Radical Islamic Group Questions Australian Assimilation, Sells Out Conference
In virtually all countries, anyone wishing to immigrate or obtain residence status has to comply with a stringent and lengthy set of rules and requirements. Part of the application process involves a commitment by the applicants to conform to the laws, cultures and values of the nation they are immigrating to.
The process typically involves adopting patriotic gestures such as the singing of the country’s national anthem, honoring its flag and possibly some form of a pledge of allegiance.
And if anyone finds the host country rules unacceptable or inflexible, the action taken should be straightforward. Such applicants should instead look for other countries where their preferences can be accommodated.
Yet, a group of immigrants in Australia seem to be getting away with despising the norms and values of their adopted nation. They have complained that singing the Australian national anthem amounts to “forced assimilation” of the Muslim community.
The specific complaints were centered on requiring schoolchildren to sing the national anthem, and the citizenship pledge supporting democratic values.
According to a recent report published in The Australian, Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir reportedly complained, through spokesman Uthman Badar: “It’s not enough that you obey the law, no, you have to adopt our values,” later adding that: “If you don’t share those values, why should they be forced to sing it?” The comments were made at a conference entitled “Innocent Until Proven Muslim” that took place at Bankstown in Sydney’s west, attended by a sold out crowd of about 800 people.
Badar further told the conference the Australian government “claims to afford freedom, but seeks to impose values and beliefs” on Muslims, and that Muslims were expected to not just be gracious about Australian values, but publicly promote them. He expressed his disdain for the requirement for new citizens, who are required to pledge allegiance to Australia “whose democratic beliefs I share”. Also rejected was the national anthem, which he said “reflects a disputed view of history”.
Badar further alleged that the campaign by government and agencies against radicalization was actually a smokescreen to “make Muslims less Islamic, more Western, more secular”, and that it sought to be justified by exaggerated fear of a security threat. He concluded that overall, “the attempt to reform Islam is doomed to failure.”
The Australian reported that the trigger for Badar’s tirade was a backlash from many politicians and commentators to news the week before, that the principal of a Victorian primary school had excused Muslim students from singing ‘Advance Australia Fair’.
The conference also saw a number of members of the Muslim community deliver testimonials of what they claimed was oppressive behavior by officials against them as Muslims, at airports, in police raids, and in high-security prisons.
The comments made Badar on behalf of Hizb ut-Tahrir elicited outrage from authorities and non-Muslim citizens, who comprise the majority of Australia’s population. Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane labeled Hizb ut-Tahrir views 'absurd', adding that the Islamic group’s views on citizenship were a rejection of Australia’s liberal democratic values, a denial of Australian multiculturalism, and a confirmation of the group's extremist agenda.
Dr. Soutphommasane stated: "There's nothing oppressive about committing to our democracy, abiding by the law, and respecting the rights of others. Our multiculturalism means that everyone has a right to express their cultural heritage but also accepts the responsibilities of being an Australian citizen."
Federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter reportedly told Sky News that the Hizb ut-Tahrir comments were "unhelpful, divisive and fundamentally ill-informed…the recruitment process of radical organisations is to put in the mind of the people they seek to recruit that there is widespread prejudice amongst Australians against Muslim Australians. That level of prejudice simply does not exist in Australia."
Another aspect of the Hizb ut-Tahrir conference was perhaps even more directly revealing and sinister. According to another report, a booklet handed out to more than 800 attendees at the ‘Innocent Until Proven Muslim’ forum in Bankstown detailed the best way to deal with “entrapment” from Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) agents. The 36-page book of tips and information for the Muslim community detailed an eight-step plan to avoid and deal with Australian Security Intelligence Organisation agents.
The Hizb ut-Tahrir group seems intent on pushing legal boundaries to the limit, in its quest to drive its agenda. But who exactly are they, and where did they originate?
According to Wikipedia, Hizb ut-Tahrir or the ‘Party of Liberation’ is an international pan-Islamic political organization. They are commonly associated with the goal of all Muslim countries unifying as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law (sharia) and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.
The organization was founded in 1953 as a Sunni Muslim organization in Jerusalem by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge from the Palestinian village of Ijzim. Since then, Hizb ut-Tahrir has spread to more than 50 countries and by one estimate has about one million members.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is very active in the West, particularly in the United Kingdom, and is also active in several Arab and Central Asian countries, despite being banned by some governments. The group also has a growing presence in North America, known as Hizb ut-Tahrir America, or HTA.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is also strongly anti-Zionist and calls for the State of Israel, which it calls an "illegal entity", to be dismantled.
One analyst, however, quotes the work of Hizb ut-Tahrir founder Taqiuddin al-Nabhani to suggest that once Hizb ut-Tahrir has succeeded in creating a unified, transnational Islamic state it should press on to expand the state into non-Muslim areas.
The Wikipedia record also outlines the groups preferred infiltration strategy in three stages: "First they convert new members. Secondly, they establish a network of secret cells, and finally, they try to infiltrate the government to work to legalize their party and its aims."
In the wake of the Bankstown Hizb ut-Tahrir conference, it remains to be seen whether a firmer stance will be taken by the Australian authorities. However, indications so far are that they will at least need to remain on high alert given the background and agenda of the group, not to mention the well-known intolerance of such groups for other faiths wherever they happen to control territory.
