 Five men who conspired to wage violent jihad in Sydney have shown no remorse for their evil scheme and remain a danger to the public, a court has heard. The men, who cannot be named online for legal reasons, were found guilty by a jury in October of conspiring to do acts in preparation for a terrorist act or acts on Australian soil. In a sentencing hearing, Crown Prosecutor Richard Maidment, QC, has called for three of the men to be jailed for a minimum of 20 years, with longer terms imposed on the two alleged ring-leaders. ``Given that the evidence points to a high level of defiance on the part of these offenders and no evidence of any retraction of their extremist views, we would submit that they are all very poor candidates for rehabilitation and will remain a danger to the public for many years to come,'' Mr Maidment said. Mr Maidment said the men's intentions in stock-piling weapons, ammunition and ingredients to make explosives, which some stored in their homes, was to cause damage to property and pose ``a serious risk to human life.'' ``It is tempting...to say that one can deduce beyond reasonable doubt an intent to kill. However, it is not clear that the accused had reached a final conclusion as to what terrorist act to carry out,'' he said. Lawyers for two of the men argued their clients did not deserve such lengthy sentences. Richard Button, SC, said his client had no prior criminal history and was ``a happy-go-lucky, unsophisticated fellow - one of the boys.''
He said a "stern sentence, but not a disproportionately crushing one'' was in order.
He added it was impossible to predict the prospects of his client's rehabilitation ``decades hence.'' "There will be ample time for reflection,'' he said. Representing another of the men, Dina Yehia told the court her client was severely depressed due to the conditions in prison and his wife and children not visiting him for more than a year. She said he had not played a leading role in the conspiracy and had not paid for any of the chemicals or ammunition found in their homes, therefore a sentence of less than 20 years would be more appropriate. Four of the men have been in jail since their arrest in November 2005, with the fifth arrested a month later. The sentencing hearing will resume on Wednesday. Daily Telegraph
 RESIDENTS are fighting a mosque and cultural centre they believe will become a headquarters for the strict Wahhabi sect of Islam in Sydney. Auburn Council, in Sydney's west, has outraged residents by approving the three-storey mosque with dome and minarets on a site occupied by a Depression-era Art Deco fire station. The Australian Islamic Cultural Centre, which has links to Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism, plans to demolish existing buildings - including the fire station - and construct a mosque for up to 1000 worshippers, a library and a youth cultural centre with two levels of basement. A petition demanding the council reverse its decision and preserve the heritage fire station in Harrow Rd is circulating in the suburb. Activities planned for the complex include cultural and religious lectures, weddings, prayers, cultural, religious and language classes, fundraising, public speaking, Ramadan festivities and counselling, welfare and rehabilitation services. "There is a chamber for 1000 worshippers at a time, a dome and minarets with the sign of the crescent moon," he said. "It's an opportunity for the Australian Islamic Cultural Centre to house its operations. The $9 million for it will come from overseas." Mr Walsh said residents aimed to collect 8000 to 9000 signatures on a petition demanding Auburn Council preserve the fire station or its facade. Islamic Cultural Centre spokesman Shafiq Khan runs nearby Al-Faisal College at Auburn and is known to have connections in the Saudi Government, which has spent an estimated $120 million bankrolling mosques, schools, clerical salaries and Islamic scholarships in Australia. He was not available to comment. Councillors have voted 7-3 to approve the mosque with conditions, but will consider a rescission motion at a meeting in January. Labor councillor Patrick Curtin said concerns surrounded a lack of information about the proposal relating to noise, drainage, overshadowing, hours of operation, height, traffic and parking. Mr Curtin refused to comment on the applicant but said he had not been impressed by its presentation. "The recommendation (to approve the development) is based on insufficient information," he said. The development application was accompanied by a petition with 1800 names supporting the complex. Daily Telegraph
