 The wife a wealthy Melbourne barrister, Sonja Karkar and her pro-terror Palestinian front group “Australians for Palestine” is planning to disrupt the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. VEXNEWS understands that Victoria Police have been alerted to the disruption plans. Karkar’s group has gone completely ga-ga because an Israeli (read Jew) athlete Shahar Peer has entered the tournament. They plan to terrorise and intimidate Peer in an orchestrated campaign of disruption. Her website ominously encourages members of her pro-terrorist group to attend any game played by Shahar Peer: The Australian Open begins on Monday 18 January 2010 and runs for two weeks. Shahar Peer will be playing in the first round and as soon as we know the date and time of her match, we will post the details. An email sent by Karkar makes her intentions perfectly clear: PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WISH TO HELP PROTEST WHEN SHE PLAYS DURING THE TOURNAMENT. VEXNEWS understands from a well-placed source that Karkar’s group plans to smuggle whistles and other noise-making devices into the tennis centre.
They will not necessarily all be sitting in one group. In addition they will attempt to bring in a large banner to unfurl attacking the young woman and her country. These non-violent terrorist tactics are clearly calculated at distracting and discouraging Shaheer Peer from playing the sport at the elite level. Left-wing sources have been told that they can expect a free pass to be organised by them, giving rise to the suspicion that the wealthy lady Karkar is financing the tennis terror campaign.
She is married to one of Melbourne’s most accomplished commercial barristers. The bejewelled, heavily made-up activist is affronted at the mere presence of an Israeli athlete at the Australian Open and has judged her to be responsible for what ails the upper class protester. The ginger group Australians for Palestine have displayed posters that include a photograph of Shahar Peer in Israeli military uniform without explaining that all Israelis are required to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces, a situation made necessary by being surrounded by those wishing to obliterate the Middle East’s only true liberal democracy. Karkar’s attack is nothing less than organised racism, she pronounces: Although Shahar Peer has been asked to step away from promoting Israel, she already made her choice to serve Israel when she agreed to become an Israeli army poster girl. Her group disingenously claims Israel is an “apartheid” state, despite Israel being one of the most ethnically diverse and inclusive societies on Earth. And uses that false claim to justify a “sports boycott.” VexNews (See also previous post on "Tennis Jihad" ) 
 A JOURNALIST sacked from a leading Arab news channel says she was dumped for following up Australian media reports stemming from a near miss involving an Emirates Airlines jet at Melbourne airport last year. American journalist Courtney Radsch wrote a report that mentioned the incident -- in which an Emirates jet almost failed to take off due to incorrect payload data -- and subsequent safety concerns for Al Arabiya's English site. Her article drew on a Sunday Herald Sun story revealing that Emirates pilots complained about fatigue to air safety authorities months before the near disaster. Radsch, who was the associate editor of the site, said she immediately came under internal pressure from management at the Dubai-based channel to withdraw the article. "One of the heads of the channel came over and said that this article was causing problems and it needed to be taken down," she said. "I said to them: `There is supposed to be a separation between editorial and business' and they kind of laughed it off," she said. "In the end my colleagues were urging me to take the story off. It wasn't worth going to jail for or being fined thousands of dollars for, so I decided that if Al Arabiya wasn't going to stand up for the story then I wasn't either." She said new media laws in Dubai meant journalists could be imprisoned or fined for writing stories that had on impact on Dubai's economy.
