Author Archives: @survivecollapse

Western Complicity in the Rape of Boys in the Islamic World.

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Recently and with much regret, the Australian Islamist Monitor ceased publishing.

The excellent writers at the Islam Monitor have not all hung up their keyboards, however, and Circe has written an incisive report on the rarely discussed position of boys in islamic societies.

Western complicity in the Rape of boys in the Islamic world.

Do we have any standards anymore? Do we stand for anything at all? What happened to the rights of the child or are they also suspended when Islam is involved? After all we say nothing about Islam’s legalised child marriage and sex with little girls or its violence to women and children and we never mention the rapes, murder, persecution etc against non-Muslims? Western soldiers fighting in Afghanistan look the other way as young boys are sodomised by Muslim soldiers, interpreters and war lords and this is passed off as a ‘cultural difference.’ Such violence against boys is certainly not limited to Afghanistan but seems spread across the Islamic world and has reared its ugly head in Australian detention centres.

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ADL Stand Strong In Sydney.

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Australian Defence League and friends standing tall and strong against sharia.

For a variety of reasons, I was unable to attend the ADL rally in Sydney’s Martin Place yesterday. One of those reasons was the incarceration of Martin Brennan, the leader who organised this protest against sharia in Australia.

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Who’s Afraid of the KKK?

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Sergio Redegalli is someone we’ve met before.

His ‘Say No To Burkas’ mural provides endless cause for griping among the lefties where he lives, and he has had to repaint it dozens of times so far.

The definition of insanity is, of course, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

In Sergio’s case, those who object to his painting continue to deface it, and he – in defiance of them – simply repaints it.

They do the same thing, and get the same results.

With a few little changes now and then.

How about a black KKK outfit? Will that offend people? It shouldn’t. After all, it’s a complete body covering in black.

It’s the way someone may wish to present to the world, so who could possibly object?

I guess we’ll see on this one.

Stay tuned….

crossposted at rightwingdeathbogan.

Of Capping And Clubbing. “Racists” In The House.

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Vlad Tepes posted this video earlier, but it bears revisiting.

I’m a member of the Australian Defence League group on facebook, and the poster mentioned, Australia IsDying happens to likewise be a member. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth at this news report, but I honestly found it rather ho-hum.

Those involved with the counterjihad – regardless of what form – get called a racist sooner rather than later purely because of the opinions they express. It doesn’t matter if there are facts, and reports, and personal experience to back up these opinions, we’re still racist.

Just for the record, islam is not a race!
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New Mosque? Time To Lawyer Up.

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In my line of work, such as it is, I meet a lot of people from around the world. One of these is Mr. Gavin Boby, a lawyer who specialises in building applications.

If you want to build something or don’t like the idea of a potential development, then he’d be one of the people you want to talk with. He knows the by-laws, the regulations, and how to deal with the authorities.

That’s what he does.

What makes him a bit different is that he’s now set up a foundation to offer his services pro bono (that’s FREE for those of us who didn’t go onto tertiary education) to help people campaign against the ever-increasing proliferation of mosques.
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History Be Damned In Our Schools.

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What if someone held a protest and (almost) nobody came? Would anybody hear it?

Well, yes. I heard.

Press Release – May 19th 2011 at 12:05am
Gunnedah South Public School First Fleet protest on 2 June 2011

A protest action in support of the First Fleet has been called in Gunnedah, NSW for 2 June 2011. The protest is to be outside Gunnedah South Public School at 12 pm where a petition signing will take place.

The demonstration has been called in response to the principal Emma Jeffery refusing to accept a gift from the Morris family of a print of Algernon Talmadge’s “The Founding of Australia” which depicts the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788.

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Why I Love Shannon.

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O’ disbelieving enemy of Allah, read with two eyes; while you and your feral, racist, redneck, drunken yobbos are wasting your money drinking, gambling your money away, we are working hard, praying to Allah and preparing. The result is not in our hands nor yours but with Almighty God-Allah. you seem o forget that just north is the worlds largest muslim country who are also preaparing and many have pledged their loyal support to me and to Allah. We dont protest. We fight. Ibrahim Siddiq -Conlon

So my favourite out and proud “revert” – because some people can’t just “convert” like everyone else – thinks that regular aussies are quite colourful. Just not in an approving way.

