Extremist group trades critisicm

Get The AJN Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

EXTREME Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has hit back at Attorney-General Robert McClelland (pictured) after he condemned violent extremism.

The group, which held its 2011 conference in Sydney last Sunday, claimed more than a thousand people attended.

The theme was the recent uprisings across the Arab world and how these developments affect the group’s stated goal to see a global Islamic caliphate.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in several western and Arab countries, but not in Australia, has also previously called to “eliminate the Jewish entity [Israel] from its roots” and came under fire from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott this year for inciting violence against Jews.
McClelland, who this week announced the recipients of Government grants designed to tackle violent extremism, said any group or individual promoting violence against Australians should be condemned.

“The Government is firmly of the view that all members of our community have an obligation to prevent the promotion of violent or extremist views,” the Attorney-General said.
“Community leaders need to ensure they are doing all they can to promote a tolerant and inclusive society.”

In retort, Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesperson Uthman Badar said: “Hollow rhetoric against violence and extremism is a bit rich coming from the Attorney-General, whose government is complicit in foreign occupations that kill, maim and destroy.

“The Attorney-General’s idea of tolerance obviously does not extend to Muslims and the Muslim world, where western foreign policy has been, and continues to be, extremely intrusive, exploitative and intolerant.”

Badar was also highly critical of Australia’s role in the Middle East.
On its website, Hizb ut-Tahrir described Jews as “those upon whom Allah has decreed contemptibility and lowliness … You are also witnessing how those filthy Jews, the killers of the Prophets, behave.”

GARETH NARUNSKY