 Antonios Grigoriou, 11, says he was chased and assaulted after a confrontation over the contents of his lunch. Antonios, a Year 5 student of Greek-Australian background at a Sydney primary school, said he and a friend were locked inside a library for safety after being chased by a group of Muslim boys offended by his choice of food while they were fasting. The Grigoriou family said Antonios was threatened after the following exchange: Muslim student to Antonios: "Why are you eating ham, it's Ramadan?" Antonios: "My mum packed this for lunch today." Muslim student: "Don't eat that. How can you eat pig, it's disgusting." During the confrontation a Muslim boy allegedly accused Antonios of saying: "F--- the Muslims", but Antonios denied swearing. But Antonios's family took him out of Punchbowl Public School, in Sydney's south-west, on Tuesday after he was again attacked by a Muslim student. He was punched in the eye and kicked in the legs. "It has broken my heart to see this happening to my boy," Andrew Grigoriou said. "When I got down to the school he was in the sick bay," he said. Antonios, who recorded the experience in words and drawings, remains terrified of his attackers and has nightmares. Other parents have also complained about ethnic bullying at the school. One said her son was scared to open his lunch box because he was "harassed about what is in it". Coburg Mosque spokesman Baha Yehia said the behaviour was not what Islam promoted. "I would say this sad incident is a result of the upbringing of the children rather than Islam," he said. "Regrettably there's no silver bullet to end this kind of behaviour. To remove these barriers requires a process that involves multi-faith and multicultural education." Source: Herald Sun H/T: JR
 A SELF-STYLED Muslim Sheik has chained himself to the steps of a Sydney courthouse in a bid to convey his message of peace. Sheik Haron appeared at the Downing Centre Local Court today charged with sending harassing letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, The Daily Telegraph reported. As the Daily Telegraph revealed last month, Sheik Haron - whose real name is Man Monis - allegedly sent the letters over two years, devastating the families of seven Diggers who died in Afghanistan. One letter was addressed to a widow, care of a funeral home and he apparently accused some of the dead Australian soldiers of being "criminals", "killers" and "murderers" fighting a war of invasion. Outside court today, Sheik Haron refused to apologise to the recipients, urging the letters be taken in their entirety.He attacked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former PM John Howard who have "made Australia unsafe". "I don't want Australia to be unsafe," he said. "Which country has attacked us? If a country attacks us unjustly, I'm happy to go to war." In a lengthy sermon to the waiting cameras, he also waved an Australian flag, as a number of people watched on. Represented by Chris Murphy and Adam Houda, Sheik Haron did not enter a plea, had his reporting conditions reduced and will face court again in January. Source: The AustralianMan Monis
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 FIVE Sydney men have been found guilty of terrorism offences after one of the longest criminal trials in Australian history.
Mohamed Ali Elomar, 44, Khaled Cheikho, 36, his nephew Moustafa Cheikho, 32, Abdul Rakib Hasan, 40, and Mohammed Omar Jamal, 25, were today convicted of doing an act in preparation for a terrorist act.
After a trial lasting almost a year, a NSW Supreme Court jury deliberated for more than a month before returning its verdict.
And it can now be revealed that four other men involved in the terror conspiracy pleaded guilty last year to various terrorism offences before they were due to stand trial with their five co-accused.
Mazen Touma, 29, Mirshad Mulahalilovic, 33, Khaled Sharrouf, 28, and another man who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three-and-a-half years to 14 years for their crimes.
The trial began last November, following eight months of pre-trial hearings.
Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment SC admitted it was a circumstantial case in his closing address to the jury.
“This was a case that relied on circumstantial evidence, creating a picture in the nature of a mosaic or a large jigsaw puzzle,” he said.
“The Crown does not suggest that the evidence reveals that they had reached any firm conclusion as to what precise action was to be carried out, what targets were to be selected, who was actually to carry the bomb, where it was to be placed, how it was to be placed, how big it was going to be, whether it was going to be in a vehicle or in a backpack or how it was going to be taken to the relevant target.”
But the jury was convinced that there was sufficient evidence that the men were involved in a conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist act that according to authorities, was intended to create “maximum damage”.
The group were, according to the Crown, motivated by “a perception that the participation of Australia in the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan ... were acts of aggression against the wider Muslim community”.
The men were arrested in the early hours of November 8, 2005, when police conducted simultaneous raids in homes across Sydney.
 A SYDNEY man who produced a do-it-yourself jihad book has been sentenced to at least nine years in prison.
