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."
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS