1. 21/03/2016 2:38 pmFringe groups sully image of Muslim world
Page 1 of 2http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fringe-groups-sully-image-of-muslim-world-20120918-264i8.html
'Australian Muslims face some difficult challenges and deserve our support.' Photo: Adam McLean
THE past week has been a difficult time for Australian Muslims. The anniversary of the September 11 attacks brings up troubling memories for
many people, but for Australian Muslims there is the added layer of dealing with the issue of Islam and terrorism and all of the suspicion and
questioning that goes with that.
This was compounded last week with the news of another round of counterterrorism raids on the homes of Muslim families in Melbourne.
As public attention turned to the previously unknown fringe group, the Al-Furqan Centre for Islamic Information in Springvale, we were confronted
again with the unpleasant, but scarcely remarkable, reality that the Muslim community, like most communities, has a radical fringe.
This reality was confirmed with violent protests in Sydney at the weekend in response to the YouTube film trailer for the deliberately antagonistic,
low-budget film The innocence of Muslims.
The shadowy figures behind this film (who include a small-time fraudster, a former producer of pornographic films, and Christian fundamentalists
driven by a deep prejudice against Islam) appeared to have been deliberately seeking to provoke an angry response from Muslims around the
world. By placing the film trailer on YouTube, the makers were engaging in a form of online trolling, seeking an angry reaction that would go viral
online and erupt in the real world.
What happened in Sydney at the weekend is shocking and horrible. As in many other cities around the world, a small number of Muslims sought
to make a public protest about the film. In their midst was an even smaller number of much more belligerent figures who sought to turn the
opportunity of public protest into an occasion for violent confrontation.
Some of those at the heart of this belligerent clique have a history of such confrontations. Others, such as the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir
Australia, seize such moments to be as provocative as possible just short of breaking the law. Their ''Muslims Rise'' conference in Bankstown at
the weekend garnered them the attention that they were seeking.
So what does this mean for Australian Muslims and for Australians in general? Just how well integrated are Australian Muslims and how great is
the support within the community for extremist views?
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A small, radical element focuses outside attention in the worst way.
Greg Barton
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Fringe groups sully image of Muslim world
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2. 21/03/2016 2:38 pmFringe groups sully image of Muslim world
Page 2 of 2http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fringe-groups-sully-image-of-muslim-world-20120918-264i8.html
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The facts are relatively clear, but that doesn't mean that they are widely understood. About 480,000 Australians identify as Muslim, with 80 per
cent living in Melbourne and Sydney. As we have been reminded, the community does have a radical fringe. The question is, how large is this
fringe and what sort of relationship does it have with the mainstream majority?
The Al-Furqan centre in Springvale involves several dozen people, mostly young men, who meet regularly at its rented shop-front premises. It has
been shunned by the community from which it split, and its radical position is regarded as completely unacceptable.
Similarly, the Hizb ut-Tahrir protesters at the heart of the violent clashes in Sydney belong to a very small group of people - several hundred at the
core - that thrive on sparking media outrage and solicit the criticism of the wider Muslim community.
This group is widely regarded as an embarrassment to mainstream Muslims and is in no way representative of them.
It is worth remembering here - because we too readily forget - that all of the counterterrorism investigations about Islamist extremists in Australia
have begun with the assistance of Islamic leaders and Muslim community figures, and have relied upon their ongoing support. This was true of
operation Pendennis in 2005, operation Neath in 2009 and the operation behind last week's raids. It is because community leaders speak up
when they have concerns, and because they have sound relationships with police and other authorities, that we have been able to nip in the bud
all of the nascent threats of this kind to Australian society.
Moreover, Muslim community leaders are working hard alongside the police and corrections officials to engage with those who have experienced
trouble and to seek to rehabilitate them, while also working with those at risk.
It is hard to know what more we could ask for. In an ideal world, we wouldn't need police and we certainly wouldn't need counterterrorism
operations.
But in the world in which we live these things are necessary and likely will remain so.
What we need to understand is that in our corner of the world the situation is better when it comes to relations with the communities concerned,
and is more robust and innately healthy, than it is almost anywhere else.
We are not immune as a society from the ills that trouble our global community but, collectively, we are doing a good job of addressing them.
Australian Muslims are at the forefront of this and are dealing with problems as they arise. They face some difficult challenges and they deserve
our support.
Greg Barton is the Herb Feith research professor for the study of Indonesia at Monash University. He is acting director at the Centre for
Islam in the Modern World and a lead researcher at the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash.
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