Having been involved in a few events which the media covered, sometimes very closely, I can say that every account had some detail wrong - so to all those relying on the mainstream press for your information about this episode, its reporting cannot be taken at face value as even accurate, before there's any question about the media's own agenda skewing things.
As to Dr Ali's comments, with Ed and the writer who said that the spokesperson has nothing to say to a woman who wishes to make her own choices about how she runs her life. Muslim spokespersons speaking out of line, let alone not reflecting the diversity of Muslim belief and practice, is a very dangrous precedent. We don't (yet) have a Sharia Council in Australia, and I pray to all gods that we don't get one. Have a look at some of the things Britain's Sharia Council has said recently and see if you think the whole lot of them should be arrested for incitiment to murder. If one starts up here, at it's first such pronouncement it should be shut down.

Irfan. Bridging the cultural gap. Can you, Salam, Waleed, Nada or other Mossies have a yarn together and set out what you think are the reasons why Aussies believe Muslims are intolerant and many are not interested in intergrating.

Frankly, I want to talk to people who speak the same lingo, without me being called a racist first off, because I seriously question the concept of multiculturalism. After a bomb goes off in London or Bali or I read that some girls are beheaded somewhere,it does little to console me if some old bearded bloke says "Islam is a peacefull religion" or "there are only a few Muslim terrorists" Oh Yeah!
Or get some convoluted interpretation of the Koran.

It cannot be just bigotry on the part of Aussies. There are far too many people, like teachers, nurses, shop assistants, ambulance, etc. that have daily contact with Muslims that speak negatively about male Muslims in particular. These people cannot all be bigots and they use discriptive words like rude, arrogant, dictatorial, overbearing, beligerant and others meaning similar.

We have to do a lot, and quickly, to promote better relations and intergration of Muslims and non-Muslims. Are immigrants sufficiently informed about our society before coming here? Should we have education of new arrivals about the ways of our community?

Is John Stone right in that some don't want to intergrate and we should stop Muslim immigration.

Governments, of any flavour, have to be seen to be doing something, so what happens after the next terrorist attack, or an attack here?

Political suicide to remove more civil liberties from everyone, so the question of restricted Muslim immigration will be prominant.

Hope you Mossies can provide more answers that I can, or the thick sheiks can.

On a lighter note... I personally prefer Michelle Leslie photographed wihtout the Hijab than with it.