In September last year, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Belal Khazaal guilty of making a document - between September 20 and 23, 2003 - connected with assistance in a terrorist act, and knowing about that connection.
The 110-page book, in Arabic, entitled Provisions Of The Rules of Jihad - Short Judicial Rulings And Organisational Instructions For Fighters And Mujahideen Against Infidels, contained advice about terrorist acts such as exploding bombs, shooting down planes and assassinating people such as former US president George W Bush.
Khazaal has never denied making the book, but said it was never intended to incite terrorist acts.
At his sentencing today, Justice Megan Latham said she found it “unsurprising” a jury had rejected his defence.
“It beggars belief that a person of average intelligence who has devoted themselves to the study of Islam over some years would fail to recognise the nature of the material,” she said.
“The dissemination of extremist activity, connected or unconnected with a terrorist plot, is caught by the government's (anti-terror) scheme ... (because such material) is capable and is shown to foment terrorist activity.”
Khazaal was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with a non-parole period of nine years.
With time already served, he will be eligible for release after August 31, 2017.
 EXCLUSIVE: Sally Neighbour The directive has been issued by veteran al-Qa'ida adviser Mustafa Hamid, also known as Abu Walid al-Masri, who was married to Australian Rabiah Hutchinson in Afghanistan in 2001. Hamid has been detained in Iran since 2003 but remains an influential figure in the militant movement and has maintained contact with his followers through jihadist websites, despite his imprisonment. In an edict titled "The US Soldier in Afghanistan - the first step for the release of all prisoners of the war on terror", Hamid argues that the capture of an American soldier by Taliban forces earlier this year should be used as a precedent in a campaign of abducting Western civilians to use as bargaining chips to negotiate the release of Taliban and al-Qa'ida detainees. In the document uncovered by former Australian Federal Police senior counter-terrorism intelligence analyst Leah Farrall, Hamid argues that the US has "changed the rules of the game" on the treatment of prisoners of war by its detention and torture of inmates at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. He says it is now time for the Afghan mujaheddin to "change the rules" and "accept the principle approved and implemented by the enemy - the abduction of civilians who have nothing to do with the battle". Hamid writes that soldiers from foreign countries such as Australia are fair targets. "Governments that send armies to fight against our people in Iraq and Afghanistan bear full responsibility and they can therefore be exposed to the effects of any change in the special laws on prisoners. Force is the only thing that is respected by the West, and without it what has been taken will never be returned to its owners, and no prisoner will be returned to his family." The document was discovered by Ms Farrall, formerly a senior counter-terrorism intelligence analyst with the Australian Federal Police, who is currently completing a PhD on al-Qa'ida at Monash University and specialises in unearthing al-Qa'ida documents. "This is one of the most important things I've seen for a very long time," she said. "I have not (previously) seen any senior militant figure sanction a targeted campaign in direct response to American detainee policies and I find this extremely concerning." Rabiah Hutchinson, who was married to Hamid - who she refers to as Abu Walid - until they separated in Iran in 2003, has not seen the document but said it sounded like his work. "Abu Walid is one of the most pragmatic people I have met in my life. To him it would be just a strategy," she said. "I could quite see Abu Walid saying, without emotion, 'What's good for the goose is good for the gander'. "He would be saying 'OK, we're in this situation now, what are our priorities?' And his priority would be to save the Muslim lives who are now in the hands of the Americans." Ms Farrall said Hamid's edict was all the more significant because he has historically been "the voice of restraint" within al-Qa'ida, renowned for his "moderate" pragmatism. She argues in an opinion piece in The Australian that his treatise demonstrates the damage done by the US policies on detention and torture of detainees, which may now seriously undermine the mission to restore peace in Afghanistan. Hamid advocates that mass abductions should be carried out under the direction of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in areas of Afghanistan that his troops control. "If we want, our liberated territories can absorb thousands of prisoners, and we have enough men to guard them and also to take care of them until the time is suitable for exchange." He says prisoner exchange must proceed on the basis of "all for all". "By 'all for all', I mean the exchange of all their prisoners for all our prisoners, for the whole period of their war against terrorism (from) when they said the rules of the game had changed." Sally Neighbour is a senior contributor to The Australian, reporter for ABC's Four Corners and author of The Mother of Mohammed Source: The Australian
