Australian prime minister criticizes Islamic extremists

Mark Chipperfield:

The Australian prime minister, John Howard, criticised the minority of Muslims in the country who "rave on about jihad" and hold "extreme attitudes" towards women, saying they do not fit into Australian society.

Mr Howard told the authors of a book celebrating his 10 years in power that Muslims who support a jihad, or holy war, against the West could not easily be absorbed into mainstream Australia.

Sections of the book, entitled The Howard Factor, were leaked by The Australian newspaper.

Muslim leaders accused him of "pandering to Islamophobia" but Mr Howard said he stood by his remarks and reiterated them at length in numerous radio and television interviews.

"You can't find any equivalent in Italian or Greek or Lebanese or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem," he said.

"It is not a problem that we've ever faced with other immigrant communities, who become easily absorbed by Australia's mainstream."

Mr Howard said he was not talking about the vast majority of law-abiding Australian Muslims, but a jihadist minority which he said was "utterly antagonistic" to a modern, pluralist, multi-faith society, such as Australia.

"There is really not much point in pretending it doesn't exist," he said.

Since the Second World War Australia has welcomed millions of migrants from many parts of the world, especially southern Europe and Asia, but Mr Howard said the country had never had to deal with migrants who wanted to overturn its core values and beliefs. Australia's Islamic community numbers around 300,000 out of a population of around 20 million.

A total of 24 Muslim men have been charged in Australia under anti-terrorism legislation introduced after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

"We want people when they come to Australia to adopt Australian ways," he said. "We don't ask them to forget the countries of their birth, we respect all religious points of views and people are entitled to practise them.

"But there are certainly things that are not part of the Australian mainstream."

A vocal supporter of American intervention in both Iraq and Afghanistan - Australian troops are serving in both conflicts - Mr Howard said he was also concerned about Islamic attitudes to women, which he said were "a problem".

"For all the conservatism towards women and so forth within some of the Mediterranean cultures, it's as nothing compared with some of the more extreme attitudes [among Muslims]."

His comments attracted intense criticism from Islamic leaders, who said that Mr Howard was either misinformed or deliberately trying to exploit negative attitudes towards Muslim people living in Australia.

They accused him of trying to make political capital from the race riots which erupted in the Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla in December, adding that he misunderstood the term jihad.

The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali, said the Muslims referred to by Mr Howard represented only a "tiny fraction" of the community. "There is also a tiny fraction of Australians who believe in white supremacy," he said.

A spokesman for the Islamic Council of New South Wales, Ali Roude, said the remarks were "offensive and ignorant" while the Islamic Friendship Association said the prime minister was "unfortunately playing on pre-existing Islamophobia."

Despite its tough stand on immigration, the Howard government has largely continued the immigration policies of the previous Labour administration.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the percentage of European migrants coming to Australia has now fallen to under 50 per cent, for the first time since the First Fleet arrived in Port Jackson, modern day Sydney, in 1788.

Muslim fury at Howard

Howard hits at 'extreme' Muslims

Making Islam Illegal – Is It The West's Only Choice?

The Dhimmitude of the West

Europe is Sick of Muslims--OUT!