Despite taking the article down, Radsch was then told she had lost her position due to a "restructure". She believes it was actually as a result of pressure from Emirates over the story. An Emirates spokesman denied the claim, saying: "Emirates does not interfere with the operations of Al Arabiya." The airline's Australian-based public relations firm -- PPR -- also supplied a statement the airline released following Radsch's report, claiming inaccuracies. Al Arabiya did not respond to requests for comment. The Australian
 Milanda Rout So how did this group, along with two others, Saney Aweys and Abdirahman Ahmed - best described as a motley crew of individuals from different backgrounds and life experiences - end up being charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney? Seven volumes of prosecution evidence was tendered this week to the Melbourne Magistrates Court after four of the five men pleaded not guilty, waived the right to a committal hearing and were ordered to standtrial. The fifth man, El Sayed, was not obliged to enter a plea and has reserved his right to have a committal proceeding next May. The substantial brief - including lengthly police interviews - traces the life story of each leading up the fateful morning of the dramatic police raids that put an end to their alleged terror plot. Each is a tale of immigration and resettlement in a new country, and none is quite like the other. Aweys, Ahmed and Khayre came as humanitarian refugees with their families from Somalia when they were children, with Khayre growing up among Italian and Greekmigrants. He cannot speak Somalian orArabic. Fattal and El Sayed came to Australia from Lebanon, Fattal on the urging of a boxing promoter as he was a prize kickboxer and El Sayed returning here after doing one year of military service. The group got to know each other when they started attending the Preston Mosque in Melbourne's northern suburbs. The Australian Federal Police allege that, despite their differences, these five men were planning to die together, to launch a suicide attack on Holsworthy in which they would storm the military base and gun down as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were shot. Aweys was said to have access to weapons. He was also said to have sought religious blessing - known as a fatwa - from a number of sheiks in Somalia to give sanction to their murderous plans. "They want to enter into the military/forces are stationed, the barracks. Their desire to fan out and get as much as they could until they would be hit," Aweys says in one of the key conversations captured by secret AFP telephone intercepts, tendered to the court this week. "And 20 minutes would be enough for us to take out five, six, 10 and eight - whatever Allah know ... six of them once they enter inside the location/place for about 20minutes to 30 minutes, until they will use up theirweapons." Read more here,,,,, Source: The Australian
 ONE of the four Melbourne men ordered to stand trial on terrorism charges was allegedly recorded expressing happiness about the Black Saturday bushfires and the drought, court documents show. Yacqub Khayre, 22, of Meadow Heights, Sany Edow Aweys, 26, of Carlton North, Abdirahmin Mohamud Ahmed, 25, of Preston, and Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33, of Melbourne Remand Centre, have all entered not guilty pleas on terrorism charges. It is alleged the men were part of a conspiracy to attack Sydney's Holsworthy Army Base. In a telephone call intercepted by police, Aweys tells a friend the "filthy people'' are being brought down hard by Allah. "The whole nation is coming down, first the economy comes down first,'' he said. "By Allah, factories shutting down, nothing here mate, nothing barely anything. "By Allah, I've never seen Melbourne like this, then fire coming to them, no water, the water storage is empty. "They are coping hard man. Thanks to Allah, thanks to Allah.'' A trial for the men is expected to begin next year. A fifth man, Nayef El Sayed, 25 of Glenroy, will face a contested committal hearing on May 24 next year. Source: The Australian
 BARNEY ZWARTZ A SENIOR Melbourne Muslim is proposing a sharia court to handle disputes in the Muslim community, suggesting it might eventually form part of the state's legal structure. Islamic Council of Victoria board member Hyder Gulam was due to meet a senior bureaucrat in the Premier's Department on Thursday to discuss the idea, but the meeting was postponed to this week. Mr Gulam, a lawyer with Logie-Smith Lanyon and also a board member of Australian Red Cross, said a sharia court could function as a voluntary and non-binding dispute resolution mechanism in matters such as divorce, access to children, disputes over wills and financial or commercial disputes. ''We are talking about a system that defuses community tensions before they reach litigation, so it can be settled at the lowest level, as quickly as possible, as cost-effectively as possible, with the best outcome. The Victorian Government is very keen on community dispute resolution mechanisms,'' he said. ''These are ideas we've raised with senior members of the community for three months, and the response has been very supportive because people see it's a cheap way to deal with intra-community disputes.'' However, the Islamic Council of Victoria has rejected the idea, because of concerns about the negative impact of the word ''sharia''. The leading Muslim women's group also rejected it. On Friday a deeply concerned council vice-president Sherene Hassan learnt of it from The Age and held urgent phone conversations with other board members.
