Reiterating his view that the furore over his comments are a conspiracy against him led by politicians and the media, Sheik al-Hilaly said:

"Always upside down my speech. For bad intention. I say many, many times. I taught - love Australia or leave it. Australia is still the best country in world. We're intelligent people, (the) Australia nation."

Sheik Hilali was called an "embarrassment" by Prime Minister John Howard...

However Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali has proclaimed his love for his adopted homeland and labelled it the "best country in the world". It seems Sheik al-Hilali has has once again been misinterpreted, demonised, his comments sensationalised for the sake of spectacle and fear. The Sydney Imam described his detractors as racist. "That is the racists talking," he said.

"I love Australia. I respect the Australian nationality, Australian society, the land of peace. Australia is the best country in the world."

Sheik al-Hilali was interviewed on Egyptian television last week. According to mainstream corporate media reports, Sheikh Hilali said:

"Anglo-Saxons came here in chains while we paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them. Australia is not an Anglo-Saxon country; Islam has deep roots in Australian soil that were there before the English arrived."

He also dubbed Prime Minister Howard as "Mr Me Too" - meaning Mr Howard needs instructions from the US before acting. Mr Howard said it was up to the Muslim community to deal with al-Hilali.

The executive director of the Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations, said the comments did not represent the views of the majority of the Muslim community. "I would like to reiterate to all Australians, including our people of Anglo-Saxon heritage, that there is no substance to the idea that Muslims have more of a right to Australia than the early settlers," Kuranda Seyit said.

SUPPORT
The shiek's family say whilst they did not always agree with him, they believed he was entitled to his opinion, because Australia "fought wars to have freedom of speech".

"We know what he means, and we don't believe he deliberately meant to offend anyone," his son-in-law Mr Tocock said. "We know that the mufti loves this country, but we can understand how people can be offended by his comments. It doesn't help to bridge the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims."

John Heard, writes in the Australian, "whether or not the man should be allowed to say the things he does - or be deported or jailed for them, as some have suggested - is not the kind of discussion a mature democracy should indulge with a serious hearing. So why are we so threatened when the things he says don't square neatly with our view of ourselves?"

"Is it because it is becoming obvious that the sheik is right about some things? ... "al-Hilali's comments about Anglo-Saxons coming to Australia as convicts are, at least on the face of it, mostly accurate. White settlement did occur here because Britain needed a faraway island on which to dump its criminal class. Only an individual ignorant of Australian history would object to such comments on factual grounds, writes Mr Heard. "Only a blind nationalist would get steamed up about, rather than dismiss - even affectionately - the sheik's snobby tone..." (John Heard: Mufti's madness is true-blue larrikinism)

The corporate media created a furore late last year when Sheik Hilali's comments, made during a Ramadam sermon, were deliberately taken out of context and published across front pages of Australia's newspapers - despite the Muslim cleric repeatedly stating he "does not blame victims of rape for their predicament."

ai-Hilali's friend and confidant Keysar Trad said Australia as a nation had over-reacted and would have been more thick-skinned if the mufti had made those comments as a non-Muslim. "Nobody expects us to be so thin-skinned," Mr Trad said. "We're only like that because we find the mufti to be so exotic." Mr Trad said his friend was a proud Australian.

But other Muslim groups distanced themselves from the remarks, saying the sheik's extreme personal opinions did not represent the views of the majority of Muslims.

Sheik al-Hilali came to Australia in 1982 and was granted permanent residency in 1990. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) appointed him Mufti of Australia in 1988. The AFIC, which has the power over the position of Mufti of Australia, is in receivership and fresh elections for a new executive board are not expected until next month.

AFIC's legal adviser, Haset Sali, labelled the sheik's recent comments on Egyptian TV as insane and said the comments had horrified thevast majority of Australian Muslims. Mr Sali, who was once a close mate, has become a bitter critic, said Australian Muslims needed a head mufti as much as they needed a "crocodile in the back garden" and described Sheik Hilali was like "a bull in a china shop..."

"In reality, Sheik Hilali is no longer the Mufti for Australia," Mr Sali said.

Sheik al-Hilali is expected to return home this week to confront a salivating pack of sensationalist media.

