Geert Wilders Backs New Anti-Islam Party, the Australian Liberty Alliance

THE GUARDIAN: The far-right politician sends pre-recorded message to a conference being held in Melbourne on Friday that will feature two speakers barred entry into Britain


Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders will welcome a new anti-Islam political party, the Australian Liberty Alliance, in a pre-recorded message to a conference on “Islam and liberty” starting in Melbourne on Friday.

The conference, organised by the “Islam-critical” Q Society, will start on Friday morning at a secret location, and will feature two speakers who were last year barred entry into Britain.

“It’s a bringing together of many people who are concerned about the march of Islam into many western democracies, and how it changes the laws and values of western democracies,” Q Society’s spokesman, Andrew Horwood, said.

“You get segregation when you get Muslims coming in, because their core belief is that Muslims are better people than non-Muslims,” he said. “We’re keen to have integrated societies, but we think it’s important to have integration, not segregation.”

The Q Society sparked protests last year when it sponsored a speaking tour by Wilders. The firebrand MP warned audiences that Islam was “a force of darkness” that had made European cities such as Rotterdam and Paris look like “suburbs of Cairo”. The tour was hampered by 30 venue cancellations and a refusal by some banks to provide financial services. Horwood said this year’s event has not seen any cancellations or boycotts so far. » | Michael Safi | Thursday, March 06, 2014

PERTH NOW: ‘No place’ for Dutch extremist Geert Wilders in Australian politics : THERE’S one thing Warren Truss and Bill Shorten agree on: There is no place in Australian politics for extremism. » | AAP | Wednesday, March 05, 2014

THE AUSTRALIAN: Anti-Islam party to contest next election: AN anti-Islam party based on the hardline views of Dutch politician Geert Wilders plans to field candidates at the next federal election, raising fears among moderate Muslims of a rise in extremism. » | Chip Le Grand | Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Almost Two Sydney Women a Week Are Converting to Islam

THE TELEGRAPH (AUSTRALIA): MORE THAN 100 people - most of them women - are converting to Islam in Sydney each year, and ­experts warn some new converts are more likely to adopt extremist elements of the religion.

Such radicalism was highlighted by the death last week in Syria of former Queensland Anglican schoolgirl turned Muslim jihadist Amira Karroum, 22, who is believed to have been killed by rebel fighters in Aleppo alongside her US-born husband Yusuf Ali.

Ms Karroum had adopted an extremist form of the faith, praising terrorist Osama bin Laden and supporting the ­violent Muslim riots in Sydney in 2012.

The pair were based in Granville before travelling to Syria to fight in December.

Another Granville man, Caner Temel, 22, has been named as the latest Australian victim of the civil war in Syria.

The Australian New Muslim Association estimates two-thirds of the converts they see each year are female, with more than 60 per cent converting because of their husbands or partners.

Julia Moukhallalati was just 18 when she swapped her Orthodox Christian upbringing for the mosques of western Sydney. » | Ben McClellan | Saturday, January 18, 2014

WA Parliament Passes New Burqa Law

Two women wearing niqab veils

WA TODAY: A new law requiring Muslim women to remove a burqa or niqab to prove their identity to West Australian police has been passed by the state's parliament.

The legislation was drafted in response to public outcry about the case of niqab-wearing mother-of-seven Carnita Matthews, who had a conviction of knowingly making a false statement quashed.

Ms Matthews was originally given a six-month jail sentence after being found guilty of falsely accusing a senior constable of forcibly trying to remove her niqab when she was pulled over while driving in Woodbine in Sydney's southwest in June 2010.