She said: ''Sharia courts are not on the organisation's agenda. There has been no pressure for them from the Muslim community, and we have not discussed them. The meeting with the Premier's Department this week will go ahead, but it will not discuss sharia courts.'' Ms Hassan said Mr Gulam was acting on his own initiative and the council's agenda would not be set by one individual. Mr Gulam discusses the possibility of an Australian sharia court in an article co-written with barrister Simon Lee in an Australian Muslim newspaper, the Crescent Times. Saying their aim is to stimulate debate, they conclude the only element of sharia law feasible in Australia is dispute resolution based on mediation and conciliation. Meanwhile, Mr Gulam has received support and advice from the Fitzroy Legal Service on securing government support. Executive officer Rob Inglis said a sharia court ''would fill a really important need and would be a win-win situation''. It would not diminish existing law, but help create a ''safer, more culturally inclusive space'' for Muslims in legal matters. Mr Gulam said the Jewish community had the Beth Din, Catholics had religious courts to settle marriage questions, and indigenous people had the Koori courts, which were part of the state legal system. Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria director Joumanah El Matrah said research showed women and children would be ''extremely disadvantaged'' by any sort of sharia court. ''It's grossly naive to say women can opt out from such a tribunal. Women are often not in a position to make this sort of decision.'' She said examples from Britain showed women not only felt pressured, they became caught between the tribunal and the laws of the state. ''There's no sound argument to establish such a tribunal. Muslims are bound to live by the laws of the state they are members of. They can't opt in and out, according to their convenience.'' Source: The Age
 Norrie Ross A HOME-GROWN terrorist who was committed to violent jihad was jailed this afternoon.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno sentenced Shane Kent to five years on two counts, with a minimum of three years, nine months, the Herald Sun reports.
He has already spent 1115 days in custody.
Justice Bongiorno told Kent, 32, in sentencing: "I am not prepared to accept on the material proferred, that he (Kent) has abandoned the cause of violent jihad.
"There is no admissable evidence of his having done so, or of his being genuinely contrite for what he did."
Kent, of Campbellfield, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years to being a member of a terrorist organisation, and two-and-a-half years on a second charge of recklessly making a document connected with preparing a terrorist act, but the two will be served partially concurrently. Read more here,,,, Source: News.com.au
 Guilty plea ... Shane Kent outside a Melbourne court Shane Kent, 32, has pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation between July 2004 and November 2005.
The former forklift driver from Campbellfield in Melbourne's north has also pleaded guilty to one count of making a document connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.
Prosecutor Lesley Taylor told the court Kent helped make the propaganda video designed to encourage others to carry out a terrorist act.
Ms Taylor played the video to the court which featured a voice-over of Arabic words with a calming water background noise.
Pictures of the head of a young martyr after he had been killed also featured in the movie.
“The Crown says this is an unapologetic video in the cause of violent jihad,” Ms Taylor said.
Kent's lawyer John O'Sullivan said his client was a “could've been” terrorist who made excuses when asked to meet with other members of the group.
“Essentially he is a barracker,” he said.
The pre-sentence hearing before Victorian Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno is continuing.
 Abdurahman Osman says police should have talked to Somali leaders
before the raids. (So the terrorists would have enough time to leave)
Padraic Murphy | August 07 HATE-filled messages on a Muslim website claim an alleged plot to attack an Australian army base would have been justified.
And Somali community leaders have branded police as terrorists in the wake of this week's anti-terror swoop.
Abdurahman Osman, a leader of Melbourne's 15,000 strong Somali community, said police acted unreasonably.
"What do you call waking people up at four in the morning with guns?" he said.
"It is the police themselves that are the terrorists. "They had 400 police and 19 raids, but they did not find anything. No guns, no ammunition, nothing. "Now we have our kids being called terrorists at school." Mr Osman's outburst came as a prominent Muslim website featured a photograph of Australian soldiers in uniform with the caption: "Real Australian terrorists." It also features a photograph of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addressing Australian troops overseas with the caption: "Terrorist mastermind delivers sermon to impressionable followers." "Mohammed" said on the website: "Why is it called terrorist attack when the Aussie troops have been raping, killing innocent Muslims for years? "In this country we can't trust nobody. The Australian Government is corrupted." One posting suggested Australian soldiers were an appropriate target for the alleged Melbourne terrorist cell. "More than a million innocent civilians have died as an outcome of the war on terror that our soldiers are involved in," Aussie-Muslim Tazza said. Mr Osman, until now a voice of moderation between Somalis and the wider community, said police should have consulted migrant leaders. "The federal police could have come to us first and we could have helped them," Mr Osman said. "We have met with them now, but we don't believe they have evidence of a terrorist plot and that is the feeling of the community." Other Somalis accused Australian authorities of bigotry. "As a Somali-born Australian I am outraged at these raids not only because my fellow Somalis are being targeted, but once again basic human rights are being violated," said Xamxam, a 21-year-old Sunshine woman who knows the family of accused terrorist Nayef El Sayed. "If there was strong evidence against him, I would back up the police." Abdullahi Ahmed, a salesman who has lived in Australian for almost 30 years, said he knew accused terrorist Saney Aweys. He said Mr Aweys was a road worker and a dedicated family man. "He was married only about a week ago. His family are here," Mr Ahmed said. Mr Ahmed said Somalis in Australia would petition US President Barack Obama to stop the war in Afghanistan. "There are innocent people being killed there. The Americans and the Australians are the ones making terror." with Mark Dunn and Keith Moor Source: Herald Sun
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 A PLOT by Islamic extremists in Melbourne to launch a suicide attack on an Australian Army base has been uncovered by national security agencies. Federal and state police, armed with search warrants, swooped on members of the suspected terror cell this morning, as they seek to arrest Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese background in what will be the second-largest counter-terrorism operation in the nation's history.
