terrorism
12 Aug 2009
Expect More Home-Grown Terrorism
The outburst of a Melbourne terror suspect in court said what many Australian Muslims feel — but our Government refuses to see the warning signs, writes Taimor Hazou
An outburst in court by accused terrorist Wissam Mahmoud Fattal has linked the issue of fanatical terrorism to the situations in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.No doubt Fattal's words will be dismissed by the Government as an angry speech from a thwarted would-be terrorist. That is a mistake. We need to take a close look at the way our government responds to these and similar sentiments and ask if they are going to produce the results we want.
The reality is that many people in the Arab and Muslim communities, indeed the majority of them, completely agree with at least part of Fattal's views.
Fattal's comments have helped to consolidate his "courageous" image among those few who are inclined to act on the widespread feelings of desperation and guilt that go with the disempowering spectacle of watching innocent Arabs and Muslims die on the news every day.
While most Muslim and Arab Aussies are relieved at the thought that criminal acts may have been prevented, many are also privately cheering Fattal's ability to give voice to an issue that is seen to be ignored, dismissed and actively contested by Members of Parliament, public servants, journalists, police officers and judges.
Saying this openly is not easy, but it is a reality that does require some honest acknowledgement, and the sooner we understand it the better.
It is a hard issue to confront, and though it is a simplistic typification (that can and does require contention) much Muslim extremism is fuelled by cultural attitudes adjoining justice, or the lack of it, for the suffering of compatriots and coreligionists.
A case in point is the impunity with which Israel conducted its disproportionate destruction of Gaza and the consequent estimated deaths of 1400 Arabs in comparison to 13 Israelis. The reality is that the spirit of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is a powerful force in both Israeli and Arab culture, and while most Australians don't see the relevance, Arab and Muslim Aussies have no trouble doing the sums on these numbers.
For many these issues are disconnected, and for them it seems a stretch to blame a foreign injustice for "home-grown terrorism". In some ways that's true — there is a big gap between outrage and action, but what makes this gap easy to cross is the one-eyed response of government and its attempt to avoid the issue altogether.
A number of examples from Melbourne illustrate this very real issue.
One obvious one is the lack of attendance by Victorian parliamentarians at any event associated with Al-Nakba, the annual Palestinian day of remembrance for the events of 1948 in which they were dispossessed of their homes by the Israeli state. While celebrations of Israeli Independence Day are annual events for politicians, even the slightest acknowledgement of Arab suffering or injustice is seen as politically out of bounds.
The irony of course is that most Arabs and Muslims, like victims of crime generally, are merely seeking an acknowledgment of their suffering.
Governments cannot continue to ignore this very real aspect to the roots of terrorism, defining it simply as a set of security issues with purely security-type responses.
Another problem is the common attitude that sees community engagement and strengthening as no more complex than simply paying community liaison officers to attend community meetings.
For example, the AFL with the full support of the Victorian Government and the Victorian Multicultural Commission supported the creation of a "Peace Team" of Israeli and Palestinian players to compete at the AFL International Cup. However, when the Palestinian community was engaged in the initiative, not a single one of their issues was taken on board by the project.
Of these the crucial aspect that was ignored was community concern that the initiative would be about "kudos" for the AFL and those involved, with little acknowledgement of the situation faced by Palestinians.
In fact many in the Palestinian community, myself included, had to sit and watch promos for the initiative that included footage of bus bombings and Israeli causalities with not a single mention of Palestinian suffering. This was despite explicit assurances from the AFL that they understood the importance of not ignoring the key issue of Arab suffering and community strengthening in the AFL's pursuit of public acclaim.
In the end, not a single aspect of the so-called community engagement program eventuated. Meetings for the Palestinian players and the community were promptly forgotten, along with public talks on the reality of Palestinian life. Promises of star AFL athletes in attendance at halal sausage sizzles at community events and schools were never honoured.
This occurred despite clearly articulated warnings from the community that this one step forward for "peace" would be two steps backward for reconciliation if community engagement was not taken seriously.
Just as superficial were the nationwide community consultations managed by Andrew Robb for the Howard government in 2005–2006 as part of its "Muslim community engagement". Participants were actually told not to discuss or raise foreign affairs-type issues and those who did were immediately chastised.
Tragically, most of the individuals involved in these discussions and initiatives actually do have a sophisticated understanding and acceptance of all these issues. The missing element is an honest political motivation to deal with them promptly or properly, addressing the real issues underlying the injustices felt by many inside (and outside) the Muslim community.
What these and other examples illustrate is the chronic inability of Australian governments and their public servants to engage with people's legitimate concerns, hoping those concerns can be rinsed away with the help of superficial and half-hearted attempts at community engagement with Arab and Muslim youth.
While this situation continues, it will be no surprise if our "efforts" to fight home-grown terrorism continue to fail.
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"What these and other examples illustrate is the chronic inability of Australian governments and their public servants to engage with people’s legitimate concerns"
Yep- aussies delight in mediocrity.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigidea/stories/s1323906.htm
or just ask your local Aboriginal community.
We are missing leaders , people who are willing to help their group within society state a position and stand by it despite the petty vilification our media delights in.
Thanks for this piece which provides some needed local information backing up a view which clearly has much more merit than it has exposure in the mainstream press, though two films I saw at MIFF last week - Defamation, and Young Freud in Gaza - make similar cases.
It’s a worry that the report on which you rely for Fattal’s remarks calls them "an extraordinary outburst" without any attempt to explain what an ordinary outburst would be like, and just about all the comments to it are ignorant racist rants ignoring any question of the presumption of innocence.
This is such a good article Taimor Hazou - thank you for saying with brevity and calm the thoughts of many in the community. I was a Queensland public servant for many years - I know from experience that ‘community engagement’ was as superficial and cynical as you describe.
This article fails to explain many things. Firstly, my understanding is that many Australian muslims have come here as refugees from political violence perpetrated by Muslim governments against their own citizens. And once here they presumably identify as Australians, rather than as Palestinians or Somalis.
So why would Fattal refer to "your government" when this is actually his government? And if it is not his government, then why has he not returned back to the country that he identifies with?
Secondly, has Taimor considered that Australian politicians may refuse to attend Al-Nakba days not because they refuse to recognize Palestinian/muslim suffering, but rather because these days tend to be structured round a particular narrative of the 1947-48 war which places all the blame on Israel, and ignores the fact that the Palestinians lost a conflict that they had played a major role in starting.
I personally as an Australian Jew am quite happy to acknowledge the injustice involved in the Al-Nakba on humanitarian grounds, but not as part of a political agenda that ignores the complex context in which the tragic exodus occurred.
Thirdly, even if we accept that many Australiam muslims have had close relatives or friends killed in Gaza or Iraq, I still fail to see why they would even in part think that blowing up innocent Australian civilians was a legitimate response.
Again this is surely a debate between Australians of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and Muslims have as much right as anyone to vote in Australian elections, and elect governments which share their views on foreign policy.
What I most dislike about this article, unless I’ve seriously misread it, is the implicit assumption of guilt it appears to make in relation to the recent arrests of a few Somalians in Melbourne.
The statement made in court by one of the arrested men is not an admission of guilt. It’s an expression of anger, that’s all. Any young man, untutored in the pomposity of Anglo-Saxon justice, might well make similar statements if hauled out of bed c.5am in the morning by a bunch of armed maniacs and held on trumped-up anti-Terrorism charges.
It is possible that the arrested men did have serious intentions of carrying out a terrorist act. But many things are possible. Real evidence is required to convict them… at least, that the way it used to be the case until the blizzard of so-called ‘anti-Terrorism laws’ that have changed so many goal posts it’s hard to know what’s what any more.
The highest priority in this case should be that justice is done and seen to be done. Many similarly noisy arrests were followed by court cases that fizzled out for lack of hard evidence. Many never came to court - remember Dr Haneef?
In recent years, Australia (like other ‘western’ countries) has sported an enormous ‘anti-Terrorism’ industry, public and private. We need to be alert to the fact that people already involved in this industry have very strong incentives to create phony terrorism scares to keep the Terror boom going.
We also need to be cognizant of the fact that false-flag operations can and do occur. If anyone doubts this, check out the Lavon Affair in the 1950s. The surviving perpetrators of those bombing atrocities were actually given awards by the Israeli President a few years ago.
Having said all of that, I don’t dispute the points made by the author about the anti-Muslim bias in contemporary popular discourse in Australia and in official government attitudes. I agree the bias exists . It outrages me.
But that’s a separate issue. It’s easy to understand why young Muslims might be angry in Australia. I’m angry myself about what Australia has been doing to Muslim societies such as Afghanistan. I’m not even a Muslim. To be angry doesn’t make me a ‘terrorist’. It doesn’t make this young man a ‘terrorist’ either.
Wissam Mahmoud Fattal and his co-accused are entitled to equal treatment under the law. Last time I checked, that includes the presumption of innocence.
Of course the issues are linked but that does not mean that any act of violence can be condoned. The Australian Government’s participation by omission or commission, in violence against Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians is to be condemned utterly, but so too must any violent protest against our Government’s participation.
Protest should always be peaceful, particularly when carried out by people who live in freedom and safety. One can understand the desperation of the Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians who are murdered and maimed as part of a policy to support occupation, colonisation (both literal and economic) or to prop up puppet governments but the key word is understand… violence is never to be condoned despite the mitigating factors for those living under occupation or colonisation. But it is crucial to remember that there is no difference between violence used by our government and its allies to ‘achieve its ends’ and violence used by groups trying to stop them from ‘achieving their ends.’ Except of course that the former has no mitigating factors to excuse its behaviour and the latter do.
As this article points out, it is indeed foolish for the Australian Government to try to separate these issues but it is equally foolish for people living in Australia to think they can ‘help’ through anything other than peaceful protest. Then again, the so-called terrorists in this instance have yet to be convicted in any court of law and like so many similar cases elsewhere, in the UK in particular, that conviction may never come to pass.
Paranoia and propaganda are ever-present factors in these situations.
Immigration is a transaction—a deal between two parties with obligations on both sides. The country of destination agrees to accept the immigrant, grant him certain rights and benefits, offer him a way to full citizenship, perhaps allow him to send for some family members once other conditions are met.
The immigrant agrees to many things. It is, after all, a new country. If a country with a fair portion of its population being newcomers is to survive and prosper, the immigrant must leave the hatreds and grievances of the old country behind not carry them in his baggage to act them out on a new stage.
In answer, I am also a Jewish Australian.
"it will be no surprise if our efforts to fight home grown terrorism continue to fail".
By "our" Taimor, do you mean our as in Australia’s or our as in the Palestinian diaspora.
I personally would hope that our Palestinian diaspora has as much stake in preventing attacks on Australian soil as our Jewish diaspora do.
If not, why not??
Oli
(This comment has been edited)
dylan6: you said it mate, how can anyone not see how provocative it was for Palestinians not to flee from their homes in the 40s when it was so clear that Europeans wanted their land. It is totally their own fault for waiting around to be slaughtered by what was so clearly superior firepower. The nerve of those people is beyond comprehension! We can’t go on blaming the victors when they have so clearly won.
"What these and other examples illustrate is the chronic inability of Australian governments and their public servants to engage with people’s legitimate concerns, hoping those concerns can be rinsed away with the help of superficial and half-hearted attempts at community engagement with Arab and Muslim youth."
Taimor,
These are simple people. A community event is about involvement and participation in the "Australian Community" . Wanting to discuss International Affairs and problems would not be expected nor welcome.