The recent examples of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s brazenly unpatriotic attitudes, demonstrated publicly in Australia in the name of defending religious freedoms, are clearly at the expense of compliance with citizenship requirements that were originally signed up for without complaint. Those selective actions speak for themselves and would be perilous to ignore.
The process typically involves adopting patriotic gestures such as the singing of the country’s national anthem, honoring its flag and possibly some form of a pledge of allegiance.
And if anyone finds the host country rules unacceptable or inflexible, the action taken should be straightforward. Such applicants should instead look for other countries where their preferences can be accommodated.
Yet, a group of immigrants in Australia seem to be getting away with despising the norms and values of their adopted nation. They have complained that singing the Australian national anthem amounts to “forced assimilation” of the Muslim community.
The specific complaints were centered on requiring schoolchildren to sing the national anthem, and the citizenship pledge supporting democratic values.
According to a recent report published in The Australian, Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir reportedly complained, through spokesman Uthman Badar: “It’s not enough that you obey the law, no, you have to adopt our values,” later adding that: “If you don’t share those values, why should they be forced to sing it?” The comments were made at a conference entitled “Innocent Until Proven Muslim” that took place at Bankstown in Sydney’s west, attended by a sold out crowd of about 800 people.
Badar further told the conference the Australian government “claims to afford freedom, but seeks to impose values and beliefs” on Muslims, and that Muslims were expected to not just be gracious about Australian values, but publicly promote them. He expressed his disdain for the requirement for new citizens, who are required to pledge allegiance to Australia “whose democratic beliefs I share”. Also rejected was the national anthem, which he said “reflects a disputed view of history”.
Badar further alleged that the campaign by government and agencies against radicalization was actually a smokescreen to “make Muslims less Islamic, more Western, more secular”, and that it sought to be justified by exaggerated fear of a security threat. He concluded that overall, “the attempt to reform Islam is doomed to failure.”
The Australian reported that the trigger for Badar’s tirade was a backlash from many politicians and commentators to news the week before, that the principal of a Victorian primary school had excused Muslim students from singing ‘Advance Australia Fair’.
The conference also saw a number of members of the Muslim community deliver testimonials of what they claimed was oppressive behavior by officials against them as Muslims, at airports, in police raids, and in high-security prisons.
The comments made Badar on behalf of Hizb ut-Tahrir elicited outrage from authorities and non-Muslim citizens, who comprise the majority of Australia’s population. Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane labeled Hizb ut-Tahrir views 'absurd', adding that the Islamic group’s views on citizenship were a rejection of Australia’s liberal democratic values, a denial of Australian multiculturalism, and a confirmation of the group's extremist agenda.
Dr. Soutphommasane stated: "There's nothing oppressive about committing to our democracy, abiding by the law, and respecting the rights of others. Our multiculturalism means that everyone has a right to express their cultural heritage but also accepts the responsibilities of being an Australian citizen."
Federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter reportedly told Sky News that the Hizb ut-Tahrir comments were "unhelpful, divisive and fundamentally ill-informed…the recruitment process of radical organisations is to put in the mind of the people they seek to recruit that there is widespread prejudice amongst Australians against Muslim Australians. That level of prejudice simply does not exist in Australia."
Another aspect of the Hizb ut-Tahrir conference was perhaps even more directly revealing and sinister. According to another report, a booklet handed out to more than 800 attendees at the ‘Innocent Until Proven Muslim’ forum in Bankstown detailed the best way to deal with “entrapment” from Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) agents. The 36-page book of tips and information for the Muslim community detailed an eight-step plan to avoid and deal with Australian Security Intelligence Organisation agents.
The Hizb ut-Tahrir group seems intent on pushing legal boundaries to the limit, in its quest to drive its agenda. But who exactly are they, and where did they originate?
According to Wikipedia, Hizb ut-Tahrir or the ‘Party of Liberation’ is an international pan-Islamic political organization. They are commonly associated with the goal of all Muslim countries unifying as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law (sharia) and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.
The organization was founded in 1953 as a Sunni Muslim organization in Jerusalem by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge from the Palestinian village of Ijzim. Since then, Hizb ut-Tahrir has spread to more than 50 countries and by one estimate has about one million members.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is very active in the West, particularly in the United Kingdom, and is also active in several Arab and Central Asian countries, despite being banned by some governments. The group also has a growing presence in North America, known as Hizb ut-Tahrir America, or HTA.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is also strongly anti-Zionist and calls for the State of Israel, which it calls an "illegal entity", to be dismantled.
One analyst, however, quotes the work of Hizb ut-Tahrir founder Taqiuddin al-Nabhani to suggest that once Hizb ut-Tahrir has succeeded in creating a unified, transnational Islamic state it should press on to expand the state into non-Muslim areas.
The Wikipedia record also outlines the groups preferred infiltration strategy in three stages: "First they convert new members. Secondly, they establish a network of secret cells, and finally, they try to infiltrate the government to work to legalize their party and its aims."
In the wake of the Bankstown Hizb ut-Tahrir conference, it remains to be seen whether a firmer stance will be taken by the Australian authorities. However, indications so far are that they will at least need to remain on high alert given the background and agenda of the group, not to mention the well-known intolerance of such groups for other faiths wherever they happen to control territory.
The recent examples of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s brazenly unpatriotic attitudes, demonstrated publicly in Australia in the name of defending religious freedoms, are clearly at the expense of compliance with citizenship requirements that were originally signed up for without complaint. Those selective actions speak for themselves and would be perilous to ignore.
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