About 400 police raided homes in the northern Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston and Epping. They also raided homes at Carlton in inner Melbourne and Colac in southwestern Victoria.
"Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia,'' a joint police statement said. The men are expected to be charged with a range of terrorism-related offences.
Authorities believe the group is at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Australian Army base, using automatic weapons, as punishment for Australia's military involvement in Muslim countries. It is understood the men plan to kill as many soldiers as possible before they are themselves killed.
Members of the group have been observed carrying out surveillance of Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney and other suspicious activity around defence bases in Victoria.
Electronic surveillance on the suspects is believed to have picked up discussions about ways to obtain weapons to carry out what would be the worst terror attack on Australian soil.
The cell has been inspired by the Somalia-based terrorist movement al-Shabaab, with two Melbourne men, both Somalis, having travelled to Somalia in recent months to obtain training with the extremist organisation, which is aligned with al-Qa'ida. Read more... Source: The Australian
 March 22
MELBOURNE Muslim university students will protest on Monday, saying they are being sexually harassed and discriminated against due to a lack of prayer rooms.
But RMIT University management deny this, insisting Muslim students are well catered for.
The RMIT Islamic Society want Muslim-only prayer rooms on the university's city campus.
In late 2007, construction work on the building that contained a dedicated Muslim prayer room meant the facility was demolished.
The Islamic society said the university reneged on its promise to replace that with another room.
"As a result, students and staff have been forced to pray outside in the heat of summer and the cold of winter,'' the society's website said.
It alleged females have been subjected to sexual abuse, harassment and religious vilification while praying.
They are now forced to pray two at a time in cramped women's rooms, corridors and empty classrooms.
The society said "enough is enough'', insisting it was sick of being given the run around and would hold a mass protest at the university on Monday afternoon.
"No longer can we remain quiet and have students compromise between their safety and prayers, RMIT made a promise, it must fulfil it,'' the website said.
But the university described the action as "unfortunate and unnecessary''.
There are already eight Muslim prayer rooms across the university's three campuses, Dr Maddy McMaster, Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) said.
"The university's policy is that prayer rooms in its spiritual centre are multi-faith, open to bookings by members of all faiths,'' she said.
Muslims get preferential access to two of those rooms.
"With space at a premium on our city campus, we have bent over backwards to find an amicable solution,'' she said.
Gestures of good faith have been rejected, she insisted.
"Multi-faith spaces are commonly accepted as supporting a range of religious practices, including those of the Muslim faith.
"It is disappointing that the RMIT Islamic Society chooses to reject established multi-faith principles,'' she said.
The society did not respond to AAP requests for comment. Source: The Australian H/T: WeaselZippers
 Barney Zwartz | March 18
MELBOURNE Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier is under fire from the Jewish community for hosting a function for former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami while he is in Melbourne this month.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria president John Searle wrote to Dr Freier saying the Jewish community found it inconceivable that the Anglican Church would host "such a man" or even meet him.
He declined an invitation to attend and asked Dr Freier to reconsider.
Mr Searle told The Age that although Mr Khatami, president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, was regarded as a reformist, he was a sponsor of terrorism, a Holocaust denier and leader of a country that has often threatened to "wipe Israel off the map".