She was later acquitted on appeal after the prosecution could not prove she was the woman who signed the statement while wearing the garment. » | AAP | Friday, November 01, 2013

'I Don’t Oppose Islam as a Country' - Australian Politician Withdraws from Election after TV Immigration Gaffe Interview Goes Viral

Stephanie Banister attacked the way the interview was edited and apologised to her friends and family for any embarrassment

Read the Independent article here | Rob Williams | Saturday, August 10, 2013

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Australien: Politikerin hält Islam für ein Land: Eine Politikerin einer ausländerfeindlichen australischen Partei büßte wegen ihres Unwissens ihre Karriere ein. In einem TV-Interview machte Stephanie Banister deutlich, dass sie den Islam für ein Land hält. Nun zog sie ihre Bewerbung für die Parlamentswahl zurück. » | ler/AFP | Samstag, 10. August 2013

LE POINT: La "Sarah Palin australienne", plus forte que l'originale ? : Une candidate nationaliste s'est ridiculisée en interview en parlant de l'Islam "en tant que pays" et des Juifs qui "suivent Jésus-Christ". » | Le Point.fr | vendredi 09 août 2013

Tony Abbott Woos Sydney's Muslims

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has used his first set speech on the campaign trail to appeal to western Sydney's Muslim community.

Mr Abbott spoke at a dinner hosted by Auburn Council to mark "Iftar", or the fast-breaking meal at sundown during the holy month of Ramadan.

In front of more than 100 people, at the Westella Renaissance Hotel in Lidcombe, Mr Abbott praised multiculturalism as a "heroic dimension to our national history".

"[Our] multiculturalism is a beacon of hope to a troubled and divided world," he said. "People from all around the four corners of this earth have come to this country of ours to be welcomed by us and to build a better life in freedom, for themselves and their children."

The audience included a number of Australian Muslim leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, and diplomatic representatives from countries with large Muslim populations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, India and Lebanon. » | James Robertson | Monday, August 05, 2013

Australian Muslim Frontbencher Suffers Online Abuse After Koran Oath

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia’s first Muslim frontbencher, Ed Husic, has been subjected to “extreme” abuse after he chose to swore his oath of office on the Koran.

Mr Husic, a parliamentary secretary, suffered torrents of anti-Islamic attacks on social media but said he “will not jump because of harsh words in dark corners”. On his Facebook page, a series of congratulatory messages was rebuked by critics who said they were “disappointed” and feared he had abandoned the constitution in favour of Sharia law.

“Shame, Shame, Shame," wrote Ross Peace. "I am so disappointed in this government that they don't have the spine to stand up for the Australian way of life."

Another user, Steve Kerr, wrote: “You are the shame of our great nation. Australian politics has gone to the dogs, and committing the treasonous act of swearing in on the quran, you are the biggest mutt in the yard!”

Mr Husic, 43, the child of Bosnian Muslim migrants, said it was “right” for people to express their concerns but defended his decision to use the Koran for his oath. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Tuesday, June 02, 2013

Australian Muslim Teenager Claims She Was Held Against Her Will by a Service Station Worker in a Perceived Racist Attack

COURIERMAIL.COM.AU: TEENAGER Hafsah Negussie claims she was held against her will at a Brisbane service station after a worker confused company policy and refused to serve her.

Ms Negussie, a Muslim who wears a veil while in public, said she tried to pay for her goods and go, but claimed the attendant locked the doors when she attempted to leave.

The incident, which occurred at a BP service station on Brisbane's southside in December last year, was reported to police but no official report was filed until Ms Negussie came forward again in April.

"I'm Australian, I was born and raised here, I know my rights. It's so horrific,'' Ms Negussie said.

A company spokesman for BP service stations said the business required customers to remove helmets, hoodies or large hats before approaching the counter. » | Angela Ranke, Southern Star | Monday, April 29, 2013

Australia: First Muslim Woman to Enter Parliament

SBS.COM.AU: The first Muslim woman to be appointed to any parliament in Australia says her religion won’t be a major influence on her politics.

The first Muslim woman to be appointed to any parliament in Australia says her religion won’t be a major influence on her politics.

Mehreen Faruqi will take over from Greens MP Cate Faehrmann in the New South Wales upper house later this year.

The environmental engineer and university lecturer told SBS religion should play “no part” in politics, and rejected earlier claims from an Islamic Friendship Association spokesman that she could have difficulties reconciling issues such as gay marriage with Islamic teachings.

“We live in a democracy and [have] a secular system of government. I see no role that religion plays in government, and nor should it,” she said. » | Source: Rhiannon Elston, SBS | Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Australia Gets First Muslim Woman MP
ON ISLAM: SYDNEY – Making history in the multicultural country, a Pakistani-origin Muslim has been appointed as the first Muslim woman in the Australian parliament, breaking new grounds for politics in Australia.

