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Labor’s forelock tugging ignores dangers of radical Islam to Australia’s values

If any of the people urging the destruction of our political system made a pledge of loyalty to Australia, they must have their citizenship revoked and be expelled, writes Piers Akerman.

WATCH: Radical leaders slam Australian democracy

The Left-Green Albanese government wants Israel to stop fighting terrorism in Gaza and appease Islamists as it is doing in Australia.

Just as Hamas is committed to murdering all Jews and converting the world to Islam, radical preachers and the extremist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir are committed to destroying democracy in Australia.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a declared terrorist group in the UK and Germany but not here – so extremist preachers are free to spout their messages of Jew hate.

In a feeble excuse for the government’s inaction, a spokesman said Hizb ut-Tahrir represented “fringe views” that didn’t reflect those of the wider Muslim community.

That may be but history has shown that fringe groups – such as the Manson Family – can be just as dangerous as members of better-known outfits.

Charles Manson being escorted to court for in 1969. Picture: John Malmin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Charles Manson being escorted to court for in 1969. Picture: John Malmin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

During the late 1960s and early ’70s, Charles Manson is believed to have inspired his followers to murder at least nine – and possibly as many as 24 – people in California before being caught and jailed. He died in 2017.

In an interview in 2019, one of his followers, Squeaky Fromme, who attempted to assassinate president Gerald Ford, said: “Was I in love with Charlie? Yeah, I still am.”

Prominent Hizb ut-Tahrir member Wassim Doureihi speaking recently in Lakemba, where he said voting and democracy was “not an option” for the Muslim community.
Prominent Hizb ut-Tahrir member Wassim Doureihi speaking recently in Lakemba, where he said voting and democracy was “not an option” for the Muslim community.

Islamists shouting Allahu Akbar are also infatuated. Last week, leaders of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Australian branch preached sermons across the Canterbury-Bankstown area in which they attacked Australia’s democracy.

One preacher told his audience that he wanted an alternate route to power where Muslims could make sharia the dominant form of law in Australia.

“The system is always going to fail if it is not Allah’s,” he said, according to a report in The Australian newspaper.

“We want to get to a position where Muslims have power (so that) we can implement more of the (way) in sharia.”

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, whose Watson electorate is 25 per cent Muslim, was among Labor figures who dismissed the remarks as “fringe”.

“Australia is a strong democracy, and that’s a good thing. Attempts to undermine our democracy stand condemned,” he said.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

But as the Manson Family showed, it doesn’t take much to murder and create mayhem.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson has repeatedly called for Hizb ut-Tahrir, which openly supports Hamas, to be listed as a terror group. However, a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the government would await advice from security agencies and would not commit to listing Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terror organisation.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NewsWire/John Appleyard
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NewsWire/John Appleyard

Both she and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles may be shifted in the cabinet shuffle Albanese is expected to announce this weekend. This won’t make much difference to a government committed to providing aid to the tainted UN refugee organisation UNRWA, which has permitted its offices to be used by Hamas terrorists and continues to receive funding even though hundreds of its employees participated in the October 7 murders and kidnappings during the invasion of southern Israel.

During citizenship ceremonies, candidates are asked to pledge their loyalty to Australia and are offered two versions.

The first reads: “From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey.”

The second says: “From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey.”

Those participating in the protests show nothing but contempt for these pledges of support for Australian values.

If those now urging the destruction of our political system ever made either pledge, they must have their citizenship revoked and be expelled.

Got a news tip? Email weekendtele@news.com.au

Piers Akerman
Piers AkermanColumnist

Piers Akerman is an opinion columnist with The Sunday Telegraph. He has extensive media experience, including in the US and UK, and has edited a number of major Australian newspapers.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/labors-forelock-tugging-ignores-dangers-of-radical-islam-to-australias-values/news-story/74d97cebd2dead5b9df09607778c2e97