clearly offensive and (YouTube's owner) Google should review its terms of service to see if they are being appropriately applied in this case."
"Australia has strong anti-vilification laws. If people believe this video is in breach of these laws they can make a complaint to Google or the Human Rights Commission," the spokesman said.
"What people shouldn't do is engage in violent protests on the streets. It is totally unacceptable behaviour and should be condemned."

A YouTube spokesman said the video was "clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube."
The spokesman said the company had restricted access to the video in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt because of "the very sensitive situations in these two countries."
"We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions. This can be a challenge because what's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere," the spokesman said.

Australia: Labor’s SECRET Internet Censorship / Snoop LAWS on hold until after August 2010 Federal election “……disclosure of the document uncensored "could be misleading to the public and cause confusion and premature and unnecessary debate".

NO CLEAN FEED

The Bolt Report, September 16 2012 Pt's 1,2 and 3

Why would the Australian Government help facilitate this.......

Islams Plan

Muhammad and Incitement to Violence