"We do need a spectrum of diverse politicians in Australian parliaments who can represent our communities,” Mehreen Faruqi told 9MSN News on Sunday, April 7.

"It shows the world that we really value multiculturalism.” » | OnIslam & News Agencies | Sunday, April 07, 2013

Australia: Muslim Woman Spat On, Verbally Abused At Service Station

THE NORTHERN STAR: A WOMAN said she was terrified after she was spat on and called a terrorist at a Murwillumbah service station this week.

The practicing Muslim, who requested to remain anonymous, said she was fuelling her car up when a hostile man pulled up and began to scream abuse at her on Wednesday.

"A man got out (of the car) ... He came towards the bowser and I wasn't sure if he was going to head butt me or punch me, or pour petrol on me and light me up," she said.

"But I knew there was going to be trouble."

She said the man approached her and started to call her a "terrorist" and told her to "go back to where you f***ing came from."

The Tweed Coast resident couldn't believe the man was treating her in such a way and believed it was because she was wearing a traditional Islamic face cover known as a niqab.

"(He was) calling me a terrorist when he was terrorising me," she recalled.

"Calling me oppressed yet he was oppressing me."

"He was loud and he was screeching." » | Emma Galliott | Saturday, March 16, 2013

Tom Elliott Calls Out the Hypocrisy of Geert Wilders Protesters
3AW 693: The organiser of last week's protest against anti-Islamic Dutch MP Geert Wilders has been accused of hypocrisy, selectivity and astonishing double-standards by 3AW Drive Presenter Tom Elliott.

After blockading and shoving spectators at Mr Wilders' speech in Somerton, self-professed anti-capitalist Louise O'Shea and fellow protesters have decided not to target the Islamic Peace Conference next month in Melbourne, despite the conference hosting a number of radical Imams who publicly condemn Jews, advocate jihadist terrorism and encourage female genital mutilation and polygamy.

One Imam invited to the conference, Dr Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, had this to say about Jewish people: » | Ned Franklin | Monday, February 25, 2013

Geert Wilders persona non grata en Australie

Cowardly Critics of Geert Wilders Shame Our Country

HERALD SUN: IF Geert Wilders is wrong, let his critics explain next month's "Islamic Peace Conference" at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

I've checked what huge billboards around Melbourne claim is the "largest ever Islamic Conference in the history of Australia", at which 20,000 people are expected.

I've checked what the "chief guest" - Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque - has said of Jews: "The scum of the human race, the rats of the world, . . . the offspring of apes and pigs" whom God should "terminate".

I've checked what other invited speakers have said about killing gays, beating women to make them "shape up", executing apostates and supporting terrorists.

And the evidence is damning: Wilders' critics owe him an apology for having been so blind. So cowardly.

Wilders is the eloquent leader of Holland's third-largest political party and last week tried to conduct a speaking tour of Australia to argue Islam is incompatible with Western values and freedoms.

Wilders might know. For nine years, he has had to live under constant police guard after criticising Islam.

Islamists have been jailed after plotting his death. Another Islamist used a knife to pin a note to the body of slaughtered film director Theo van Gogh, warning Wilders would be next.

Yes, most Muslims are moderate, Wilders agrees, but their "violent Islamic ideology" is not and commands followers not to be, either.

If so, mass immigration to the West of followers of such an ideology is a danger. » | Andrew Bolt | Sunday, February 25, 2013

ANDREW BOLT'S BLOG: Wilders’ cowardly critics must explain this conference »

The Australians should feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves for the shabby way they treated Geert Wilders last week. The protesters behaved liked morons, and the politicians behaved as if they had no balls. Never mind, the cowards can look forward to the Islamic Conference soon to be held there. Then they can welcome the real peace-lovers! – © Mark

Geert Wilders Liverpool Australia Speech

Geert Wilders in Liverpool Australia - Protestors

Geert Wilders Offered Multiculturalism Lesson
SBS: Multicultural organisations say anti-Islamic Dutch MP Geert Wilders should use his Australia tour as a learning experience.

