Thursday, 17 May 2012
Solving the Arab-Israeli conflict would eliminate the “violent extremism problem” in Australia, a top official said on Thursday in response to reports that some of Melbourne’s suburbs had been identified as potential terrorist hot spots.
“Things happening in their countries of birth obviously have an impact on them here,” Attorney-General’s Department senior official Jamie Lowe told a federal multicultural inquiry, the Herald Sun reported.
Although Lowe said that Middle East peace would be the answer, the official said the “comment was tongue-in-cheek because Australia was powerless to solve the crisis,” but her department had passed it on to the Foreign Affairs Department as being of serious concern, the newspaper reported.
“Things happening in their countries of birth obviously have an impact on them here,” Attorney-General’s Department senior official Jamie Lowe told a federal multicultural inquiry, the Herald Sun reported.
Although Lowe said that Middle East peace would be the answer, the official said the “comment was tongue-in-cheek because Australia was powerless to solve the crisis,” but her department had passed it on to the Foreign Affairs Department as being of serious concern, the newspaper reported.
The suggestion is that Islamic extremism is rooted within political tensions and open hostilities between the Arab peoples and the Jewish community of the Middle East. The roots of the modern Arab–Israeli conflict lie in the rise of “Zionism” and Arab Nationalism towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The newspaper had previously revealed Muslim communities in Australia were increasingly being put under surveillance by security agencies.
Locals have said that such surveillance “stigmatised and isolated communities,” the newspaper stated.
“It just reinforces the notion that Muslims are terrorists or a threat to wider society and they need to be watched so they can be controlled,” Muslim Australian Mohamed Elrafihi told the Herald Sun.
But an Attorney-General spokesman insisted geographic areas were not the focus for counter-terrorism activities, adding that Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs formed a “vibrant community,” the newspaper stated.
The newspaper had previously revealed Muslim communities in Australia were increasingly being put under surveillance by security agencies.
Locals have said that such surveillance “stigmatised and isolated communities,” the newspaper stated.
“It just reinforces the notion that Muslims are terrorists or a threat to wider society and they need to be watched so they can be controlled,” Muslim Australian Mohamed Elrafihi told the Herald Sun.
But an Attorney-General spokesman insisted geographic areas were not the focus for counter-terrorism activities, adding that Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs formed a “vibrant community,” the newspaper stated.
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