Sources:

NEWS.COM.AU
 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21059865-2,00.html

The Australian
 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21056008-5006784,00.html

Herald and Weekly Times - Don't hurry
 http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21058903-5006029,00.html

Middle East Online
 http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=19162

Wikipedia - Taj_El-Din_Hilaly
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_El-Din_Hilaly

Sheikh's OK, say in-laws - The Age
 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/sheikhs-ok-say-inlaws/2007/01/13/1168105227900.html

John Heard: Mufti's madness is true-blue larrikinism
 http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21058458-7583,00.html

Muslim slams 'disgraceful' Hilali
 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,2105973 -2702,00.html

Source:  http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=42481

Comment:

Racist Hate Posts
by X factor

Ever since the racist attack and pr by the mass media the following material was posted to MIM. Which proves the divisive nature of John Howard's propaganda. Similarly that John Howard and his mass media do it on purpose to take the blame off his corrupt government and off his own shoulders and on to someone else in the community. The "agent provocateur".

This is what gives leverage to the face of the Cronulla Riots.

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Stupid NINE MSN poll on Sheik Alhilali

Who can honestly think you can be truly civilised in our modern way and a true Muslim at the same time? Well, go visit a Muslim country and you think again!

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136369.php

NINE out of 10 voters are WRONG about Sheik Alhilali

I believe that many high-profile Australian Muslims are paid from Saudi Arabian coffers lined with millions in gold keen to support anyone (even solicitors dealing in MAN-MADE LAW, instead of Allahs Sharia law) in the Muhammad Daawood (David Hicks RIP) media circus1

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136355.php

Islam is a bloodthirsty horrid religion
by Andrew Saturday January 13, 2007 at 11:45 AM

I studied Islam at university; a friend is a degreed middle-east scholar with in-country experience in the Army Ranger battalions. We both believe that Mohamut was a blood-thirsty man and his chosen symbol, the red crescent moon, is the symbol of the local pagan deity, their [blood red] god of war. Islam produces bloodshed in any clash with competing systems. It is peaceful in its areas of dominance, but so too is a prison! My training is in management science. I believe in cause-and-effect – not ideology. If it looks bloody and violent, then it is. Therefore Islam is a violent religion! How do you reconcile these opposing observations?

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136180_comment.php#136244

Preaching true Islam

We must pay attention to this totally honest hateful Muslim leader that remains a light of truth in an otherwise silent darkness.

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136110.php

===========================

Let's see the "left" defend this one

In October, Sheik Hilaly compared women to covered meat, now he comes up with a dispicable racist comment. The left condemned the media response but not Hilaly. Watch the linguistic acrobatics when they try to defend this one.......................................

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136060.php

As well as many others removed from the newswire.

========================

Related:

Cleric Hilali stirs the pot big time, Fairfax compromise big errorism case

"Indeed, when police and ASIO agents swooped on 19 alleged terrorists in Sydney and Melbourne last year, they found an astounding array of violent material on their computers. Their electronic library was as voluminous as it was disturbing, including recipes for homemade explosives, poems in praise of jihad and grisly videos and audio files of beheadings and terrorist attacks.” Sydney Morning Herald 2nd Dec 2006

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136180.php

Sheik's comments spur calls to Immigration Dept?

Now it's alleged that the Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilali comments spurred calls to the Immigration Department? What was the point of the pr exercise if people weren't going to call her? Why does she distance herself from her government and political media establishment's xenophobic pr campaigns?

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136146.php

CRONULLA RACE RIOTS

Race Riot Nationalists spread to third Sydney suburb

The latest violence comes after a racially motivated pro-government right wing Nationalist media taking John HoWARd's lead, ended up in a riot at Cronulla Beach which saw several people of Middle Eastern appearance attacked. Shame HoWARd....Shame on you!

 http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9717

Australia: Police report reveals real instigators of Cronulla race riots

Sure enough, on Sunday December 11, a large mob congregated at the railway station. Those who seemed to be Middle Eastern were mobbed when they alighted from trains. The Hazzard report finds: “The victims were simply chosen because of their Middle Eastern appearance” and “the vigilantes at the railway station had no way of knowing who it was they were assaulting.”

 http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57533

Four months after Sydney’s racial violence: government campaign continues against Middle Eastern youth

While scores of misguided youth are being dragged before the courts and thrown into jail, the real perpetrators and promoters of the racial violence that exploded in the riots are not only getting away scot-free, they continue to hold highly lucrative and influential positions.

 http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/11341

Australia: one year after the Cronulla riots, racialist provocations continue

In this light, the anniversary was marked by one particularly significant event. On December 11, 2006, exactly one year to the day after the Cronulla riots, Howard announced the introduction of a new citizenship test.

 http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57654