 A RIOT by Muslim youths in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn last week was organised via Facebook, police believe. The troublemakers used the social networking site to flash up inflammatory references to police and rally their friends for a confrontation. One update identified police as "non-believers" who were raiding a "brother's home". More than 150 people gathered in Cumberland Road, Auburn, on Tuesday night, forcing police to call in 100 officers, the riot squad and a helicopter. The tense stand-off came after Middle Eastern organised crime squad police raided four homes. Opposition Police spokesman Mike Gallacher's office revealed one of the Facebook updates read: "Kefeirs raiding brother's house, everyone get down hier (sic)!!" A spokesman for Mr Gallacher said the term used to describe the police had become a slang Arabic term used to describe non-believers. "I don't think it is an intentional move by people to get around the law -- it is the way a lot of younger people contact one another and it would appear there is a loophole in the law," he said. "Using Facebook and Twitter and modern technology gives a quicker way of getting messages out to a larger number of people." Detective Chief Superintendent Ken McKay said the Middle Eastern organised crime squad was looking into phone communication and would expand the investigation to Facebook. He said regardless of the laws covering the means of communication, the police could still identify and pursue those responsible for Facebook messages. "If you incite a riot it doesn't matter by which means, how you do that is somewhat irrelevant," Supt McKay said. And he said he was concerned by the general lack of respect young people from all backgrounds have for authority. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Attorney-General John Hatzistergos also said current laws could be applied, adding: "There is a range of serious offences where people call on others to riot or commit other offences via mobile phone or the internet." Source: Daily Telegraph
By Angus Hohenboken COMMUNITY tensions are running high in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn after police from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad raided four houses during the Muslim festival of Ramadan. The raids on Tuesday evening prompted a gathering of about 150 mostly Middle Eastern youths and then the arrival of about 100 police. Police have denied their timing was culturally insensitive and labelled angry mobs who threatened police during the raids as "cowardly". Auburn mayor Irene Simms yesterday said she did not know the ethnicity of those arrested by police, but said locals were sick of a trouble-making minority dragging down the suburb's name. She said protests about the interruptions of religious rituals were "no excuse" in the face of criminal allegations, adding that immigrants to Australia caught breaking their citizenship oath by committing crimes should be kicked out of the country. "I think the police did an exceptional job in this situation," Ms Simms said. "No religion condones breaking the law." Detectives from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad seized a hand gun, stun guns, cannabis, ecstasy, pills, a large sum of cash and ammunition from three residences in Cumberland Road and one home in Normanby Street, in Auburn, at about 6pm on Tuesday. This is the time Muslims observing Ramadan break their daily fast. As news of the raids spread, an angry crowd of up to 150 people gathered on Cumberland Rd, prompting detectives to call in the riot squad, the dog squad and Polair. Police said the crowd was dispersed after a standoff and three people were arrested. A heavily-tattooed Lebanese local, who asked to remain anonymous because his police record was "as long as the street", said police in Auburn were racist and should have had the courtesy not to interrupt the breaking of a fast during Ramadan. "They target the same families, they don't care if your mum's in the shower, they've got no respect," he said. Detective Chief Superintendent Ken McKay made no apology for the raids, saying search warrants were executed in response to a shooting incident on the weekend. The man injured in the shooting had refused to co-operate with police in their investigations, but Superintendent McKay said police had "a very good idea of what occurred and why". Police allege a police officer was punched in the face during the raids by a 25-year-old man, who was yesterday granted bail after being charged with one count of wounding an officer and two counts of assaulting police. A 17-year-old boy arrested in the raids, also charged with assault, was granted bail to appear in Parramatta Children's Court on September 29. A woman was also arrested and is expected to face charges in the future. Source: The Australian
July 31