Until these people understand that Human Rights are universal the West will appear as cowardly hypocrits to everyone else.
So get on the bandwagon for Australia to have a Charter of Rights added to the Federal Constitution. Other Aussies can then feel like citizens of the civilized world.
This is a democracy here. Every group thinks it is misunderstood by the government and bureaucracy (they are probably right) and negotiates accordingly. Not every group hatches murderous plots and/or tacitly supports the opinions underpinning those plots.
(This comment has been edited)
reply to Syd Walker:
I totally agree with much of what you say Syd. A rule of thumb of mine is not to engage in debates on articles I have written. In this case I make an exception.
The article (limited by the medium of text and copy space) does actually state "accused terrorist." Many issues exist with what constitutes ‘trial by media’ which is a separate article all together and one, I and others have tackled in the past.
There is and we should all be reinforcing the right to a fair trial and the
"presumption of innocence."
Efforts to stop terrorism it seems have not failed, as this latest alleged potential terrorism attack has now been allegedly thwarted by Australian security forces.
And the linking of fanatical Muslim terrorism with Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan is nothing new, afterall isn’t that one of the rational explanations the West give for being there!
However, to suggest that Israelis, Palestinians and other Arabs still use the Old Testament jargon of an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, is absolute nonsense and an insult to the modern democratic nation of Israel and all other modern Arab nations.
(This comment has been edited to keep it on topic.)
The irony of course is that in ‘multicultural’ Australia we encouraged people to ‘hold onto’ their culture which of course meant their country. But, as this article shows, we are selective about what should be ‘held.’ Human beings don’t work that way. In truth, multiculturalism was a stupid idea because immigrants need to be encouraged to let go of the old country in order to embrace the new. That is a process.
People will always care about the land of their birth but they will care more and care for longer when they do not feel ‘accepted’ or settled in their new homeland. The old way of expected assimilation meant most had no choice but to spend more time embracing the new than clinging to the old. But in this day and age we have created a ‘split mind’ which wants total acceptance of Australia while retaining allegiance to the land of birth as part of being multicultural.
Of course that means the best and the worst. Great harm has been done and continues to be done in such a situation. Some of the diaspora Irish around the world funded, aided and abetted the bloody acts of the Irish resistance; some of the Jewish diaspora around the world funds, aids and abetts the bloody acts of Israeli occupation and colonisation; some of the Tamil diaspora around the world funds, aids and abetts the bloody acts of Tamil resistance…. and so it goes.
Why is it surprising that Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians and their Muslim supporters should seek to aid and abett ‘resistance’?
there is no condoning of violence… I merely make the point that support for ‘causes’ outside our borders is common to all and the less assimilated people are, the greater their support is likely to be.
I would add that religious affiliation will always fuel such movements. Support for the Irish cause was fuelled by Catholics and Protestants; support for the Israeli cause by Jews and Fundamentalist Christians; support for Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine by Muslims and when you add religion to the pot there will always be more passion than reason.
(This comment has been edited.)
I find the general premise a bit far fetched. If I sat down and talked to Mr Fattal and asked what would pacify his anger I suspect it would not be enough if a politician attended some Al-Nakba events. I suspect that it would require the return of Palestine to the Palestinian people. Mr Fattal might surprise me - who knows - but if I had to put money on it, that’s my hunch.
"For many these issues are disconnected, and for them it seems a stretch to blame a foreign injustice for "home-grown terrorism". In some ways that’s true — there is a big gap between outrage and action, but what makes this gap easy to cross is the one-eyed response of government and its attempt to avoid the issue altogether."
It’s still a huge gap regardless of what the Australian and Victorian government does. It’s not easy to cross, and I have no sympathy for those who do (and time will tell if it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Fattal has).
Thank you for the clarification Taimor.
