[Othman]

Media Release

In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful

Kevin Rudd lives up to Howardian standard in demonising Islam and Muslims

Sydney, Australia, 23th January 2008 – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has demanded an apology from Samir Mohtadi of Melbourne today for comments made by the latter in a lecture he gave five years ago, deviously brought to light by the media and sensationalised out of all proportion. "Australia will not tolerate these sorts of remarks. They don't belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them and apologise," Mr Rudd said.

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s remarks, Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia, said,

“It took Kevin Rudd only one day to happily partake in the demonisation of Islam and Muslims, having been given the opportunity by the mainstream media’s publicising of sound bites from a five year old lecture. In comparison a three week massacre of hundreds of civilians in Gaza was not deemed worthy of any condemnation by the Prime Minister. We can only conclude that the ‘modern Australia’ he envisions can’t tolerate Islam but can tolerate the brutal killing of innocent women and children.”

“With the media – the so-called fourth estate – so brazenly spreading lies and distortions, and with the government having lost all sense of justice, the Capitalist West has more problems on its hands than just the economy.”

“Kevin Rudd has shown, for those who had any doubts, that he is no different to John Howard when it comes to government interaction with the Muslims. With his troops killing Muslims in Afghanistan, his unwavering support for Israel as it massacres Muslims in Palestine, and his continuation locally of projects like the National Centre of Excellence in Islamic Studies, there should be doubt about his positive intent to promote ‘moderate’ Islam – a distorted version of Islam which sits comfortably with Western imperial designs on the Muslim lands.”

“There is no doubt in the unparalleled honour Islam affords to women. We need not prove this to anyone. To be lectured on this topic by those who have no problem with woman being used to sell cars and soft drinks is laughable. They can keep their values to themselves.”

Ends.

For further information, questions or comments, please contact Uthman Badar, Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, on media@hizb-australia.org or 0438 000 465. Alternatively, further information is available on our website: www.hizb-australia.org.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia
23th January 2008

[sepultura]

Mashallah.

[muslimah_melb]

good stuff jazakAllahu khayran for your efforts

[Bint Halal]

Good work akhi
so does this get mailed out to Kevin Rudds office?

[Mademoiselle]

What did Samir Mohtadi say in his lecture 5 years ago??

[Tamer]

Othman, on Jan 23 2009, 06:25 PM, said:

“There is no doubt in the unparalleled honour Islam affords to women. We need not prove this to anyone. To be lectured on this topic by those who have no problem with woman being used to sell cars and soft drinks is laughable. They can keep their values to themselves.”

That is seriously the best ever commentary/rebuttal i have ever heard.. May Allah reward you many times..
jazakAllah alf khair

[Shimon]

I don't see anything inconsistent with Rudd's remarks at all. Why should the presence of his troops in Afghanistan or his government's support for Israel change what he envisions as correct social policy within Australia? I'm not commenting on the cleric's statements (which, as you point out, are five years old) but - for the sake of an argument - somebody who condones rape and suggests that women occasionally deserve to be beaten should get 'flogged' by the media, irrespective of what the government is allowing elsewhere in the world.

[muslimah_melb]

^ wow. Abu Hamza didn't condone rape neither did he suggest that 'women occasionally deserve to be beaten'. This is why everyone needs to take advantage of the privilege that the full lectures are on youtube..


Keys to a successful marriage:

http://au.youtube.co...feature=channel


"You're all drunks" who said that?? Certainly not Abu Hamza.. watch for yourself.

How to live in Australia as a Muslim:

http://au.youtube.co...feature=channel

[theMu'min]

Tamer, on Jan 23 2009, 07:00 PM, said:

That is seriously the best ever commentary/rebuttal i have ever heard.. May Allah reward you many times..
jazakAllah alf khair

Its called the Major Offensive stance .... the stance we Muslims should always take when issuing rebbutal's. Why should we ever be on the defensive ? We believe in the haq don't we ? Alhumdulilah.

10/10 for the closing lines bro

[only1soulja]

Shimon, on Jan 23 2009, 07:08 PM, said:

I don't see anything inconsistent with Rudd's remarks at all. Why should the presence of his troops in Afghanistan or his government's support for Israel change what he envisions as correct social policy within Australia? I'm not commenting on the cleric's statements (which, as you point out, are five years old) but - for the sake of an argument - somebody who condones rape and suggests that women occasionally deserve to be beaten should get 'flogged' by the media, irrespective of what the government is allowing elsewhere in the world.

I'm guessing you're Jewish right?

