About 50.
You know what i saw today, a little arab boy of about 5 yrs old screaming out ''bugger off aussies, i hate you aussies,i love allah''. while his father and another were up on the porch laughing and praising him.

It's propaganda freediver. It's pretty obvious.

Note the last sentence, where he speaks to the media in support of the ban on speaking to the media.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Lakembas-Muslim-clerics-gagged/2007/03/09/1173166904939.html

Five of Australia's most powerful Islamic clerics, including Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali, have been banned from talking to the media by Muslim leaders.

The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) has gagged the imams from Lakemba Mosque in Sydney's south-west to stop them delivering "anti-Australian" messages, The Australian newspaper reports.

The ban, which especially applies to commentary in the Arabic media, is a bid to stop the "immeasurable damage" the clerics have caused to the community.

The letter threatened the imams with losing their positions as spiritual leaders at Australia's largest mosque should they speak to the media.

LMA president Tom Zreika said the ban was a bid to end the perceived "un-Australian viewpoints given by some clerics" and contradictions between comments made to English- and Arabic-speaking news outlets.

"One of the big issues is the double-speak by the various imams," Mr Zreika told the paper.

The gagging order follows the uproar caused by comments by Sheik Alhilali last year comparing women to "uncovered meat".

The mufti then compounded the controversy by later disparaging Australia's convict heritage.

Mr Zreika said he wanted the imams to stay out of politics and concentrate on their spiritual responsibilities.

Sheik Shadi told the paper he supported the LMA's ban as it was in the best interests of the Muslim and wider community.

freediver wrote on Mar 9^th, 2007 at 10:50am:


well if that quote is in the Quran, then i'm guessing some muslims ignore it.

but still, that does kind of prove that Islam as a religion is a peaceful one, all u can really argue is that some muslims are violent.

freediver wrote on Mar 9^th, 2007 at 11:32am:


i'll agree that statements from holy scriptures, regardless of the religion, need to be taken within their historical context.

I think Europe just has more experience of where that sort of thing leads. America may have to re-learn that lesson, and the middle east is re-learning it the very hard way.

---

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/rioter-should-spend-year-in-jail-court/2007/03/12/1173548096871.html

Prosecutors are seeking a one-year jail sentence for a Sydney teenager who repeatedly punched a man in the head on a train during the Cronulla riot.

Brent David Lohman, 19, of Caringbah in Sydney's south, was among a group of about 12 people who attacked Ali Hashimi on a train at Cronulla railway station on December 11, 2005.

Lohman, who was draped in an Australian flag at the time of the attack, was one of hundreds of people to converge on the station looking for people of Middle Eastern appearance.