As usual, Shannon Conlon has to have his say, and in this case, rather than cheering for the deaths of our soldiers, he’s threatening us with allah’s wrath.

For someone who used to be one of us, he surely has forgotten where he comes from – as a self-identifying bogan, I will confess to not drinking to excess and preferring to use manners and niceness rather than being a total feral.

About the only thing he missed calling us was drongoes, but that’s okay. I can fill in the spaces.

It’s also entertaining to see his use of the word “redneck” in the same sentence as “racist”. Redneck is racist language, but I guess those rules don’t apply any more since he became one of the Best People.

These are, of course, the Best People who believe that sharia is the be all and end all for all our woes.

Wife looking a bit disobedient? You can beat her.

Son come out of the closet in all his glory? Throw him off the roof.

Cousin decides against islam and its attendent sharia? There’s that death penalty again.

So what’s Shannon’s current bleat? He’s not happy that the ADL is having a demo up in Sydney in a couple of months’ time, and he’s made sure that Martin Brennan, the leader of the ADL knows about it.

The beauty of modern (non-sharia compliant) technology is that now everyone else knows about it too.

Too bad for him that most of us aren’t inclined to embracing sharia.

July in Sydney certainly won’t be dull.

Wish I could be there.

Sharia in Oz? Well I never!

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So a couple of weeks back we have the Australian Defence League’s first stand against sharia in Australia.

Next come the news reports that muslims don’t think that we should be worried about that sort of thing:

Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ikebal Patel said the group was provocative and wrong to believe that most Australian Muslims wanted to bring in sharia law.

“It’s of great concern that anyone is out there trying to disrupt the peaceful social fabric of Australia,” he said.

And then… we have Ikebal Patel coming out and saying, well, actually, we do

want     
sharia here in Australia. Only a little bit of it, though. Just a smidge of sharia to make us feel more accepted.

In the meantime, we’ve got our very own version of Andy Choudary, the (not so) photogenic Shannon Conlon aka Ibrahim Siddiq Conlon prating all over the television that islam uber alles is what he’s about, and he’ll grab all the air time he can get to tell us what’s good for us.

Especially if we give him $5000 for the privilege of being hectored by him.

(hint:yeah, he wants sharia)

Unfortunately for Ikebal Patel and Shannon, there was a bit too much scrutiny applied to this idea, and the talkback radio, letters to the editors and blogs showed that your regular aussies, and not a few immigrants themselves, don’t want islamic jurispridence in this country.

So the Attorney General, Rob McClelland, had to come out and explain that:

“As our citizenship pledge makes clear, coming to Australia means obeying Australian laws and upholding Australian values,” he said.

“Australia’s brand of multiculturalism promotes integration. If there is any inconsistency between cultural values and the rule of law then Australian law wins out.”

It’s good to have public discussion on this, although it appears that Oscar Wilde was incorrect when he said that “the only thing worse than being talked about it not being talked about.”

Looks like Ikebal’s gone awol and the wagons are circling.

Hahahahahaha.

crossposted at rightwingdeathbogan.

Yazmina.

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First a disclaimer. This topic is painful to write and will be painful to read, particularly if you do have children. I apologise in advance for my tone, as I am trying to keep an emotional distance so I can make some sense of it.

My prayers are with Rachelle D’Argent, and those around providing her with the support she so desperately needs at this time.

m13.2 The necessary conditions for a person to have custody of a child are:

(a)uprightness (def:o24.4)(O: a corrupt person may not be a guardian, because child are is a position of authority, and the corrupt are unqualified for it. Mawardi and Ruyani hold that outward uprightness (def:m3.3(f)) is sufficient unless there is open wrongdoing. If the corruptness of a child’s mother consists of her not performing the prayer (salat), she has no right to custody of the child, who might grow up to be like her, ending up in the same vile condition of not praying, for keeping another’s company has its effects);

(b) sanity (O: since a mother uninterruptedly insane has no right to custody, though if her insanity is slight, such as a single day per year, her right to custody is not vitiated by it);

(c) and if the child is Muslim, it is a necessary condition tht the person with custody be a Muslim (O: because it is a position of authority, and a non-Muslim has no right to authority and hence no right to raise a Muslim. If a non-Muslim were given charge of the custody and upbringing of the child, the child might acquire the character traits of unbelief(kufr)).The Reliance of the Traveller.pp551-2[emphasis added]

One of the big problems with our multicultural paradise is that sometimes a culture has ingrained beliefs that just don’t mesh with the Western Civilisation.