Mr Wilders says Islam and freedom are incompatible and is coming with a warning about the dangers of allowing Muslims to immigrate to Australia.

But a range of organisations that work in the multicultural sphere are determined to prove him wrong.

The Q Society is funding Mr Wilders' Australian tour, which will involve speeches in Sydney and Melbourne this month -- about what he calls the Islamisation of Australia.

Far from calling for Gert Wilders to be banned from Australia for his controversial views, Theo Mackaay from the Victorian Council of Churches says he is welcome to look and learn.

"Let us extend our hospitality to Mr Wilders, let us engage with him, offer him the opportunity to learn how multiculturalism takes commitment but can be a wonderful wonderful way forward for any society."

Victoria's Multicultural Affairs Minister Nicholas Kotsiras says Mr Wilders' views are wrong and misinformed. (+ audio) » | Source: Andrew Bolton, SBS | Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Wilders Warns Australia of 'Dangerous' Islam
AL JAZEERA: Police break up a protest in Melbourne against the visit of controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Protesters have scuffled with police in Melbourne during a visit to Australia by the controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Mounted police restored order as scuffles broke out outside a venue where Wilders was speaking on Tuesday, but authorities said on Wednesday that no arrests were made.

A group of around 40 demonstrators blocked the gate to a function centre where Wilders made his speech, in which he said he was giving Australia a warning about "the true nature of Islam".

During his address, which won him a standing ovation from the audience, Wilders said Islam was "not just a religion".

"It's primarily a dangerous and totalitarian ideology," he said. » | Sources: Agencies | Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bernardi Tests Abbott's Patience by Backing Dutch MP Geert Wilders

THE AUSTRALIAN: COALITION Senator Cory Bernardi tested the patience of his parliamentary leader Tony Abbott by affirming his support for Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who has been forced to cancel a speaking engagement in Perth because no venue was willing to provide him a stage.

Senator Bernardi, whom Wilders this week described as an old friend, had distanced himself from the anti-Islam campaigner since late last year, when he was given a visa to visit Australia. However, the cancellation of Wilders' tour date today prompted the Senator to lament the "double standard" of free speech in Australia.

"Dutch politician Geert Wilders' public speaking tour has run into constant problems as venues continue to pull out or refuse to host his events," Senator Bernardi wrote to subscribers of his weekly "common sense" newsletter. "In such a tolerant and open society like Australia, why is it so difficult to accommodate a speaking tour by a member of the Dutch parliament who has a different perspective?" » | Chip Le Grand | The Australian | Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Related »

Senator Backs Wilders Tour

THE SYDNEY MORING HERALD: THE Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has spoken out in support of the anti-immigration Dutch MP Geert Wilders, saying a double standard on free speech is emerging in Australia.

Mr Wilders, who is on a speaking tour of Australia, on Tuesday called the prophet Muhammad a ''warlord, terrorist and paedophile'' and called for a ban on migration from Muslim countries. His comments drew widespread condemnation, and a large group of protesters delayed the onset of his speech in Melbourne.

Senator Bernardi, who has spoken in support of Mr Wilders in the past, said Mr Wilders' views should have an airing ''in such a tolerant and open society like Australia''. » | Bianca Hall | Immigration Correspondent | Thursday, February 21, 2013

Dutch MP Geert Wilders Substantially Wrong about Islam, Tony Abbott Says
AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVE: “There are very few lessons that Holland has to teach Australia when it comes to the integration of newcomers,” federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said on Melbourne radio 3AW today.

Asked by 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell if visiting Dutch MP Geert Wilders was wrong about Islam, Mr Abbott said: » | AC | Wednesday, February 20, 2013

My comment:

Tony Abbott's IGNORANCE of Islam is truly astonishing. How has this man become a leader of a party with this level of ignorance? He would do well to inform himself of the nature of Islam. The future of his still free country depends on it.

I am not an Australian, but were I to be, with the level of ignorance he has shown about the greatest threat to world democracy, I should NEVER vote for him.

He would do well to listen to Geert Wilders. Wilders completely understands the problems we are facing. Abbott can take Geert’s words to the bank. – © Mark

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