NEWS: Australian Islamic Bookshop Allegedly Selling Hate Literature

A Sydney Islamic bookstore has been accused of selling literature that incites racial hatred and Jihad amongst readers. The books are believed to discuss the effectivness of suicide bombings and a Melbourne bookstore is under investigation for accusations of also selling similiar "Hate Literature". Complaints by members of the public have started New SOuth Wales police on an investigation to see whether charges can be laid over the allegations. A spokesman for the Supreme Islamic Council of New South Wales has stated that for people to discuss and talk about what they are feeling is a good thing and at least they are venting their feelings.



I feel that this is an important issue not for the particular books on sale at present in the bookshop but more for the following line by Australian police

New South Wales police have set up a task force to investigate if it is possible to prosecute people who write, publish or sell material that incites terrorism.

The NSW Opposition's spokesman for police, Michael Gallacher, says the Government should taken action under counter-terrorism legislation to remove any material from the community that incites violence.

I see the grounds for misuse of this possibility. What if things change and the government gets "out of control" as such, then anybody writing blogs, articles or any literature against the "government" of the day can be stopped in their tracks.

Who decides what is inciting violence?

It seems to me in a lot of ways our rights and freedoms are being squeezed away to become good little citizens who do what they are told.

From an Islamic perspective, these books may indeed incite Jihad to certain readers but once again freedom of speech should be treasured above all else. To prosecute will just incite more anger against our so called western regime.

What about the Christian church and the bible, some parts incite the same racial tension. Society no longer has the freedom to be themselves and sooner or later the chains of hatred will break causing big changes and more hatred running rampart through society.

The Bali bombings, Corby unjustly imprisoned by a Muslim nation, the Woods kidnapping, the "anthrax" envelopes at the Indonesian embassy, the recent raids on "terrorist cells", and now the consideration of laws to prosecute unsanctioned literature and thought. I wonder if the new laws they're considering will be expanded to include hate speech and calls for war against Muslim nations. Somehow I doubt it.

How long, I wonder, before John Howard is speaking about "tehrrsts" and "nukular weapons" with a Texan drawl? Get ready to have your civil liberties incrementally taken away, Australia. And if the past is any indication, Australians will whine for a bit and then simply roll over and take it. As long as the VB is flowing, everyone's happy, right?

Recently Bush and Howard met up and talked about the future of Australia and America together.
How long until Australia gets bombed is anyones guess, but I feel that it will be very soon.

what a nonsense talking here ,everybody know already the peoples(LE RESISTANCES BOMBER) never hate any citizen of any country,what they really hate is BRITISH an USA FORIEGN POLICIES .
WE ALL KNOW THAT
come on your are lying to everybody about that
what an evil propaganda u make

Another bookstore in Melbourne, run by the country's most fundamentalist cleric, was yesterday selling a book calling for Christians to be trampled underfoot.

"It is either Islam or death," says the book, which is sold from the bookshop attached to the Brunswick prayer room where Sheik Mohammed Omran delivers his fiery sermons.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said officers would review the literature sold in Sydney - including one book filled with vitriol against the Australian way of life - to determine if anti-terrorism laws had been breached.

Mr Ruddock said one Australian had already been charged with collecting or making documents likely to facilitate a terrorist act.

news.com.au
Bilal Khazal

Sanc'.

'Deport the clerics of hate'

The country's highest-profile Islamic leader has called for the deportation of clerics who preach violence, as part of a push to rid Australia of the "disease" of fundamentalism.

Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly compared the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in Australia to AIDS, and said he and other moderate clerics across the country must take firm steps to win the hearts and minds of impressionable young Muslims.
"They are a disease like AIDS and you can't cure them with Panadol," Sheik Hilaly said of radical clerics.

In some of the strongest public comments yet by a senior Islamic figure in Australia, Sheik Hilaly also told The Australian the sale of Islamic literature preaching hatred or violence should be banned.

But the call was flatly rejected yesterday by Australia's most senior fundamentalist Islamic cleric, Sheik Mohammed Omran.

"Australia is a free country and should allow all books to be sold here," Sheik Omran said. He claimed there were no Islamic clerics in Australia guilty of inciting hatred.

Full Article

I wonder...is this general censorship or religious profiling censorship?

I could go to a second hand bookshop, of which there are plenty in Melbourne and buy a copy of
mein kampf within half an hour.

Sanc'.

I could go to a second hand bookshop, of which there are plenty in Melbourne and buy a copy of mein kampf within half an hour.

I hate to make simply a cheerleader post, but...

Excellent point, Sanc.

I do not agree with someone selling "hate literature," but quite frankly, if the owner is paying his store rent and business taxes, what is the issue here?

You can go online and read all the "hate literature" you can swallow, FREE. Are the authorities [ie: government or state] doing anything about them [internet sites] and those who seek to spread and peddle the "hate" message and literature ware?

If there was a porno shop right next to this guy selling the "hate literature," would the government be seeking to shut them down too? Would those clerics and preachers be seeking to do likewise?

If the man or whomever wants to peddle "hate literature" then let him. You or anyone certainly do not have to buy any of it, do you? Those who seek such literature will simply go somewhere else to get such literature if this shop or bookstore is shutdown.




seekerof

[edit on 19-7-2005 by Seekerof]

An inquiry into whether books sold in an Islamic bookshop in Sydney contravene terrorism laws may prove fruitless because federal and state laws are not strong enough to mount a prosecution.

The Australian Federal Police and their New South Wales counterparts are investigating reports that some bookshops in Sydney are selling material likely to facilitate terrorist acts, an offence under the criminal code.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has conceded the laws may have to be changed if the investigation finds the books are not illegal.

Some of the literature discusses suicide bombings, compares westernisation to a malignant growth, describes Australia as a land of discrimination, victimisation, drugs, prostitution and gambling and asks: "For how long will the believing youths be held back and restrained from jihad?"

update here ABC News