Threatening noises

Australia's Muslim Community Reference Group told Prime Minister Howard that the Israeli Government was a terrorist organisation but Hezbollah was not. Hence they claimed Hezbollah should not be banned as a terrorist organisation in Australia. Dr Ali, Chair of the MCRG claimed 'even the military wing (of Hezbollah) is not a terrorist organisation' . JWH predictably rejected these claims and admonished the MCRG for not criticising the terrorist actions of Hezbollah.

One hopes the following remarks from MCRG are not a veiled threat:

The group told Mr Howard that in order to prevent hostilities in Australia, the Government needed to display an even-handed approach in its condemnation of the loss of innocent lives. (my italics)

These comments are topical given that South East Asian jihardis have been dispatched around the world for a global war on Israel. The leader of the Jakarta-based Asian Muslim Youth Movement, Mr. Suaib Bidu has warned Australia that his group would 'monitor' the position of Australia towards Israel's current military operation in southern Lebanon, and that it too could become a target for suicide attacks.

'We have a lot of support, including in Australia, from people who don't believe Israel's attack (on Hezbollah) is just', Mr Bidu said.

Terrorism experts have warned that the AMYM had the motivation and the backing to organise a campaign of terror. A foremost scholar on militant Islam, Zachary Abuza, described the group as a dangerous threat that deserved to be taken seriously.

'These people are willing to martyr themselves and that just feeds on itself', Dr Abuza said. 'Events like this (the Lebanon conflict) are superb tools for recruiting and indoctrinating people'.

Threats of suicide attacks in Australia that derive from the Australian Government's verbal support for Israel demonstrate a lot about the values our country should defend and the values we should always reject. We should not forget these threats or the people who made them. Particularly as we know some Australians currently financially support Hezbollah terrorists. Australia currently has 162,000 first and second generation Lebanese migrants of whom about 10% are Shia Muslims likely to support Hezbollah .