All over the news at the moment is one Ramazan Acar, who pleaded guilty to murdering his young child a few days short of her 3rd birthday.

I do a lot of reading on the situation of separated parenting, being in that space myself, and parents (men in this case) killing their children during a dispute is not unheard of. We have Arthur Freeman, recently sentenced for murdering his four-year old daughter Darcey, and Robert Farquharson, who was found guilty of driving into a dam and drowning his children Jai, Tyler and Bailey on the way back from an access visit.

What makes Acar’s crime more heinous than those other two is the nature of the murder. He stabbed his daughter multiple times and then sent his former partner/fiancee text messages to tell her what he’d done.

That is something that you don’t often hear of happening, but one of his text messages (via Prof Bunyip) is quite curious:

“U wanted to convert ma kid do it u wanted to lock me up I did it u wanted 2 b indapendant do it u take full custdy do it u wana kill me il do it wat eva makes u happy nw tel me”

As the Professor notes,

“What we have here is a wicked man who killed a child, in part to honour what he, and many others, believe to be the tenets of his creed. What we also have is a misogynist who thought his ex needed to be taught a lesson for acting “indapendant”.

What we also have here is a craven, cowardly media that insists on filtering the news rather than reporting it fairly, honestly and fully. Your opinionisers will go on at great length about Tony Abbott being a Catholic and how dangerous that makes him. But a Muslim butchers a baby and abuses his former partner for making her own way in the world and the silence is near-total. Maybe all the feminists were washing their hair that day.

But not to worry. This incident was all about social media, not Islam – at least not that you will read about, anyway.

Perhaps it isn’t specifically about islam, but that does not negate the fact that under islam, a man is enjoined to keep his women in line a la the quranic sura and verse 4.34.

Sure the usual caveat of not all muslims are like that must be applied, but ultimately, there are enough that are who make it difficult for everyone. Infidel and believer alike.

Given the nature of the text messages and the knowledge that Acar posted on facebook that he was going to kill his daughter, given that he is muslim, Rachelle is christian and she may have wanted to convert their daughter to christianity, the script was written long before either of them were born.

As the mother is a non-muslim, she should not have custody of a muslim child. No ifs, ands or buts.

Here in the West, however, it’s not so clear-cut. While the majority of the time in separations the mother has the main custody of children, it is becoming more common for there to be more equitable joint custody, or even for the father to raise the children.

It doesn’t matter how Westernized this young man is, the facts are that he is a muslim, known to be a muslim, and therefore superior to a christian woman.

Perhaps Rachelle wanting his daughter Yazmina to be christian was the last straw for him.

As Dan over at Islammonitor says, “Better dead than with an infidel mother.”

Crossposted at Rightwingdeathbogan.

The New Puritans Have Bolted.

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One of my favourite plays/movies is The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. I never studied it in school, so I never got to pull it apart scene by scene, line by line, and therefore learned to love it just as it is.

One thing that I did pick up along the way regarding this play is that it’s supposed to be an allegory for McCarthyism and the rooting out of communists in America in the 1950s.

The fact that McCarthy was right is often overlooked or ignored, so “McCarthyist” tends to be seen as a derogatory term.

Now, here in Melbournistan, we have our very own witchhunt going on with columnist/journalist Andrew Bolt’s head being in the noose.

His crime?

Well, according to the Racial Hatred Act, (yes, we actually have one of those.Who knew??) several of Bolt’s columns back in 2009 offended a few people.