"Only last year, this supposed champion of dialogue called Israel 'an old, incurable wound on the body of Islam, a wound that really possesses demonic, stinking, contagious blood'."
Mr Khatami is being brought to Australia by La Trobe University's Centre for Dialogue and will give a public lecture on March 26.
The Jewish Community Council has resigned from the centre's board of advisers in protest.
Dr Freier said he had invited Jewish leaders along with other groups who suffered persecution in Iran - Christians and Baha'is - so they could raise their concerns with Mr Khatami.
He said Anglicans were not unaware of the difficulties for minorities in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and he was not an apologist for Mr Khatami, but if people were ready to engage in discussion he wanted to oblige.
He had been asked by La Trobe University to host a meeting, to be held at his home. "President Khatami speaks of dialogue as being foundational, so it's important to be able to speak and listen. He has been the guest of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace and he has high-level access while in Australia," Dr Freier said.
As president, Mr Khatami was regarded as less confrontational with the West than some others.
He said in Iran yesterday he was withdrawing as candidate for president against the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to avoid dividing the reformist vote.
Professor Joseph Camilleri, director of La Trobe's Centre for Dialogue, said the Jewish community's response was an over-reaction. He said Mr Khatami was "a major intellectual of the 21st century" and that he would be discussing his influential theory of the importance of dialogue in international affairs, but not Israel or Iran.
"The JCCV is completely out of step with the mainstream thinking of informed Australians," he said. "I told them I think they are shooting themselves in the foot."
Mr Searle agreed that differences over Mr Khatami could increase tension between Melbourne's Muslims and Jews, whose relations are at their lowest ebb in years over Israel's incursion into Gaza in January.
Last month the Executive Council of Australian Jewry cut formal ties with the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils after AFIC chairman Ikebal Patel refused to recant his claim that the former victims of the Holocaust were perpetrating "much worse atrocities" in Gaza.
The controversy over Mr Khatami's visit comes as US President Barack Obama tries to open channels to Tehran and reduce hostility between the two countries amid international concerns that Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb. Source: The Age Philip Freier
Latest recipient of the Demented Priest Award
Mex Cooper | February 3
The leader of a Melbourne-based terrorist cell has been sentenced to 27 years' jail.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, will serve 12 years' jail before being eligible for parole.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno in the Supreme Court said a terrorist organisation led by Benbrika had been dedicated to the destruction of non-believers but the group had not planned specific attacks despite the evidence of a key prosecution witness.
Benbrika became the first Australian to be convicted of leading a terrorist group last September, following the country's biggest-ever terrorism trial that lasted seven months and cost tens of millions of dollars.
The father-of-seven faced a maximum 25 years' prison for directing the terrorist group that the jury heard had discussed attacking Melbourne's Crown Casino and bombing the MCG.
Benbrika was also convicted of possessing a compact disc connected to the preparation of a terrorist act.
But in sentencing Benbrika and six of his followers today, Justice Bongiorno said he did not accept the evidence of Izzydeen Atik, who claimed Benbrika told him the terror cell had planned to target the casino on Grand Prix weekend in 2006 and the MCG on Grand Final day in 2005 and the
2006 NAB Cup.
Atik had been a member of the group before pleading guilty to belonging to a terrorist organisation in July 2007 and was jailed for just over four years.
Justice Bongiorno said Atik was a liar and a cheat who had defrauded the social security system while living in a luxury townhouse and employing a butler.
At the time, he was earning thousands of dollars a month from a credit card scam, the court heard.
But Justice Bongiorno said the terror group had still posed a "significant threat'' and may have carried out a terrorist attack if not stopped.
He said the men had committed serious crimes but not as serious as if Atik's evidence had been accepted.
Benbrika used warped teachings of Islam to recruit his young followers and encourage them to wage violent jihad against "non-believers'' in Australia.
Justice Bongiorno said although the word jihad had many meanings in Islam, Benbrika used the term only to mean a violent attack by his group to advance the Islamic cause.
He said Benbrika had admired Osama Bin Laden and believed that killing people and destroying buildings was justified as it would help pressure the Australian Government into withdrawing troops from Iraq and leaving the American alliance.
