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The Forum > Article Comments > The misguided sheikh and free speech > Comments

The misguided sheikh and free speech : Comments

By Mirko Bagaric, published 15/1/2007

The splendour of free speech - the impertinent Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilali is no longer capable of corrupting Muslim youth.

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As I posted in "the Mad Mufti", I have in previous postings expressed my opinion to protect the rights of Islamic residents.

The fact is, however, in Australia, freedom of speech is an idea. We don't have freedom of speech. Ask John Laws. He was sued for making homophobic comments by one man in the gay community who claimed to be offended. The law suit was of a substantial amount of money.

You cannot make vilified statements or make defamatory statement unfairly under Australian law if this negatively effects our welfare.

Many of us are decendents from the convicts. My ancestors, as my other postings pointed out, were Quakers. There was also an African, Jewish people, and even an Arabic convict in the first fleet.

Our family was since pardoned by the old Baily in London for an "overzealous" sentence. There was no particular crime, just the boy, 12 years of age was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and as a Quaker, had to be charged and transported. Why? It made sense at the time.

Australians with older ancestry lines should have every right to sue for defamation and vilification. The statements were offensive to our ancestors.

So the writer of this article, a newer Australian, failed to understand how offensive this sentiment is.

The Australian convicts were, in a sense, victims of their time.

I cringe at playing the victim. Lets face it, however, some of them were legitimate convicts, but some were not. It doesn't really matter either way. They more than did their time. 200 years is a long time ago.

Just leave the dead to rest in peace and don't cross their graves.

I have nothing against Islam.

Just leave our good families out of this.

I will speak to my lawyer. Who would like to join me?
Posted by saintfletcher, Monday, 15 January 2007 7:32:51 PM
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Saintfletcher - "Australians with older ancestry lines should have every right to sue for defamation and vilification."

Not only Australians with older ancestry lines. Al-hilaly has a case to answer to every Australian, no matter their ancestry.

The ancestors of many Anglo-Saxon Australians came here as free settlers. They paid their own way and arrived here with sufficient resources to help them get started. Al-Hilaly's comments are not only lies ("Australians arrived in shackles), they constitute racial vilification.

Al-Hilaly has selected a certain group of Australians - those of Anglo-Saxon descent - so perhaps the Australians in question should bring a class action against him. These comments have gone past a joke that can be laughed off, they were given in a foreign country to people who know nothing about Australia.

If we treat these insults as a joke, outsiders could be forgiven for thinking that Australians have no pride and are willing to allow alien blow-ins to denigrate them at will.
Posted by dee, Monday, 15 January 2007 8:12:59 PM
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Perhaps John Howard's idea of Australian History as a required subject for Australian citizenship is right on the money after all. I believe al-Hilali knows exactly the effect his silly statements have on most Australians and the press love it. After all, isn't it the sqeaky wheel that gets the oil?

Babushka
Posted by Babushka, Monday, 15 January 2007 8:57:31 PM
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I have convicts on both sides of my family.From my mother's side,who came out in 1798 under the name of Colless and my father's side who came out in 1820,a stone mason who caved his own gravestone at Little Hartley in NSW.I don't feel special or think that I have special entitlements because of my ancestory.

Many who were deported,were victims of poverty who stole just to survive.There was no safety net,they did not have the opportunity to rort a social security system that many today in the Muslim community make a career of .

The Sheik's comments and Keyser's are like water off a duck's back,they wouldn't know integrety,honesty,and perserverence even if
they were destroyed by Mohammad's murderous bile.

The Muslims and the West are world's apart,and it is only the tenuous connection of the oil,that makes for this union of Mutual Assured Distrust.MAD.
Posted by Arjay, Monday, 15 January 2007 9:18:56 PM
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Actually, Shaykh Taj is a moderate within the Islamic ulama and generally well liked by Sydney Muslims. He also has a proven ability to bring Sunni and Shia factions together as a successful mediator.

In balance we all might be better off with the devil we know. If Shaykh Taj is forced to resign we could end up with a conservative replacement who really does hate Australian society.
Posted by TR, Monday, 15 January 2007 10:09:10 PM
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He is a joke and so are all the people who support or defend him.

Here is part of his speach - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIJPaOt79T8
Posted by EasyTimes, Monday, 15 January 2007 10:51:22 PM
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