18C.(1) It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private,
if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend,
insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people;
and

(b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic
origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the
group. Note: Subsection (1) makes certain acts unlawful. Section 22
allows people to make complaints to the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission about unlawful acts. However, an unlawful act
is not necessarily a criminal offence. Section 26 says that this Act
does not make it an offence to do an act that is unlawful because of
this Part, unless Part IV expressly says that the act is an offence.

“(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an act is taken not to be done in
private if it:

(a) causes words, sounds, images or writing to be communicated to the
public; or

(b) is done in a public place; or

(c) is done in the sight or hearing of people who are in a public place.

Unfortunately, the fair State of Victoria is known for it’s remarkably draconian vilification laws.

They never seem to be applied equally; Christians and Andrew Bolt seem to be the main targets, but that is no surprise living in our current climate of unease.

As Zenster* likes to say: there are a lot of skinless people living in our sandpaper world.

Which leads us to this week, where Andrew Bolt is on trial for effectively hurting people’s feelings. As a layperson, with all the necessary lack of credentials in law, that’s how I see it.

We do have a remarkable number of committees, statutory bodies and grants available for people of aboriginal descent, to the extent that it does sometimes feel (as a white person), that there is a separate civilisation living alongside mine.

There is even a section of the Magistrates’ Court that is available only to those seen to be of aboriginal descent.

With all of this opportunity, and positive discrimination in favour of a small percentage of the population who have a different culture to the majority (2.5% of the pop at last census), you’d think that the last thing to worry about would be people getting upset by a few columns written by someone who’s known to stir the possum with his opinions.

Let’s face it, Andrew Bolt has upset plenty of people over the years, up to and including magistrates, so it’s not like anyone would be surprised if his opinions are not universally welcomed.

It’s interesting that so many people think that Bolt is so evil and racist.

It’s also interesting that the prosecuting QC in this court case was able to suggest that Bolt’s opinions are akin to the eugenics movement which led to the development of the Nazi Final Solution.

I guess the idea of “free speech” is rather amorphous, when QCs can play the nazi card with no apparent fall out, but questioning culture is a rather large and legally tricky minefield.

As Ron Merkel says, there’s an “us and them” mentality, but only one side appears to be allowed to have it.

Then again, as Michael Connor notes:

Mr Merkel also said, “This case is not about free speech.”

*Zenster is a regular commenter at the Gates of Vienna blog.

Q Time.

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Last thursday (March 24th), there was a rather small meeting to officially launch The Q Society. This group is a very interesting one, and definitely to be watched, because they have been out there doing things rather than just talking, which a lot of us sometimes get accused of doing.

In this case, Q have gotten a petition up against the Marrickville council for their promotion of anti-semitism and sponsorship of the BDS campaign.

Now a lot of people don’t realise this, but in Australia, local councils seem to be more concerned with what’s happening overseas rather than doing stuff like, oh, collecting the rubbish, fixing the roads and school crossings. Municipal kind of stuff.

Not Marrickville. Hard Green/Left councillor Fiona Byrne wants to sanction Israel for their action in the Gaza region.

(I do rather suspect that this is yet more of the now commonplace new anti-semitism masquerading as righteous outrage, but what would I know?)

Q also petitioned the Port Phillip council about allowing a community house to expand its use by a muslim group for friday prayers. In an area that is predominantly non-muslim, this is a bizarre thing to do, but again, what would I know. We’re talking about the Port Phillip council, and they’ve always been a bit left and strange. (In my opinion, of course)

So thursday’s launch was not completely out of the blue.

Q Society Launch

As Vickie says, Q has hit the ground running, and already leaving a groundswell of opinion in their wake.

ACA link here.

Having met Vickie personally on a number of occasions, I can attest to the fact that she comes across as a horribly scary extremist thoroughly nice person.

She’s also been getting out there, with the Australian Islamist Monitor interviewing her recently.

For a spokesperson, that’s excellent to see.

On thursday evening, Martin King from A Current Affair was also there for a short time to interview a few people (not me, luckily!), and tape some of the talks.

Of course, he didn’t get the talk he should have.