The court heard Benbrika had told one of his followers, Abdullah Merhi, not just to kill a few people but to ``do a big thing''.
Merhi had responded "like Spain,'' in reference to terrorist attacks on Madrid, Justice Bongiorno said.
In May 2004, a Victorian undercover police officer posing as a Turkish Muslim man had infiltrated the group.
Five months later, he offered to show Benbrika how to make explosives and took Benbrika to a remote bush location north of Melbourne where he detonated a device.
Benbrika asked how much explosive would be needed to blow up building and homes but did not ask the undercover agent to get him any of the bomb-making ingredients or tell any of the other members of the group about the demonstration.
Six of Benbrika's followers, aged in their 20s, from Melbourne's western and northern suburbs, will today also be sentenced.
Justice Bongiorno said terrorism laws meant those charged with offences had a criminal liability earlier than in other criminal cases.
Remy van de Wiel, QC, had argued at pre-sentence hearings that Benbrika's sentence should be tempered because he suffered from depression and an undiagnosed medical condition which caused him to have ``embarrassing involuntary movements'' and would make his prison time more
stressful.
He had said Benbrika had not properly led the group, which had never grown beyond an ``embryonic terrorist organisation''.
But Justice Bongiorno said by its existence and nature the organisation had fostered in its members the desire to commit terrorist activities.
He said the evidence suggested that Benbrika was still committed to violent jihad, had shown no contrition for his offences and had talked about continuing the group's activities behind bars if its members were jailed.
Benbrika had served 1184 days in custody after being arrested in November 2005.
Source: The Age H/T: JR
 By Mark Dunn | January 22,
AN AUSTRALIAN Islamic cleric has told his male followers it is permissable that they force their wives to have sex and hit them if they are disobedient.
Melbourne's self-styled cleric Samir Abu Hamza said despite Australian rape laws it was impossible for a man to rape his wife even if she refused to have sex with him.
In a recorded lecture entitled "The Keys to a Successful Marriage", delivered to his male worshippers but now broadcast on the internet and viewed by several thousand people, Hamza said Islamic law allowed men to hit their wives as a last resort but they were not to make them bleed or become bruised.
Remember Sheik Hilaly? Women are like 'uncovered meat'.
He said under Islamic law, as described in a Koranic verse, it was a man's right to demand sex from his wife whenever he felt like it.
"If the husband was to ask her for a sexual relationship and she is preparing the bread on the stove she must leave it and come and respond to her husband, she must respond,'' Hamza told his male followers on the video sermon.
He then mocked Australia's criminal laws which required consent for sex to be lawful.
"In this country if the husband wants to sleep with his wife and she does not want to and she hasn't got a sickness or whatever, there is nothing wrong with her she just does not feel like it, and he ends up sleeping with her by force ... it is known to be as rape.
"Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?'' Hamza asked.
In the contradictory sermon, delivered in Melbourne or Sydney about 2003 but posted late last year, Hamza initially instructs his listeners "don't hit your wife.''
But he goes on to say exactly how men should hit their wives, according to his interpretation of Islamic teachings.
He said Islam cursed "those people who hit the animal on the face, (but) what about hitting your wife?''
"First of all advise them,'' he said.
"You beat them ... but this is the last resort.
"After you have advised them (not to be disobedient) for a long, long time then you smack them, you beat them and please brothers, calm down, the beating the Mohammed showed is like the tooth brush that you use to brush your teeth.
"You are not allowed to bruise them, you are not allowed to make them bleed.''
Hamza told his followers not to get carried away and become too physical with the beatings.
"This is just to shape them up, shape up woman - that is about it.
"You don't go and grab a broom stick and say that is what Allah has said,'' Hamza said to sporadic laughter from his flock.
Hamza runs the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia on Sydney Rd, Coburg, which offers spiritual advice, prayer facilities and boxing, karate and gym classes for Muslims.
He said a woman who sought to divorce her husband for no valid reason would not be rewarded with paradise after death.
"A woman who asks her husband for divorce for no reason (under Islamic law) ... she will not smell the fragrance of paradise.''
Despite concerns about his preachings being raised by female members of the Islamic community, Hamza yesterday stood by his comments and blamed controversy caused by them on a hidden zionist agenda run by the media.
Questioned about his teachings, Hamza said a wife was allowed to be hit on the hand or leg, but "of course, not on the head''.