While I can understand an author’s desire not be be too intrusive in debate that results from his/her writing, personally I think it’s a big plus if/when authors do respond to criticism. I wish it was the norm in New Matilda.
In this case, it has helped me understand - and respect - your position better.
Taimor makes many excellent points - as an AFL supporter who was was very excited by the prospect of a combined Israeli/Palestinian team playing in Australia I had been puzzled by the Palestinian community’s distancing itself from the event - now this is all very clear, at least to me.
As a member of the Australian Jewish community and an activist in the Australian Jewish Democratic Society I am currently actively involved in face-to-face dialogue with Palestinians and other members of the Mid East communities settled in Australia - including Jewish Israelis. What is disappointing was to discover that the "official representatives of the Victorian Jewish community - the Jewish Community Council - who were initially involved in the development of the dialogue - decided to withdraw in protest to the visit of a former Iranian President Mr Khatami, to a Latrobe University Dialogue function Jewish fury at visit by Iran leader.
Genuine community consultation and dialogue is about confronting those issues with which you are in disagreement and discussing these with civility and respect. It is clear that the Palestinian community feels (justifiably) very slighted by the disrespect they were shown by government and AFL officials. However there are many members of the Jewish community who indeed support the aspirations for genuine peaceful respectful dialogue and their letters of support can be read in the Australian Jewish News Letters
David Zyngier
Israel YES - Palestine YES
National Liberation means National Co-existence
Rosross, it’s true enough that some expat Irish engaged in open fundraising for the IRA. It happened in my own neighborhood of the Bronx, New York, USA. Worse still, the local politicians, not wanting to lose the Irish vote, often turned a blind eye to these blatant violations of the Neutrality Act and other federal laws.
But can you not see the essential difference between raising money in a country and carrying out acts of terrorism in that country?
As strongly as they hated what they saw as occupation of their homeland by an oppressor, Irish-Americans did not carry out attacks on U.K. targets in America. Nor do Jews attack Arab establishments, Croats Serb churches or social clubs, Hindus Sikh temples.
I was mildly amused by Dylan6 arguing above "This article fails to explain many things. Firstly, my understanding is that many Australian Muslims have come here as refugees from political violence perpetrated by Muslim governments against their own citizens. And once here they presumably identify as Australians, rather than as Palestinians or Somalis.
So why would Fattal refer to "your government" when this is actually his government? And if it is not his government, then why has he not returned back to the country that he identifies with? "
For many immigrants, the associations of their heritage is not easily forgotten nor dismissed, nor should it. I am sixth generation Australian with Irish and Scottish ancestors. I do not let that escape my identity since I didn’t just pop out of the ground.
The most pressing issue facing Palestinians is Israel and it should be quite clear that for most of the Jewish diaspora worldwide would as a matter of course, identify with and hold an allegiance with Israel, even if for the most part they have no identifiable connection with that land other than their religion. We don’t make the same demands on them to become singularly Australians.
Too easily, anti-Islamists argue that people should return to their country of origin if they cannot fit in to the culture of beach and football. What we need to be doing is making that transition more amenable for them since is we who we argue are supposed to be the civilized people in all this.
By continuing to treat the formation of the Israeli nation as a disaster and tragedy (Al Nakba) for the Palestinian people, misses the whole point of responsibility, dependence and reliance that the Palestinians place on the modern State of Israel.
And at the same time it denies their own capacity for renewal and emergence (despite Israel) as the modern State of Palestine.
The crisis now for all Muslims is in helping to identify a Palestinian cause (other than that linked to the total destruction of Israel) which by referring to it’s formation as Al Nakba, could be interpreted as a direct threat to the Jewish state.
If the original Palestinians had accepted the historical reality of the slow transformation of its old Palestinian territories, with many newly formed Jewish enclaves (the Jewish refugees caused by 20th century European anti-Semitism) amongst its predominantly Muslim controlled population, into the modern, democratic State of Palestine (with a Western system of rule) the need for a separate Jewish State of Israel may never have arisen.
nungman, I think, may not be in full possession of the facts.
