I think I have a understanding of Islam.
It is a a religion of peace, but only on their terms.
Peace according to Islam is.
Sharia courts which victimise women.
Beheading for apostates and other minor crimes.
Marriage of girls as young as 9 years of age.
Forcing women to wear tents, they are beaten if they don't.
Forced circumcision of females.
Death for blasphemy.
Yes I agree, Islam is a religion of peace.

Mohamad,
You say,"If, however, it had simply been explained to the public that here were a bunch of youth who are angry at certain governments – and not the public – for carrying out oppressive policies, the anxiety would have likely subsided. These facts illustrate that we need to change course. We need to engage with the problems rather than deny them. We need dialogue".

You do not say which governments are carrying out oppressive policies. I don't see any in the western world, certainly not in Aus. Muslim youth have the same opportunities as anyone else.

The need for dialogue is past, the time now is for action. The problem is that we do understand Islam and its desire to dominate by violence and fear. 20,000 terrorist attacks since 9/11. Even in muslim countries they continue to blow each other up which clearly shows muslims are not prepared to compromise at all.

No, the time has come for us to stop further muslim immigration if we want a cohesive community. The more muslims we have here the worse the problems will be.

This bloke has it right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9uUcjx5LD4

There's nothing to discuss with islam; it's a religion; it's nobodies business what the practitioners do; AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT BREAK THE LAW; or TRY TO INTRODUCE THEIR OWN LAW.

There, fixed; now the author and every other muslim can buzz off.

Having said that, I see the author is a PhD candidate in law, no less, studying discrimination against islam in the West.

What discrimination?

I feel very much like an objective observer in these debates.
As a country boy, I have never really been exposed to “multiculturalism”. The only, how shall I say, ethnics? I have been exposed to are the obligatory Chinese restaurant, and the traditional now almost extinct Greek or Italian fish and chip shop or green grocer, and of course my Koori friends.
None of these folk offered any real sense of 'Culture'. They were all almost fully assimilated -at least in public. As a child, I certainly don't recall any Greek or Italian offerings in the fish 'n chip shop menu for instance; more's the pity.
Anyway, my observation is that multiculturalism is a crock. Great in theory, bad in practice.
It seems clear the majority of Australians don't want to be swamped by boat people.
Most Aussies like Aussie culture just fine, thanks (although a bit of that foreign tucker doesn't go astray).
I think the only way to discourage boat people, and end the cultural problem we have here already is to insist on our secular rights; that all people wishing to live in Oz must agree Australian Law is supreme, and must take precedence over personal religious beliefs.
A little ironically, I can quote the Bible to support this position.
“Give unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar. Give unto God...”
I wonder if radical Muslims would be so keen to come here if they understood that Australian Law was supreme, and no deviations or exceptions would be tolerated under any circumstances.
People should be free to practice their religion, but not in public, and not if their religion in any way conflicts with secular law.

"we need to ask: what are Muslims so angry about?; why have Muslims chosen to express themselves in this manner?; and what exactly is making the public so anxious?"

You also need to ask: "Why do we believe in this absurd nonsense when we have absolutely no reason to think that it is true, and it involves us in so much effort and distress?"

Nobody riots when films are made pointing out that the flat-earth theory is wrong, because (nearly) everyone agrees there is no reason to think the flat-earth theory is right. Perhaps you need to consider the possibility that the reason people are ridiculing your beliefs are because your beliefs are ridiculous.