SYDNEY,
February 20, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Australian
Muslims lambasted on Monday, February 20, Prime Minister John Howard
for criticizing Muslim immigrants as people who do not fit into
Australian society, saying that his remarks would only fan prejudice
against Islam.
Islamic
Council of New South Wales spokesman Ali Roude said the remarks were
"offensive and ignorant" while the Islamic Friendship
Association said Howard was "unfortunately playing on
pre-existing Islamophobia," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali,
said the Muslims referred to by Howard represented only a "tiny
fraction" of the Muslim minority.
"There
is also a tiny fraction of Australians who believe in white
supremacy," Ali said.
Howard's
comments were made in interviews in December for a book by journalists
from The Australian newspaper to mark his 10th anniversary in
power next month, the paper reported on Monday.
The
book quotes him as saying that Muslim immigration to Australia had
presented problems not seen in previous waves of migration from Europe
and Asia.
"I
do think there is this particular complication because there is a
fragment which is utterly antagonistic to our kind of society, and
that is a difficulty," Howard said.
"You
can't find any equivalent in Italian, or Greek or Lebanese or Chinese
or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving
on about jihad, but that is the major problem," he argued.
"I
think some of the associated attitudes towards women are a problem.
For all the conservatism towards women and so forth within some of the
Mediterranean cultures, it's as nothing compared with some of the more
extreme attitudes."
Australia
is home to some 300,000 Muslims out of a population of 20 million.
"Right
and Duty"
 |
|
"We want people when they come to Australia to adopt Australian ways," said Howard. (Reuters)
|
Defending
the comments Monday, Howard said it was his "right and duty"
to express his thoughts.
"I
stand by those comments that there is a small section of the Islamic
population in Australia that, because of its remarks about jihad,
remarks which indicate an extremist view, that is a problem.
"It
is not a problem that we have ever faced with other immigrant
communities who become easily absorbed by Australia's mainstream. We
want people when they come to Australia to adopt Australian
ways."
Howard
also stood by his remarks about the attitudes held by some Muslims
towards women, saying they were "out of line with mainstream
Australian society."
He
said it was important people realized he had made the comments about
Muslims before race riots erupted at Sydney's Cronulla beach on
December 11 between whites and ethnic-Arab Australians.
"I
was not trying to make some kind of tawdry political point, it is a
view that I have held for some time."
In
September, e-mail and mobile phone messages urged White residents to
beat-up “Lebs and wogs” -- racial slurs for people of Lebanese and
Middle Eastern origin.
They
moved after Lebanese youths had beaten a beach guard for snatching the
hijab of a Muslim beachgoer.
Muslims
have been the subject of racially-motivated measures adopted after the
9/11 attacks on the United States.
Last
week, former veterans affairs minister and MP Danna Vale claimed
Australia could become a Muslim nation within 50 years because
"we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence."
She
later apologized for the remarks after she was harshly criticized by
MPs and Australian Muslim leaders.
Most
Australian Muslims blame Howard for fostering an image of the minority
as the enemy within through his hard-line policies.
Rights
groups condemned as draconian Howard's new anti-terror law while
pundits have blamed the law for creating an atmosphere of fear toward
the Muslim minority.
Thousands
of Australians in Sydney and Newcastle rallied in December against
"hidden" racism in the country.