Q Launch SOS Campaign 2011

There are a lot of things going on here in Australia in the arena of creeping sharia – finance, education, food, amenities, and the ongoing issues with illegal immigrants. Not that we’re supposed to call them that. Asylum seekers is the politically correct term.

The Q Society are focusing particularly on halal food in Australia and the current push for islam to be a part of the schools’ curricula. Under the guise of “cultural” studies.

For a small but growing group they aim high.

When you consider that several speakers pulled out at the last minute because they were frightened of speaking out in public, there is a need for some sort of action.

These speakers were from Afghanistan, Sudan and Ethiopia, so you’d think they would feel safe to speak in our (supposedly) free society.

Obviously not.

The keynote speaker was Pastor Daniel Scot, of the infamous Catch the Fires case here in Melbournistan.

A highly educated and entertaining man, it’s no wonder he was charged with quoting the quran in a manner that made people laugh. He has an exquisitely honed sense of irony, and he uses it well.

Another speaker was a Pastor who fled Pakistan in fear as a christian, and now has a ministry here in Melbourne, preaching over the phone and via skype to groups in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and even London!

It took him over two years of effort with the Immigration dept to bring his wife and children to Australia and out from the oppression of Pakistan they suffered as christians.

There are a lot more stories like these, but unfortunately they never seem to see the light of day.

With the Q Society getting the information on what’s happening out, then with luck we’ll see more.

As the saying goes, sunlight disinfects, and the Q Society are doing an excellent job of disinfecting some of the misconceptions about sharia.

Christmas Comes Early To The Island.

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A bit of background:

Way, way off the north-west coast of Australia, closer to Indonesia than Oz, lies a little itty bitty speck called Christmas Island. It used to be considered Australian Territory on a par with the mainland until the “asylum seekers” and their enablers, the people smugglers and refugee activists, realised that if you got to Christmas Island and claimed asylum, you’d be afforded all the legal and other comforts you could ever want without having to get all the way over here.

So a detention centre was built there, to process claims, which was difficult because somehow, these “refugees” could make it to Indonesia from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and so on, and get onto a boat, yet still not have any papers that would identify them.

This detention centre wasn’t built to house more than around 600 or so people.

Under John Howard, aka the Evil Right Wing War Monger (the last conservative Prime Minister), regulations were toughened up and an exclusion zone was devised. So now you could get to Christmas Island, but you didn’t automatically get Legal Aid or instant acceptance. Also introduced were Temporary Protection Visas, which did not give you all of the rights and benefits of a full Refugee Visa.

When John Howard was voted out in 2007, Kevin Rudd of the Australian Labor Party became PM, and as a part of his platform, he promised to loosen up the harsh regime that Howard had instigated.

In 2008, he did so.

Andrew Bolt's graph.

Bolta’s graph outlines how since the laws have been loosened, there has been an exponential increase in boats arriving carrying illegal immigrants (or asylum seekers if you prefer).

There are currently over 2000 of these people on Christmas Island (with several thousand more on the mainland in detention centres and four-star motels), from several different nationalities.

If you spend enough time at Aussie blogs, you might come across a rare sighting of a commenter by name of The Frollicking Mole. The Mole has worked in the detention centres, and has had his say about it.

The Labor government’s enabling of more people seeking to gain entry to Australia and the benefits that accrue upon acceptance as a refugee has led to the current rioting.

Especially since detainees are now being flown to the mainland to protect them from the violence.

Once on the mainland, they’ll be pretty much right.

Not sure about the rest of us, though.

Taking Your Baby For A Walk Can Be Dangerous In Oz.

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Surprise!

Woman pushing pram robbed and assaulted – Sutherland
Sunday, 13 Mar 2011 11:35pm

Police are appealing for public assistance after a woman was assaulted during a robbery in Sydney’s south this afternoon.

About 5.15pm, the 31-year-old woman was pushing a child in a pram along Toronto Parade, Sutherland, when she was approached by two males.

One of the men demanded money and threatened her with a knife.

The woman handed over a small amount of cash before one of them hit her in the face. She suffered swelling as a result of the assault.

The men then ran from the scene along Toronto Parade, towards Jannali.

