Yesterday's The Age carried this article from yours truly.
Alan Freedman responds in today's Letters ...
... unlike radical Islamists, Jews have never perpetrated violence in an attempt to advance a political ideology based on their religion.I guess the Stern Gang was all a figment of our imagination. I guess the King David Hotel self-detonated, as did the village of Deir Yassin. And those nasty Sikh separatists were obviously the ones who laid siege to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Alan then volunteers this advive ...
If Muslimphobia is an emerging trend, perhaps Muslims should review the behaviour of those extremists in their own communities in an attempt to define its cause.And how do you propose we do that? Do we set up our own intelligence and law enforcement network? How will we know who the extremists are? Are we all linked up to some huge international Islamic intranet moderated by Usama bin Ladin?
What control can we exercise over who speaks for us? Or more to the point, who journos and politicians claim speak for us?
Why should 300,000-odd people who tick the 'Muslim' box on their census forms be held responsible for the actions of a handful of people they have never met in their life?
David Goldberg writes ...
Yusuf undermines his argument by making an unsubstantiated statement that many prominent Jewish voices are haters of Islam.Obviously Raphael Israeli, Melanie Phillips, Daniel Pipes etc all have Brahmin Hindu heritage. But I do acknowledge that many people of different faiths (including Judaism) have been at the forefront of exposing Muslimphobes. In this regard, The Jewish News played a prominent role in exposing the hatred of Raphael Israeli.
Goldberg then repeats the mantras of allegedly conservative politicians ...
Perhaps Yusuf should start looking to his fellow Muslims to become prominent in promoting the Australian way of life.Perhaps Goldberg should tell this to this chap. And then to him. And then to her. And let's not forget this bloke.
Words © 2007 Irfan Yusuf
Irfan,
ReplyDeleteIt takes a lot of courage to mount a counterargument against these types of arguments. When it comes to Freedman and his ilk, I don't hold much hope that they'll ever change their narrow-minded outlook. In 1996 Asian migrants were the Right-wings favourite punching bag, and still are to a lesser extent. And no amount of evidence presented that Asian migrants were successfully and peacefully integrating into Australian society could make them deviate from their argument. In 10 years time the Right and Far-Right will have another migrant punching bag. Most likely, I'm sorry to say, African migrants, if Kevin Andrews cutting of African migration is anything to go by.
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ReplyDeleteAnon @ 1:55pm, you are at the wrong blog. I think you must be looking for Tim Blair's blog. Just go to google.com and type in the letters T, I, M followed by a space and then the letters B, L, A, I and R.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for your comment at Right Truth. I had no idea posting about Ayaan Hirsi Ali would stir such comments from all sides. I think discussion is good and it's good to hear all views. Freedom of speech is good.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little concerned about the flags in your sidebar though. Does this mean than what some say about Islam wanting to take over the United States is true for some? Just asking the question.
I try to keep an open mind on Islam and Muslims. I actually do have Muslim friends, and friends of other religions, but none of them actively seek for Islam to convert the entire United States or the West.