Is Media Watch really an impartial referee in the free speech game?

Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi of the Islamic Association of South Australia is not your usual imam.

In a heated television debate yesterday over this week’s Manchester bombing, Tawhidi said Australia’s Muslim society was “infested by extremists.” The moderate preacher wants a “reformation” for Islam; he claims halal certification is opportunistic; and he has called for Islamic schools to be closed. He enjoys favourable coverage with the so-called ‘tabloid’ television media, but not so it seems in Sydney’s western suburbs.

“May God curse you, you pig, you dog”, a bearded bystander uttered menacingly during Tawhidi’s recent televised visit. “Thank you”, a composed Tawhidi replied as he continued on his way.

‘Fake’ Sheikh of shock - #MediaWatch @ABCTV https://t.co/JRa06UMhO9 pic.twitter.com/DrXTlja7eO

— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) May 22, 2017

You’d think Islamic-Australian sectarianism would be an issue of public interest, but apparently not, according to Paul Barry, host of ABC’s Media Watch.

“The media really should not be giving him (Tawhidi) a megaphone,” Barry said during this week’s episode, declaring the imam’s views were “divisive” and “offensive”. Presumably then Barry called for ABC presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied, who couldn’t resist usurping Anzac Day for her sanctimonious self-promotion, to hand in her taxpayer-funded megaphone? Not at all, although he conceded that her comment was “tactless at best”.

Nor did Barry, in 2015, declare that ABC’s Q&A should not have given a megaphone to Zaky Mallah, who was imprisoned in 2005 for threatening to kill ASIO officers.

“The Liberals have just justified to many Australian Muslims in the community tonight to leave and go to Syria and join ISIL (Islamic State) because of ministers like him,” Mallah said on the program when challenged by government frontbencher Steven Ciobo.

Zaky Mallah, who was convicted of threatening to kill ASIO officers, appears on the ABC's Q&A program.

Mallah, whose Twitter bio boasts achievements such as “Met Syrian rebels in Aleppo 2012” and expresses sentiments such as “Bring on WWIII”, is a grubby misogynist to boot. Only months before his appearance on the show, Mallah tweeted “Australia has two decent whores, @RitaPanahi and Miranda Dev­ine. Both need to be gang banged on the Sunrise desk. #freedomofspeech love it!”

Barry merely chided Q&A for featuring Mallah live, suggesting that instead the program could have, as when it featured terrorist sympathiser David Hicks, presented a prerecorded question. “We believe that in a program about terror it was reasonable to have him on,” stated Barry, who went on to accuse News Corp of acting “like a lynch mob” over Mallah’s appearance.

Are you confused about the application of the Muslim megaphone rule? You’re not alone. Let’s examine the case of the president of the Australian National Imams Council, Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman.

Sheik Shady Alsuleiman. Photo: James Croucher

“What’s the most common disease these days”, a rhetorical Alsuleiman asked in a 2013 sermon. “HIV, Aids, that’s so common and there’s no cure to it.” It was “homosexuality that’s spreading all the diseases” he said. In June 2016, Barry, while noting Alsuleiman’s offensive remarks on homosexuality, did not state he should be denied a platform. Rather, he properly acknowledged that the issue of Islam generally “was a subject our political leaders and the media will be forced to confront.”

So, of these four, why does Barry single out Mohammad Tawhidi for censoring, and why does Media Watch label him the “Fake Sheikh of Shock”? Certainly there are questions regarding Tawhidi’s supposedly progressive credentials, and those who describe him as a “Muslim leader” might want to consider scrutinising these. In March 2016, Tawhidi, responding to reports of an Adelaide man arrested for allegedly grabbing a woman’s headscarf, stated: “If government laws do not prevent such assaults, then I fear that a day will come where the Muslim community might take matters into their own hands to protect their women and mothers.”

Irrespective of Tawhidi’s purported concerns, it appears he puts a high priority on attention-seeking.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Photo: Chris Pavlich

But he’s no more an attention-seeker than Abdel-Magied, who wasn’t above cultural iconoclasm (provided you don’t usurp hers, that is) for the sake of undergraduate postulating. Nor is he a despicable misogynist like Mallah. Unlike Alsuleiman, Tawhidi’s sermons do not appear to stigmatise the gay community. So, ABC, let’s ban him, shall we?

“Now we’re not saying Tawhidi has no right to his opinion”, Barry hastened to say. Actually, that’s pretty much what Barry was saying when he proclaimed that Tawhidi not be given a megaphone, while advocating for other Muslims to air controversial remarks, however abhorrent. Of more concern, Barry unwittingly could be perceived as taking sides in the Sunni/Shia sectarian divide, given Tawhidi is of the latter (minority) faith.

Freedom of speech? It’s the freedom “to be abused, threatened, shouted down or silenced” quipped Barry as he reflected on the reaction to Abdel-Magied’s ill-advised Facebook post. “Which is how ideologues on the Left and Right like to play the free speech game”, he added. It’s a game all right, but sometimes you have to wonder about the impartiality of the referee, whether one self-appointed or otherwise.