COWARD OF OZ BANS BILAL PHILIPS AND YVONNE RIDLEY
Islamic Community Net
April 5, 2007
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/12079

Assalamu aleikum.

The first article below falsely claims that Bilal Philips "has been linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York."

"Links" (i.e., McCarthyite "guilt by association") cannot be used as the basis for any legal decision.

For more details about McCarthyism, see article "McCarthyism" at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

The name of Bilal Philips, along with 171 others, was included in a classic McCarthyite "guilt by association" list set up by a US attorney.

Not surprisingly, none of the people on the list were ever proved to have anything to do with the 1993 bombing.

Please note that 2 articles follow:

*Kick out British Muslim convert, says Labor
*Muslim group rejects visa ban on sheikh


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(1)

Kick out British Muslim convert, says Labor
By staff reporters and wires
April 05, 2007
NEWS.com.au with AAP

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photo:
A threat? ... Labor says British journalist and Muslim convert Yvonne Ridley should be kicked out of Australia if reports she has praised suicide bombers are accurate / Supplied
 http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5440084,00.jpg
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BRITISH journalist and Muslim convert Yvonne Ridley should not be allowed into Australia if reports that she has praised suicide bombers are verified, Labor says.

Ridley, who was a senior reporter for Britian's Sunday Express, converted to Islam three years after she was captured by the Taliban while on an undercover assignment for the newspaper in 2001.

Her ordeal, in which she was imprisoned and interrogated by the Taliban, made headlines worldwide.

Her own website says she is well-known for her outspoken views and defence of Islam.

Sister Yvonne, as she is known now, also describes radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri as "quite sweet really" and says the Taliban have suffered an unfair press.

Ridley is to be a speaker at the first annual Australian Islamic Conference in Melbourne this weekend.

Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said Ridley had praised the Chechen leader of the Beslan school massacre, Shamil Basayev, as a martyr and urged Muslims in Britain not to co-operate with police.

She is also alleged to have described suicide bombings as "martyrdom operations".

Mr Burke said the Government should have the comments investigated and kick Ridley out of the country if necessary.

"If the quotes are accurate, her visa should be cancelled immediately," Mr Burke said.

He questioned how Ms Ridley could have passed the character test required for a visa.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Ridley had been allowed to enter Australia because there was nothing to suggest she was a security risk.

"In the case of Ms Ridley, she was judged not to be a threat to the national security of Australia," Mr Andrews said on ABC radio.

"There is a vast distinction between allowing somebody into Australia whose views you may not like, and somebody who is a threat to national security."

The immigration department decided this week not to allow another controversial figure, Sheik Bilal Philips, into Australia.

Sheik Philips, who was to be the keynote speaker at the conference, has been linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York.

 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21509985-1702,00.html


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(2)

Muslim group rejects visa ban on sheikh
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
ABC (Australia)
 http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200704/1889980.htm?melbourne

Kevin Andrews maintains the sheikh is a national security risk. (File photo)ABC TV

The Islamic community has questioned the Government's ban on Canadian Sheikh Bilal Philips, who was to speak at the first Australian Islamic Conference.

Sheikh Philips was invited to attend the Melbourne event over the Easter weekend but his visa application has been refused on security grounds.

The president of the Federation of Australian Muslim Students, Chaaban Omran, says the sheikh does not promote terrorism and the ban on him is unjustified.

"He has written a number of very good books to do with Islam about character et cetera ... and it just seems ludicrous that you ban an individual but you don't actually ban his books," Mr Omran said.

But Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews maintains the sheikh is a risk to national security.

"This gentleman has a long history in relation to support for extremist Islamic positions and the security authorities, based on that and other evidence that they have available to them, made the assessment."

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200704/1889980.htm?melbourne