Too much to read it all, but I take one line from the header article;

"It is clearly possible in the current environment to say things about
Muslims that you simply cannot say about anyone else."

I wonder why ?

I believe we made a mistake in bringing moslems into Australia.
Not their fault, ours !
If you want to see an example of incompatibility look no further than
Lebanon. They destroyed Beruit in a Christian/Moslem civil war.
The risk of something similar is too great and why should we bother ?
There is nothing in it for us. We would not miss anything if every
moslem dissapeared overnight.

In regards to Islamophobia, readers (and posters) at this forum might like to peruse Kenan Malik's essay "The Islamophobia Myth" at http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/islamophobia_prospect.html

As Malik notes in the second paragraph of this article: "The trouble with Islamophobia is that it is an irrational concept. It confuses hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims on the one hand with criticism of Islam on the other. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is all too often used not to highlight racism but to stifle criticism. And in reality discrimination against Muslims is not as great as is often perceived ..."

Malik's words which are applied to the English situation could just as easily be applied here. It should also be noted that Malik was born in India (but raised in Manchester) and is currently the Senior Visting Fellow at the Department of Political, International and Policy Studies at the University of Surrrey.

... I see a great deal of pretty negative rhetoric on this thread. Funnily enough none of it is coming from muslims.
I'm not condoning the actions of Sheik Hilaly - from what I can tell, neither is Mr Yusuf.

There has been very little discussion of what Mr Israeli has said, which I thought was the point of this article.

Okay. We've heard the anti muslim rhetoric from Coach before. Same goes for you Boaz. Can we try singing a few new lyrics for a change? can we perhaps analyse another aspect of religious politicking that isn't the great muslim menace?

Online_east. Come on. Deal with it. There's been plenty of people crying foul over Hilaly. If you can't even read a pretty tame article like this one without getting all hot, bothered and "offended" than I think you're in for a few rude awakenings.

Betty. For somebody who has made all of three posts (one of which was complaining about having a post removed), you seem awfully quick to judge the forum.

Read a few hotter threads. You'll find there is plenty robust debate, and more than a few posters with strong right wing, anti muslim views.
Yes, some of it is removed if need be, but that is to prevent the threads degenerating into a nasty, abusive slanging match.

To those who say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen; I say, if you can't discuss things calmly and with consideration, get out of the gutter.

Read the title of the piece again, and stop for a moment. Perhaps these responses have been somewhat telling.

I'll second TurnRightThenLeft's recent post.

For those accusing OLO of biased censorship - put up or shut up.

Try phrasing the posts without abuse instead stating your case using logic and see what is removed.

As a long term contributer the only posts I've seen removed are the most extreme of abuse and or those which might place the site at legal risk.

I've never seen evidence of a post being removed because the views expressed did not suit Graham's political leanings.

R0bert

Flowergirl: Irfan, isn't he banned yet??

ThUnDa: He WAS banned. His nick was "irfyte". Now he is back.

http://forums.muslimvillage.net/index.php?showtopic=21973&hl=

I found the above reference to you in the 'Islamic Sydney' forum.

Are you still 'back' Irfan? I doubt it. Not when the Islamic neocon's rule the roost. This idea of 'moderate Islam' is surely a joke.

I would suggest that one of the reasons that Islam goes down like a lead balloon in Western socities and causes all kinds of friction is that it is tries at every attempt to stifle meaningful debate. And even worse, this choking of debate is bought about by threat fueled by monumental arrogance and contempt toward anyone slightly different - like yourself.

Why don't you admit that you are wasting your time siding with an idealogy that is by definition totalitarian - and come over to the West?

It's amazing just how much some of you hate your fellow Australians. I simply cannot find any Judeo-Christian ethic which could justify this degree of venom.

I guess it is because many of you simply don't get to meet many Muslims. Or some of you have had bad relationships with Muslims. I know that neo-Con writers like Mark Steyn and Ann Coulter often refer to their former Muslim partners who ended up dumping them. I guess the pain must cut really deep.

Regardless of what I say or write, there will be some people here who will want to see me and anyone else deemed Muslim thrown out of Australia, if not killed. They are people whose information about me and what I believe comes from the most hostile sources. They could just as easily ask me what I believe, but that would require them getting out of their comfort zone. And it would require them using brain cells they may not have.

I know there are many people in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere who hate Christians. I guess if I saw much of my family obliterated by a bomb dropped by a President who sends his troops to war after praying with Rev Franklin Graham, I would also hate Christians.

What stops me from hating people who tick "Christian" or "Jewish" on their census forms is that I know so many of them. I know them as decent hard-working people who respect me for who I am and who I feel no hesitation in respcting.

If anyone is interested in what I believe, they are welcome to e-mail me using the address on my blog. Otherwise I really have no interest in visiting these forums and reading the inbred nonsense that some of you write because you are still grieving over your Muslim partner who dumped you or because you forgot to take your medication.