He said if a Muslim wife disobeyed her husband, such as continuing to go out when requested not to, she was able to be subjected to moderate physical punishment.
"It's like sometimes when a person smacks a child, it's like `shape up','' he said yesterday.
Hamza also reiterated his belief that women should submit to sex when husbands required it.
Asked whether it was impossible for a man to rape his wife under Islamic law, Hamza said either male or female partners should be able to demand and receive sex.
"If a man wants to sleep with his wife and his wife does not want to for no reason, for no sickness - or vice versa, if she wants to (have sex with her husband) - then yes.
"Obviously Islam allows this as a duty, as part of marriage.''
Although he said he could not recall exactly when he gave the lecture, Hamza said it was to followers in Sydney several years ago and had only been posted on the internet in recent months.
He said he would not make further comment on it.
"Don't call me, don't bother me and please don't call me ever again.''
Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria executive director Joumanah El Matrah said Hamza's interpretation was bigoted.
"It is clear from hearing Abu Hamza's lecture that he sees womens' humanity as second to that of men's and appears to interpret the faith for the interests of men - not Muslims as a community,'' she said.
"Abu Hamza's interpretation of this Koranic verse (on beatings) is no longer an accepted interpretation of the verse.
"It is considered an inappropriate and regressive interpretation and is out of sink with Muslim views, especially scholarship.
"Even orthodox practitioners and Imams do not consider any form of family violence acceptable.
"It is precisely these sorts of inappropriate teachings that lead to violence and cause harm to women, children and cause family breakdowns.''
Islamic Council of Victoria vice president Sherene Hassan said Islam did not condone domestic violence.
"The Prophet Mohammed stated `The best of you is he who is kindest to his wife','' Ms Hassan said.
"The ICV is deeply concerned that there are individuals who may interpret this lecture as condoning violence against women.
"The ICV has made a commitment to address this issue by organising a series of workshops early this year where Imams and Muslim women will be invited to discuss topics such as these together, and workshop solutions both parties feel reflect their rights and religious values.''
Source: Daily Telegraph
By John Searle | Friday January 9, 2009
John Searle, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the peak body of Victorian Jewry, said today: “Yesterday unknown persons desecrated a memorial in Caulfield Park with pro-Palestine graffiti. This memorial is dedicated to the citizens of Caulfield who died serving Australia in both World Wars.
What makes this act even more reprehensible is that it occurred in a week when a Jewish Australian soldier was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
This young man died in the fight for democratic values and freedom from extremism, just like those whom the memorial honours. These are the very same values that Israel’s citizens embody in their struggle against Hamas, Hezbollah and their Iranian masters.
As the majority of Melbourne’s Jewish population is located in Caulfield, it is fair to assume that this graffiti was aimed at them. It is the latest in a series of intimidatory actions against Victorian Jewry presumably related to the current Middle East conflict. These include acts of physical and verbal aggression to persons and property, not against Israel, but against citizens of Australia.
As local Jews have no influence on Israeli policy – and nor should they – such actions cannot be seen as fair political protest or comment, but as hate crimes against Jews. Even more to the point, these vile acts are not only aimed at Victorian Jews; quite simply, they are a rejection of the ethics of the multicultural society in which we take such pride.
All fair-minded Australians must recognise this and raise their voices in protest. As for those cowards who violated this tribute to brave defenders of Australian values, they should hang their heads in shame.” Source: ICJS
 By Stephanie Gardiner and Daniel Fogarty | January 04, 2009
A PROTESTER burnt an Israeli flag and others carried coffins as thousands of people staged demonstrations against the Gaza conflict today.
About 2000 people gathered outside the Sydney Town Hall to vent their anger over Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of Palestinians in recent days.
They chanted, "Free, free Palestine" and "Israel, USA, how many kids have you killed today?"
Others held placards saying "Patience O Gaza we have not forgotten you" and "Disgraceful world silence".
Invading Israeli ground forces have fought fierce battles with Hamas militants in Gaza since entering the region last night.
The ground operation follows an eight-day bombing blitz that killed hundreds of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction.
Gaza emergency services said one child had been killed and 11 others wounded in a tank attack.
Many speakers addressed the Sydney crowd to loud cheers from protesters of all backgrounds.