Islamic identity Keysar Trad's defamation case against a Sydney radio station has collapsed, with a Supreme Court justice saying Trad did in fact make remarks that were ‘‘offensive", "racist" and ‘‘condoned violence". Today's judgment comes in opposition to a jury's decision in 2007 that found Mr Trad was defamed by broadcaster Jason Morrison, who implied that he was a disgraceful, dangerous individual who incited people to commit violent acts. The case stems from comments made by Morrison about Mr Trad on talkback radio in December 2005, shortly after the Cronulla riots. The legal team for Harbour Radio, the owners of 2GB, argued that the information claimed to be defamatory was in fact true. After hearing evidence about Mr Trad's reputation and the effect of the broadcast, Justice Peter McClellan ruled today that Mr Trad's claim should be dismissed. ‘‘There is little doubt that many of the plaintiff's remarks are offensive to Jewish persons and homosexuals," Justice McClellan said in his judgment. Neither Mr Trad nor Morrison were at Sydney's Supreme Court to hear the judgment. ‘‘Many of his remarks are distasteful and appear to condone violence," the judgment continued. ‘‘I'm satisfied that the plaintiff does hold views which can properly be described as racist. ‘‘I'm also satisfied that he encourages others to hold those views. In particular he holds views derogatory of Jewish people. ‘‘The views which he holds would not be acceptable to most right-thinking Australians," Justice McClelland's judgment said. Outside court, a representative of Mr Trad said he planned to appeal. The parties are due to meet again next Thursday to discuss costs in the matter. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
The 29-year-old, who calls himself Sam "The Assassin", defended the Parramatta-based gang's violent image in its YouTube videos and MySpace site. They promote anti-Australian sentiment and flag burning. "There are a handful of good Australians but most are racist by assuming Lebanese people are responsible for all crimes," he told The Daily Telegraph, speaking publicly for the first time. "When they see a Middle Eastern walking down the street they assume they are Lebanese. "I am half Lebanese and half Iraqi but I want the public and the police to know this: Don't forget about the Persians, Iraqis, Afghanis, Turks etc . . . because they do crimes too. That is why we have posted these videos up." The president of one of the city's newest street gangs, he said he was known as Sam Asesinoz, which means assassin in Spanish, although it was not his real name. On the gang's MySpace site, he warns: "Now we can't be f. . . . . with, coz we will take your life, we are the true soldiers." He revealed yesterday that the Asesinoz MC had 70 members.
Paul Sheehan | March 30 I've been considering a request from a post-graduate student who wants to do a thesis on Islamophobia in Australia. She writes: "I am researching the topic Islamophobia, and I am trying to prove whether Islamophobia is based on religion fear or cultural fear of Islam." What about proving that Islamophobia exists at all? That would be the logical, ethical and scholarly starting point. But it appears the outcome has already been decided. This would fit the prevailing orthodoxy in academia that the default position for Muslims in Australia is victim. The jargon, "Islamophobia" is part of this ideological construct. Literally, it means fear of Muslims. I reflected on all this while on holiday in Malaysia and the Maldives last week. This was my twelfth visit to Muslim societies because I do not "fear" Muslims and do not "fear" Islam. Yes, there is ample evidence that Australians have become uneasy about Muslims in general and hostile in specific cases, but this is about cause and effect. Consider the series of blows to the image of Muslims in just the past three weeks, where the everyday decency of the majority have been collaterally damaged by the antics of the few. On March 8, the night of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, police say a group of about 100 young Muslim men, allegedly members of a loose gang called MBM - Muslim Brotherhood Movement - moved through the centre of the city intimidating, harassing and beating bystanders. On March 15, Abdul Darwiche was murdered, shot to death in a shopping centre in the latest hyper-violence involving two warring Lebanese Muslim clans. Police later arrested Darwiche's brother, Michael, for driving around with a loaded pistol. A third brother, Adnan, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court three years ago to be sentenced for a double murder. He and his fellow accused, Nasaem El-Zeyat and Ramzi Aouad, laughed and joked, going out of their way to express their contempt for Australian law. After the three men were all given life sentences they shouted "God is great!" This was the same Adnan Darwiche who purchased rocket launchers stolen from the Australian Army, which have never been recovered. Hundreds of mourners attended Abdul Darwiche's funeral at the Lakemba Mosque, where, within days, Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly was involved in yet another controversy. Channel Nine obtained a copy of a video surveillance tape which shows the former mufti of Australia kicking in a door, then returning soon after in the company of police. Apparently he called police over vandalism which he committed, blaming others who are engaged in a power struggle at the mosque. Sheik Hilaly has been embroiled repeatedly in controversy and provocation, making numerous inflammatory remarks about Australia and Australians. A few days later, yet another rape sentence was handed down to one of the K brothers, three of whom, during their various trials for gang rape, claimed they were victims of an anti-Muslim