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| 'Anti-Terror' raids, arrests, and media drama conveniently follow Rudd plans to upgrade terror laws |
 In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The MercifulSydney, Australia, 5th August 2009 - 400 police executed a large scale 'counter-terrorism' operation yesterday raiding many Muslim homes at dawn and arresting five men on allegations of planning to attack a military base in Sydney. This operation and its media leakage came soon after the Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced the Rudd Government's intent to 'reform' the anti-terror laws. Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, says in this regard, "We unreservedly condemn the drama and sensationalism of this operation in what has effectively started the public media trial of innocent individuals before the commencement of any judicial trial. A media trial which has begun with a guilty verdict, graciously leaving it to the accused to establish their innocence." "Worse still is the Rudd Government?s determination to follow in the Howardian tradition by upgrading the already draconian anti-terror laws - laws whose essential purpose is to repress the Muslims in Australia through fear and intimidation. This is proof once again that when it comes to demonising and suppressing the Muslim community both sides of politics are in consensus. Thus we see the Attorney-General publicly stating that any terrorist attack would bring a backlash against the Muslim community. This is a highly irresponsible statement of the obvious, coming from a politician, which not only blames an entire community for the actions of a few, but also implicitly justifies such a backlash in the minds of those inclined to such." "We all hope that the authorities are doing their job in warding off harm from the people of Australia. Yet with the likes of children overboard, Izhar al-Haque, Zac Mallah, Dr. Haneef, and the lie that was Iraq, people can be excused for doubting the official version of events in the current operation. With a beginning more than 6 months ago, with media leakages a week before the operation, with an original allegation of an army base being stormed with automatic weapons followed by an admission of no evidence 'at this stage' that the alleged had any access to automatic weapons, and with claims nevertheless of an 'imminent' attack where imminent could mean within days, within weeks or within months at one and the same time, it does read somewhat like a Spielberg script." "The Australian Government should stop chasing its tail in dealing only with the symptoms of the terror problem, and that too in a way that leaves a lot to be desired. If they are serious about stopping terrorism they need to get real and acknowledge the root causes of the Muslim grievance, namely, Western imperial adventures against Islam and the Muslims. One cannot continue to be a party to the invasion, occupation and political suppression of others and then expect them to step into line by threat of force. One cannot continue to start fires in lands far away and then expect to be safe from the flares. It is ironic indeed that Mr McClelland's irresistible logic about reactions to aggressions seemingly applies one way but not the other." Ends. For further information, questions or comments, please contact Uthman Badar, Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, on media@hizb-australi a.org or 0438 000 465. Alternatively, further information is available on our website: www.hizb-australia. org. Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia 5th August 2009 |
Comments (2) 
Thanks for your comment.
Our position, indeed the Islamic position, on the targetting of innocent non-combatant civilians is very clear, and we have articulated this publically on many occasions. Islam does not allow, as a general rule, non-combatants to be targetted even in a state of actual war. So yes we do condemn any act in contravention of this Islamic rule.
However at times one needs to be careful in comdemning because the reality of Western governments is that they use this condemnation to further their own ends. Thus the worldwide condemnation of 9/11 was used to build a false case to go to war in Afghanistan. Similar was the lie of Iraq. More generally condemnation is used to further the so-called War on Terror in all its many facets.
Furthermore, what must be more important to all concerned people is how to stop terrorism. This requires us to diagnose the root causes, such that they may be dealt with. This is the question which Western governments continue to ignore because they are not willing to stop the exploitative foreign policy with respect to the Muslim world. They are not willing to stop being allies with dictators like Mubarak and King Abdullah. They are not willing to stop siding with Israel time and again. They are not willing to remove their military bases from Muslim lands..etc etc.
Hence we should be holding these governments to account.
But when the government failed to stop 'terrorist attacks' killing civilians you never condemned the terrorist Muslims.