Both men have been described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 20 years old, with a skinny build and short dark hair. The man who produced the knife also had his hair in a rat’s tail.

Anyone who can assist the investigation should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. All information is treated in strict confidence.

The worst part about this is that a)I wasn’t surprised at all that a woman with a pram was assaulted and b)the alleged perpetrators don’t appear to be your average anglo bogan.

As for the MSM coverage, that’s not unpredictable either.
Sydney Morning Herald mentions appearance. Thumbs up.

Daily Telegraph? Mentions appearance. Thumbs up.

Yahoo news Likewise another thumbs up.

Then, of course, we get to Their ABC.

Mother punched, robbed while pushing pram

Posted 11 hours 45 minutes ago

A woman has been robbed and assaulted while pushing a child in a pram in Sydney’s south.

Police say two men used a knife to threaten the woman in Sutherland on Sunday afternoon.

The 31-year old handed over money before one of the men punched her in the face.

Good to see the taxpayer-funded, impartial and balanced Government news source is still all that.

Also of interest is to note that this took place in the Sutherland Shire.This won’t mean much to anyone until you realise that problems in Sutherland led to the Cronulla riots[sic]

Let’s see if the authorities will work to prevent a recurrence of those.

Cory Speaking Truth To Power.

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Cory Bernardi is a Liberal Senator from South Australia. He is also, according to a small segment of the Australian community, a hypocrite and hell-bent enemy of allah. I wonder if he realised that by saying what he thought, he’d be damned to all eternity.

I suspect he did, because he’s received death threats.

Standard operating procedure for the religion of peace [sic], I know, but still tiresome.

So what was it that Cory actually said?? Have a listen for yourself.

Chris Smith:I actually believe the greatest mismatch has been our christian values in this country, and what I see as an ancient muslim tribalism. Now, many other people wouldn’t pick out islamic religion as something that doesn’t fit with multiculturalism, but I think there are parts of that community who have this ancient tribalism that they continue to espouse. That is, there’s no such thing as equal sexes, ah, my religion is far superior than [sic] your laws, and democracy should be taken over by sharia law, and the more we have of these people, the more younger members of their community will be influenced and the more dramas we have with multiculturalism.

Cory Bernardi: Oh, Chris, you’re spot on. But islam itself is the problem, it’s not muslims. Muslims are individuals who practise their faith in their own way, but islam is a totalitarian, political and religious ideology. It tells people everything about how they should need to conduct themselves, who they’re allowed to marry, and how they’re allowed to treat other people. It is, um, it has not moved on since it was founded, and there are these extremists that want to see the fundamentalist islamic rule implemented in this country. they are continually trying to change our laws they’re seeking special accommodation to indulge in it and unfortunately this government is allowing them and encouraging them..

Okay, I’ve added a few links in there for people to investigate themselves.

In the meantime, Cory has managed, with a few words, to stir the possum.

He’s speaking out against these teachings for some time now, but with the unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and now Libya, islam is getting more and more attention.

This is actually a good thing, because it uncovers a few truths that are unpalatable for a lot of people.

Islam does not promote a cohesive society:

3.28. Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends, guardians, and councilors in preference to the believers. Whoever does that is not on a way from God and has no connection with Him, unless it be to protect yourselves against them and take precautions (against the danger of being persecuted and forced to turn away from your Religion or betray your community, or of losing your life). And God warns you that you beware of Himself; and to God is the homecoming.

Or, to quote my favourite troll over at Bolta’s:

Talal replied to Luke
Wed 16 Feb 11 (07:11pm)

no apparently in islam if they wear a hijab they are “oppressed”

but if the embrace “aussie” and “US” culture of running around half naked and thrusing boobs in everyones face on virtually most of todays music videos, it means they are “free”

Read enough islamic forums, and you will see that this view is not uncommon. It’s just couched in slightly more diplomatic terms, and it is a problem, because it’s drawn from islamic teachings.

Cory Bernardi is speaking the truth, and as Orwell told us,

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act”

(ETA:H/T Shirl for the audio link.)