conspiracy. Between them, four K brothers have been convicted of gang-raping five girls. This sentencing followed closely on the conviction of seven Sydney schoolboys for the aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in a toilet block in Yagoona in 2007. According to police, the ring-leader was on his phone speaking in Arabic during the assaults and most or all of the boys are of Muslim background. If this is so, these latest convictions produce a morbid tally of more than 30 young Muslim men involved in serious proven sexual assaults of non-Muslim girls in Sydney, involving the Skaf brothers, the K brothers, the E-M cousins, the Yagoona schoolboys and various others. Because sexual assault is the least reported crime (about 15 per cent of incidents are reported to police) this particular phenomenon was certainly much broader. Finally, there has been fatal violence between bikie gangs, accompanied by news that there has been an infusion of young Muslim men into the bikie culture. There is now warring between new gangs and traditional Anglo criminal gangs for control of the drug and protection markets. Gang leaders named Mahmoud and Hassan and Ismail have been prominent. Gangs like MBM, Notorious and Asesinoz have flaunted their ethnicity. Overtly racist videos have been posted on YouTube, such as the message that "Asesinoz is now targeting Aussies", with an image of a vandalised Australian flag. The events of the past week have been a variation on a theme police have been dealing with for years. It erupted spectacularly in 2005 when a self-styled "intifada" by armed Muslim men, travelling in convoys, staged numerous co-ordinated assaults across the eastern beach suburbs of Sydney. The attacks were in response to the most notorious case of anti-Muslim feeling in Australia, the Cronulla riot in December, 2005. The roots of this demonstration was the failure of the police, who for years had preferred to pretend the problem did not exist. Given the abundant evidence of violent cause and fearful effect, involving a small percentage of antagonists, the general charge of Islamophobia is an ideological fabrication. As for the criminal gangs, for more than 10 years I have argued that Australia needed anti-gang laws similar to the RICO laws (racketeering influenced corrupt organisations) used in the United States, which smashed the code of silence and solidarity by criminal gangs. Finally, the state Labor Government has begun to stir on this issue. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Les Kennedy | March 29 THEY call themselves MBM - the Muslim Brotherhood Movement - a gang of 600 men who boast they are the toughest and best young street fighters of Middle Eastern descent in Sydney. MBM claims to be the biggest of four new gangs to emerge on Sydney streets in the past year. Its numbers rival those of the state's largest bikie gang, the Rebels. The sudden appearance of MBM, with its growing membership recruited predominantly from the city's south-western suburbs, has alarmed senior police already battling to combat open warfare among outlaw motorbike gangs. Even hardened private security guards have expressed concern to police about the indiscriminate "punch and run" tactics of MBM members who, in the past two weeks, have arrived in large numbers at city nightclub venues and who walk the streets in intimidating mobs. But the objectives of MBM - its emblem features two crossed pistols and a hand grenade - and its leadership remain unclear to officers of both the Organised Crime and Gang Squad and Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad. Police say that a fortnight ago MBM members embarked upon a campaign of random assaults on men who crossed the path of a mob of about 100 toughs stalking Darlinghurst and Kings Cross during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. A week ago about 30 MBM members intimidated private security guards at government car auctions at Smithfield. The emergence of MBM also coincides with the rise of two other urban Sydney gangs - the Parra Boyz or Asesinoz MC and Brothers For Life or BFL. Police say BFL - with a logo featuring crossed machine-guns - is not dissimilar to MBM in its extremist views, but membership numbers are unknown. Police describe Asesinoz, comprising teenagers of Middle Eastern decent, as "tough kids" who use the video-sharing website YouTube to promote Islamic extremism and anti-Australian actions such as flag burning. The group, which recently changed its name from the Parra Boyz, has more than 40 members, some of whom are known to police for committing acts of violence and vandalism. Its creation follows that of the Notorious bikie gang, comprising members of Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander extraction, more than a year ago after a split in the membership of the Nomads motorcycle club. Notorious members, who police allege are engaged in a series of tit-for-tat drive-by shootings on members of rival club the Bandidos in western Sydney, declared they will not be stood over by other gangs. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
 Dylan Welch, Police Reporter | February 16
AN ANCIENT religious enmity is at the centre of a new conflict in the Sydney bikie scene, with a new gang comprised mainly of Sunni Muslims warring with a group of bikies with a Shiite Muslim background.