Forad Shriedy told the crowd he had been forced to flee Palestine as an eight-year-old in 1948.
"We are here today to condemn Israel's terror... and to say no to the brutal attacks on Gaza," Mr Shriedy said.
"Every person has a homeland to live in, but for the Palestinians the homeland lives in us."
The protest snaked through CBD streets, blocking off part of George Street as weekend shoppers and commuters looked on.
Marchers carried three coffins past the Egyptian consulate in the nearby suburb of Surry Hills as a reminder of the lives lost in the conflict.
Protesters chanted, clapped and banged on drums as they made their way to Belmore Park, where a young man climbed a tree and set an Israeli flag on fire despite organisers urging him to stop.
Protesters take sides.
In Melbourne about 3000 people turned out to protest against Israel's military assault on Gaza, just a few blocks away from a smaller pro-Israel rally.
About 500 supporters of Israel gathered at State Parliament chanting "no more terror", with banners calling for Gaza to be freed from Hamas' control.
At the Victorian State Library less than a kilometre away, pro-Palestinian protesters condemned the Israeli military action.
Protesters at the pro-Israel rally were draped in Australian and Israeli flags, and some held banners reading "Free Gaza from Hamas" and "Hamas uses human shields".
Speakers included Federal Labor member for Melbourne Ports Michael Danby and Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield.
Mr Danby asked Melburnians to imagine how they would react if their suburbs were being bombed.
"This is one of the dilemmas that democratic societies like Israel have to face. How do we react when faced by Islamist fanatics who would kill Australians, in Bali, murder our tourists in Mumbai and do what they are doing to the Israelis on the edge of Gaza," he said.
At the opposing rally, protesters called for a free Palestine and held banners showing photos of the bloodied corpses of children.
Other banners read "stop the holocaust in Gaza" and "peace & justice for Palestine".
Speakers urged supporters to write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and newspapers to condemn the Israeli action.
Victorian upper house Greens member Colleen Hartland called on the Federal Government to speak out against the Israeli military assault.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday refused to criticise Israel's bombing campaign.
The two protest groups did not meet and there were no reports of trouble. Source: The Australian
 September 15, 2008
A MELBOURNE Muslim cleric has been found guilty of leading a terrorist organisation.
After almost four weeks of deliberation, jurors today found Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, guilty on all counts, including that of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation.
Five of Benbrika's followers have been found guilty of being members of a terrorist group, while four more were found not guilty of the charge.
The jury is yet to decide on the fate of two further people charged in the terrorism trial.
After a Supreme Court trial that ran for 115 days, jurors took three weeks and five days to reach a verdict.
The 12 men, who were arrested in 2005, were accused of planning terrorist acts in Melbourne, involving the detonation of an explosive or use of weapons.
Australia's biggest terror trial heard from more than 50 witnesses and was played thousands of hours of listening device material and telephone intercepts.
The jury heard Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, had told his followers it was “permissible to kill women, children and the aged” and that the group needed to kill at least 1000 non-believers to make the Australian government withdraw soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In April, prosecution witness Izzydeen Atik told the court Benbrika had told him of the targets in 2005.
“He said the AFL grand final was the original target,” Atik told the court.
When the plan to target the crowd of close to 100,000 on grand final day had to be shelved, the terrorists allegedly spoke about planning to attack Crown Casino during the 2006 Australian Formula One Grand Prix and a pre-season AFL game.
Earlier this month Justice Bernard Bongiorno warned jurors Atik was a liar and fraudster whose evidence against 12 alleged terrorists was unsafe.
“If you are considering Atik's evidence you must do so in the light of the cloud hanging over him,” Justice Bongiorno said.
In his opening address in February, prosecutor Richard Maidment SC spoke of a group that was exclusively Muslim and male, set up in Melbourne to carry out a violent jihad.
Defence lawyers argued the men were not terrorists, but young men learning about Islam from a self-styled sheikh who, “couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery”.
Benbrika's lawyer Remy Van de Wiel said his client was an unworldly man who thought it was possible to drive to Tasmania.
more to come Source:The Australian
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Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved.
E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
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The wife a wealthy Melbourne barrister, Sonja Karkar and her pro-terror Palestinian front group “Australians for Palestine” is planning to disrupt the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. 
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