Andrew Bolt: Fear of a radical few demands censorship of us all

By backing a ban on videos of the stabbing of Assyrian Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, police and politicans have made it scarily clear that a multicultural society must demand censorship of us all.

It’s becoming scarily clear that a multicultural society needs heavier policing and more censorship.

Ian Kershaw, head of the Australian Federal Police, gave that game away at the National Press Club on Wednesday when supporting a ban on videos of the stabbing of Assyrian Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.

People could be “inspired”, he said. Inspired? Who would see a bishop being stabbed and want more?

Sure, Kershaw might also mean Assyrian Christians could get angered into violence themselves. But that wasn’t the only sign of multicultural stress in Kershaw’s appearance alongside ASIO boss Mike Burgess. Burgess warned extremist Sunni Islam was the “principle” source of ideologically motivated violence, but quickly added Christian extremism was also a problem, given the riot after the bishop’s stabbing. One riot, and Christians get mentioned alongside Islamist terrorism?

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying mass when he was stabbed multiple times. Picture: Facebook.

You see the game exposed. Our government and security agencies not saying things that could offend Muslims, for fear of what a radical few might do.

The government can’t even mention our obscene levels of anti-Semitism without immediately deploring the almost invisible Islamophobia, too. Kershaw also grieved that “respected leaders of faith (he wouldn’t say which) tell us the interpretation of religion is being purposely distorted on social media” and “their communities and religious beliefs are tarnished and blamed for violent acts carried out by those who have been radicalised”.

Oh, blame social media again. Convenient. Face facts. Today’s terrorism sponsors include the Islamist leaders of Iran, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority.

Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilal, when he was our Mufti, called the September 11 terrorism ‘God’s work against oppressors’.

In Australia, Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilal, when he was our Mufti, called the September 11 terrorism “God’s work against oppressors”.

When John Howard created a Muslim Community Reference Group, a third of its 14 members supported Hezbollah, notorious for its terrorist wing.

Yes, Islam’s main leaders in Australia today seem far more moderate, yet not one condemned the Hamas terrorism of October 7 – the slaughter of 1200 Jews, the rapes, the kidnappings. Few, if any, have publicly challenged the Sydney hate preachers calling Jews “rats” and quoting holy scripture about killing them. No, safer to demand censorship of us all, and police and politicians – equally frightened – agree.

* On Monday I quoted Arabana Aboriginal Corporation chair Bronwyn Dodd. She is not the Bronwyn Dodd who is General Manager for Indigenous Banking at Westpac.

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Fear of a radical few demands censorship of us all