While detectives continue to investigate the February 4 bombing of a Hells Angels clubhouse in Crystal Street, Petersham, police and other sources are indicating that the city chapter of the Comanchero is involved in an escalating feud with a new club, Notorious.
The president of Notorious is a Lebanese-Australian with a long-standing association with a bikie from a colourful Sydney Sunni Lebanese family. The two are among Sydney's original "Nike" bikies - sporting white sneakers, fashionable T-shirts and clean-shaven instead of the traditional boots, dirty vests and bushy beards - and both are from Sunni families from Sydney's west.
Notorious is considered by gang squad detectives to be the prime suspect in the Crystal Street bombing. One of its mottos is "Only the dead see the end of war" and its "colours", or coat of arms, is a turbaned skeleton holding twin pistols with "Original Gangster" beneath it. Today is the first time the club's colours have been revealed publicly.
On the other side of the conflict is the president of the Comanchero City Crew, a Beirut-born Shiite who grew up in the St George area. Comanchero has been one of the motorcycle gangs that have embraced the new breed of "Nike" bikie, and have been recruiting from the Lebanese and Islander communities for several years.
Traditionally, Lebanese Muslim migrants to Sydney have been geographically and religiously divided. The Sunni majority live in Sydney's west and south-west, mainly around Auburn and Bankstown, while the Shiite minority live in the St George area. "The two groups have no love lost between them," a senior police said.
They have been fighting since the Sunni bikie, one of Sydney's most well-known gangsters, became president of the Nomads Parramatta chapter in the late 1990s.
In 2006, he was jailed over a Newcastle shooting. The following year, the Parramatta chapter's Granville headquarters was bombed, allegedly by the Comanchero, and the chapter subsequently disbanded.
A few of its members formed Notorious, probably at the request of the Sunni bikie.
"[The Sunni bikie] left the Nomads while he was on remand," said an investigator who has watched the two groups for years. "He was telling people he was planning to start up his own club. Around about the same time, Notorious appeared."
Unlike the Sunni bikie and the Notorious president, the Comanchero City Crew president was born in Beirut and grew up in Sydney's southern suburbs. He appeared on television in 2005 following the Cronulla riot and Maroubra reprisal violence, when he met members of the Bra Boys to calm tensions.
When Fairfax Media asked the president of the Hells Angels city chapter about the bombing, he was succinct: "I've got nothing to say, thank you."
But bikie sources said the Angels believe Notorious may be responsible for the attack, which closed down Crystal Street for a day and damaged seven neighbouring businesses.
Neither police nor the Hells Angels have established why Notorious may have attacked the club, though the senior police source offered a simple answer: "They're just bloody crazy."
In the latest violence, a Comanchero member was shot in the leg when he was confronted by five Hells Angels at a park in Silverwater on February 7. Source: Brisbane Times
 Several thousand people have again choked the streets of central Sydney in a protest over the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
The Israeli Government's announcement of a ceasefire has been met with cynicism by many.
About 5,000 people crammed into the Sydney Town Hall's forecourt to again condemn Israel over the deaths of 1,200 civilians in Gaza.
Journalist John Pilger accused the media of bowing to Israel in its reporting of the events in the Middle East.
"The media has built a wall between the massacres in Gaza and the truth of what has happened there," he said.
The President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel, says he doubts the ceasefire will hold.
"The ceasefire is not good enough if Israel does not get itself out of Gaza," he said.
He says the Australian Government has been "lame" in its failing to condemn Israel's actions. Source: ABC Australia
 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
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Five men who conspired to wage violent jihad in Sydney have shown no remorse for their evil scheme and remain a danger to the public, a court has heard. 
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