A Statement From Sergio

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Eeyore has previously posted an interview with Sergio Redegalli, the artist who painted a mural saying “NO” to burkhas. part 1,part 2.

Sergio has just released a statement:

STATEMENT FROM SERGIO REDEGALLI

Newtown has always been a safe haven for the unique varieties of people in Sydney. Newtown has always been, and hopefully will remain, a rich source of creative people. Newtown has for a very long time been an interesting mix of Australians coming from many different backgrounds, education and countries.

Newtown in the last 30 years has been on the leading edge for the creative arts, with many successful artists not just working in the area but committing to making Newtown their home.

This page is a step in clearing up some untruths spread about the ‘Say No To Burqas’ mural (‘the mural’) by a very small number of people.

THE ‘SAY NO TO BURQAS’ MURAL WAS PAINTED TO CREATE DIALOGUE AND TO HOPEFULLY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT SOME VERY IMPORTANT ISSSUES CURRENTLY FACING AUSTRALIA TODAY.

As Australian Citizens we all have a duty to stand up and express ourselves on issues that are important to discuss and to do this always in a sensible and peaceful manner. We all have the right to express ourselves non-violently both verbally and creatively, via any form of media format without having to be fearful of physical abuse or vandalism to property.

There have been too many untruths made by people and groups who take very much care in not putting their names (as individuals as well as groups as a whole) to their beliefs.

Firstly, the ’Say No To Burqas’ mural has always and only been a starting point for debate and discussion, aside from graffiti and vandalism, it has never had the wording painted saying anything other than ‘SAY NO TO BURQAS’.

Point of fact, Islam is a Religious Ideology with its followers coming from many races all over the world and it is impossible to be racist towards a Religious Ideology.

Islam is more than a Religion; it is in fact a system of rule that guides all devout Muslims throughout their lives from the time of their birth to their death. Apart from its Religious element that most Western people understand the concept of, it also has a very clear and fixed set of legal rules, for almost every event in a Muslim’s life (SHARIA).It also has a political system within its structure clearly describing the aims, desired and results that would be the most beneficial for the expansion of Islam. I personally have discussed these sections with my Australian Muslim friends and I encourage anyone interested in understanding Islam to read more about the challenges facing Australian Muslims and the problems that they are facing because of minority groups who have extremist views that do NOT represent the greater Australian Muslim population.

Extremism does exist; every time any we fly overseas we are exposed to the measures that airport security under take to combat this risk. This year, the majority of Australian Coptic Christians had their Christmas celebrations cut short due to terrorism threats made towards them for their celebrations held on the 7th January 2011, after several Sydney Churches were targeted. (Terror threats sour Coptic Christmas services http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/07/3108477.htm?site=sydney). The list goes on.

One very important fact for all Australians to understand is that the burqa and niqab are not a necessary part of Islam. This ruling was made clear to all Muslims around the world by Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, the dean of al-Azhar university, when he stated that “full-face veiling (is) a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith”. (Egypt’s highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women’s veils, known as the niqab. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8290606.stm).

An important reason for a law to be passed in Australia regarding all forms of full-face covering worn in public spaces, is that we live in a land where reasonable rules make more sense. We as Australians like being one united country, not a divided one. We have rules that we have all been following in the past, not because they are Law, but because they give all people a feeling of safety. Australians understand that taking off our motorcycle helmets in banks and other sensitive areas is a normal practise, that people walking the streets with their faces fully covered for no apparent reason is out of the norm.

Australians have worked very hard in creating a balanced and non discriminative society. Let’s not let our good will be used against the common good of all Australians. This issue is not about the clothing, it is about the direction of Australia, and the type of community we wish to live in, one that is clear about what is suitable in Australia and what is not. We have rules that clearly state that public nudity is not appropriate and creating rules that state that 100% full-face coverings in public spaces are not appropriate is just as balanced.

Some people may say it is the right of a woman to make a choice of covering themselves 100%, however I ask one very simple question, who is going to protect and allow for the freedom of choice to the next generation of young girls born into these family groups that will control all aspects of their dress code, education and the types of friends they will be allowed to know.

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Sergio Redegalli
Local resident and artist