Well.. Do you think a Rabbi would be demonized for teaching the Yad Hazakah, a Jewish text on Jewish law, at a seminary and quoting from it that "A wife who refuses to perform any kind of work that she is obligated to do, may be compelled to perform it, even by scourging her with a rod" (Ishut 21:10)?

I love that - seems like Jews should get flogged as well

[polymath]

Shimon, on Jan 23 2009, 06:08 PM, said:

... as (a?) correct social policy within Australia...

One social policy for multicultural Australia? I think we need to re-examine social policy altogether.

I wonder how a social policy could ever be "correct" too. Social policy is politics, not necessarily reality. It has to be flexible and accommodating for a lot of people and not have any political ideology behind it. Oh wait I'm dreaming again, ha ha.

[Mademoiselle]

^well said

[Shimon]

I did say in my comment, if you read it again, that I was not commenting on Abu Hamza's statements. I haven't heard his statements, so I don't know what they were - my comment was in principle, concerning Rudd's perspectives vs. Rudd's policies, and not about the cleric's specific sentiments.

only1soulja, on Jan 23 2009, 07:58 PM, said:

I'm guessing you're Jewish right?

Well.. Do you think a Rabbi would be demonized for teaching the Yad Hazakah, a Jewish text on Jewish law, at a seminary and quoting from it that "A wife who refuses to perform any kind of work that she is obligated to do, may be compelled to perform it, even by scourging her with a rod" (Ishut 21:10)?

I love that - seems like Jews should get flogged as well

Absolutely! Everybody knows that Maimonides (the 12th century author of that text) was a complete misogynist. If a Rabbi in Australia was to preach that (and they do not: 9 times out of 10, the halakha does not follow Maimonides anyway), I would certainly expect them to be lambasted for doing so.

[Shimon]

By the way, despite holding those opinions, I do also acknowledge that if the media had a field day lambasting that Rabbi, I would also feel very uncomfortable.
I have a grand old time criticising Rabbis and the things they say, but I tend to do so with my Jewish friends moreso than with my non-Jewish friends. Were I to see criticism in the newspaper or on the news, I am sure that I would also feel strange about that.

[randwiggend]

polymath, on Jan 23 2009, 09:40 PM, said:

One social policy for multicultural Australia? I think we need to re-examine social policy altogether.

I wonder how a social policy could ever be "correct" too. Social policy is politics, not necessarily reality. It has to be flexible and accommodating for a lot of people and not have any political ideology behind it. Oh wait I'm dreaming again, ha ha.

The Australian Government has a policy which, if followed, would enable everyone to live here peacefully.

First of all, we have to respect Australian Law - religious law has no status in Australia.

Then we have to respect the rights of the individual to be whatever they want to be - within the law.

Say whatever they want to say - within the law.

We are all equals in Australia - no system of class.

So I guess everyone can't have everything - It is illegal for a man to have two wives in Australia so if you can't live without two then it is probably better to go somewhere else.. but I think we have a good and fair system..

That doesn't mean I think the Australian Government is always right - I just think the system under which we live is fair.

[randwiggend]

Shimon, on Jan 23 2009, 11:52 PM, said:

By the way, despite holding those opinions, I do also acknowledge that if the media had a field day lambasting that Rabbi, I would also feel very uncomfortable.

I am sure the anti defamation leagues wouldn't allow that to happen..

[sepultura]

Shimon, on Jan 24 2009, 12:52 AM, said:

By the way, despite holding those opinions, I do also acknowledge that if the media had a field day lambasting that Rabbi, I would also feel very uncomfortable.
I have a grand old time criticising Rabbis and the things they say, but I tend to do so with my Jewish friends moreso than with my non-Jewish friends. Were I to see criticism in the newspaper or on the news, I am sure that I would also feel strange about that.

Strange?

Im sure many of your compatriots would be frothing at the mouth with accusations of anti semetism and calling for the writers heads!

[Ibn Tarek]

Along a similar vein...

Quote

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600



Dear Prime Minister



Since your election as Prime Minister in December 2007, we noticed a
significant and positive change to that of the former Prime Minister
Howard's era. Gone was the running commentary by the PM and his senior
ministers on any and everything related to the Muslim community that was
presented in the media. Some analysts commented that it was frequently
used
by the Howard government as a ploy to distract attention away from any
significant issue of annoyance or frustration.



However, to my knowledge, this silence was broken yesterday when you
decided
to join the media scrum on the alleged comments regarding Muslim men
hitting
and forcing themselves onto their wives. Your interdiction that the
alleged
remarks "were unacceptable to mainstream Muslim teaching," is absolutely
correct. Unfortunately this qualification was not included in radio and
TV
news bulletins. Muslim men are supposed to treat their wives in the best
possible manner - with love, compassion and respect. Several Muslim
community leaders yesterday came forward yesterday to correct the
alleged
aberration.