Here’s one reference - many others could also be provided - that counters his rather staggering claim: "Nor do Jews attack Arab establishments…"
The Murder of Alec Odeh (and Subsequent Travesty of Justice)… see
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6176.shtml
Syd—
I condemn all acts of violence whatever the perpetrators may say is their motive.
Note also that JDL, a thoroughly defunct organization today, has never had any sanction in the American Jewish community, much to the exasperation of its tiny core of supporters. See the following from a 2005 article on one of their websites:
"Despite all the questions surrounding the case, the silence from the American Jewish community regarding Earl Krugel’s murder has been deafening. Other than the JDL itself, not one Jewish group has called for an investigation. And they reacted in exactly the same manner after Rubin’s death. The truth is that the American Jewish community has long been wary of associating themselves with the JDL…"
The activities of this contemptible gang nevertheless are distinguishable from the case of the Somali immigrants under arrest for terrorist conspiracy in Australia. The JDL consisted entirely of misguided but native-born Americans. There were no Israeli immigrants—no immigrants at all, so far as I know—among them. Perhaps in my original post I should have phrased it " {in America] **Israelis** do not attack Arab establishments".
In their heyday JDL was most active in harassing Soviet diplomats over restrictions on Jewish emigration. On the east coast they left Arab residents and establishments alone. [This did not obtain in reverse, Meir Kahane, head of the JDL, having been assassinated in New York by an Arab immigrant and member of the same group, it was later discovered, that would attempt to bring down the World Trade Center in **1992** by setting off a truck bomb of enormous size in a basement garage.]
Anyway, thank you for bringing up this single case, now twenty-four years old, as reported on the website **Electronic Intifada**
nungman
Ironically, you’ve cited one rare extract from a JDL website that i happen to agree with. I believe Irv Rubin’s death in prison should be thoroughly investigated. I don’t know if he was murdered or not, but his family and supporters are entitled to demand an investigation. Even murderers should receive humane treatment in custody. At least, that’s what I believe.
When you write "thank you for bringing up this single case…" you imply perhaps that there have been few if any others?
In fact, as you probably know, there is a very long history of terrorist/murderous activities carried out by some Jewish organizations, prior to and following the inception ot the State of Israel in 1948. After Israel’s formation, the State itself established a range of agencies that have carried out such activities ever since. The exact number of cases is debatable, but some of them such as the Lavon Affair in the 1950s or the botched attempt to murder Khalid Mishal in Amman in 1997 are beyond dispute.
Incidentally, Irv Rubin and his cronies carried out several attacks on historical revisionists (notably people who question the official narrative about World War Two).
Rubin may not have thought so, but they are people too. Rather a lot of them have been quite viciously attacked over the years; at least one was murdered. The JDL is not the only culprit, but it was busy in its heyday. This webpage tells some of that story, which the western mass media typically neglects. It’s a remarkable story, and I know of no parallel. Can you name a single Palestinian who has ever deliberately assaulted anyone else because they hold a different historical view about the Nakba? Can you name one Aboriginal who has plotted violence against anyone else because of their views about the Frontier during colonization?
The JDL’s intimidation of David Cole was a particularly sordid episode. I have yet to see a single mainstream Jewish organization condemn the brutal physical violence meted out to that courageous young Jewish man.
With regard to this recent case of the Somalis arrested in Melbourne, you say:
The activities of this contemptible gang nevertheless are distinguishable from the case of the Somali immigrants under arrest for terrorist conspiracy in Australia.
Once again, I’d argue the guilt of these men should not be prejudged. At this stage, we have no firm evidence they were members of any "contemptible gang". Let’s wait to see real evidence before regurgitating spin and hyperbole.
Remember what was alleged at the time about Dr Haneef? It was all dreadfully shocking - and all utterly spurious.