This particular issue is not my focus today since you have every right
to
comment on any issue of your choosing. My concern is this: "Are we going
to
see a return to the Howard days of the PM and/or his senior ministers
providing running commentary in the public media trial of the Muslim
community?" As a community we have enjoyed for the last 13 months
relative
calm from this rabid anti-Muslim media demonisation and to a large
extent we
owe you our thanks and appreciation. We pray that this could continue
and
that we are accorded the same attention as is to the Jewish, Christian
and
other faith communities. We share the same fears as others.



For example, the following extract from The Awareness Center, the
international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA)'s
website, highlights the problem:

"But Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Anton Block says
there
is still "not enough openness" in dealing with sex abuse thoroughly and
publicly because of fear of fostering anti-semitism. Like any other
community, the Jewish community does not like bad news published about
itself. But we have the added concern that, when messages like this get
out, it adds ammunition to those who want to hurt us and say 'look at
the
Jews'."

http://theawarenessc...-rabbi-hershy-w
orch
-book-torn.html

This issue did not make it to the mainstream media in October 2008, and
fortunately as a result no senior politician had to comment.



Thanking you for your consideration.



Yours sincerely



Dr Zachariah Matthews

President

Australian Islamic Mission Inc.

<http://www.aim.org.au/> www.aim.org.au

[Ibn Tarek]

Othman, curious as to why you put NCEIS in there? What is the issue with NCEIS exactly? Not saying there isn't, but I'd like to hear the reasons.

[platypuspieau1]

just a small pedantic point: why do people in the village spell semitic as semetic?

[GreenOz]

Ibn Tarek, on Jan 24 2009, 09:08 AM, said:

Othman, curious as to why you put NCEIS in there? What is the issue with NCEIS exactly? Not saying there isn't, but I'd like to hear the reasons.

exactly. i would like to know the answer to that to please.

[Othman]

The NCEIS is a institute established to promote 'moderate' Islam, as has been abdunantly made clear by the politicians who established and funded it as well as various articles by its Muslim directors. In its capacity as a government initiative it is part of Government policy with respect to the Muslim community.

[Ibn Tarek]

Othman, on Jan 24 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

The NCEIS is a institute established to promote 'moderate' Islam, as has been abdunantly made clear by the politicians who established and funded it as well as various articles by its Muslim directors. In its capacity as a government initiative it is part of Government policy with respect to the Muslim community.

further proof needed please.

perhaps show me the articles. And how does it support 'moderate' Islam? I'll need more evidence about its objectives and policies etc.

will aslo look up the website.

[Ted Cohort]

Anyone that has a positive attitude towards the NCEIS is obviously blind and deaf.

I've told my family that any involvement with UWS (student, cleaner, tutor etc) is very, very bad, given the ridiculous notions they allow to be propagated in their 'courses'.

Its medicore, facilitates kufr and should be protested against by all Muslims.

[GreenOz]

Quote

I've told my family that any involvement with UWS (student, cleaner, tutor etc) is very, very bad, given the ridiculous notions they allow to be propagated in their 'courses'

if you say so.

i suppose this is where AhmedK's signature becomes handy.

[Ted Cohort]

On what grounds could you disagree?

If an institution is allowing courses to be taught that portray Muslims as mysogynists (at best), among other things, what is the status of that institution?

[muslimeh]

Ted Cohort, on Jan 24 2009, 04:12 PM, said:

If an institution is allowing courses to be taught that portray Muslims as mysogynists (at best), among other things, what is the status of that institution?

institutions dont usually vet course content.
academics are pretty much free to teach what they want.

[intifada]

By that logic I think you should also boycott UNSW, considering what they teach in their "Islam in South East Asia" course.... Shocking.

How on earth some people get to such positions is beyond me.

[intifada]

Oh and USyd, because they have some of the most Orientalist lecturers around...

[fatma]

i think Kevin Rudd has yet to prove that he is Anti- Islam / Muslims or that he is on par with Howard. However just in case any Australian Muslims might be getting complacent in our new post Howard era they have HT to remind them to [a]maintain the rage[b )and not to feel too relaxed and comfortable.
JUst because HT doesn't recognise any national boundaries doesn't mean that they don't exist and that a leader might comment on internal matters such as a misogynist statement by one of our citizens and remain silent about conflict in another part of the world because local matters are unfortunately more relevant to Australian citizens.