Sometimes, exposing Australian media is like shooting fish in a barrel. Michael Brull takes up the story.
Hardly a day goes by in Australia without some egregious media attack on Muslims and Islam. The fact that Today Tonight in Adelaide featured yet another bigoted report on Muslims isn’t cause for surprise for anyone familiar with its trashy standards of reporting. Yet the fun part about this story is how completely their “reporting” has been blown out of the water by One Path Network.
The Today Tonight Adelaide story was appropriately enough shared on the page of “Australia – ‘Love it, or Leave’. They appreciated the message, and explained:
“The Secret plan for a Muslim state in Australia, in their own words !!!
MUST WATCH & Share!!..
Here is whats coming, if we don’t stop it NOW !!!
The shocking secret plan for a Muslim state in Australia, funded by taxpayers and foreign fanatics. David Richardson reports.”
Comments elicited include “Deport this scum now”. Or “Like a cancer cells it can spread unless you go through chemotherapy or radiation or surgical removal. They may be small in number but they can grow exponentially. Australia right now is in level 2 cancer. Pin hole surgery should be able to remove the cancerous tumor.”
The story was based primarily around three figures, supposedly representing the important insight of Muslims concerned about Muslims. Two of them were presented as Muslim clerics. One was Mostafa Rachid. The other was Mohammed Tawhidi. And the third figure was Jamal Daoud, presented as a “Sunni community leader”. Daoud’s is called a “leader” presumably on the basis that the TV presenter liked what he was told by Daoud.
The star of the show was Tawhidi, who used his supposed status as a Muslim religious scholar to attack Muslims and Islam. The show opened with him saying that, “When I am worried about what’s happening and what I see from my community and my religion, trust me that there’s something that’s going on.”
The TV presenter, David Richardson responded: “A stunning admission from the Imam of Peace”. He went on to identify Tawhidi as the President of the Islamic Association of South Australia, Imam Tawhidi.
Tawhidi made numerous inflammatory statements. He claims there was a plan to increase the population of Muslims in Australia, to buy real estate, and give the streets Islamic names. And those Islamic names would be in memory of those who “massacred and killed people”. And then they’ll ban drinking and anything “un-Islamic”, it’ll be a small Islamic country within Sydney. He also claimed that ISIS hides among refugees fleeing to Europe, some of them disguised as women. Presumably he is opposed to Western countries accepting Muslim refugees.
The journalist was impressed by this rendition, and his “stark warning of a plan to alter Australia forever, to establish a caliphate here right under our noses”. Tawhidi confirmed this theory, saying that the alleged fact that a Muslim imam is worried (him), shows that something must be done.
Tawhidi called for governments to stop the building of mosques and Islamic community centres, and for a government body to be established to investigate everything in relation to the Muslim community.
In response, the online Muslim magazine One Path Network issued a video response to the report, along with a short written summary. Both are utterly devastating refutations of Today Tonight’s report. They showed that the two supposed Muslim scholars have something like zero credibility. As for Tawhidi:
“Little is known about Mr Tawhidi, who claims to be a “Muslim leader” in South Australia. His centre named the “Islamic Association of South Australia” was only set up last year and there is little to no information available about the centre and its attendees.
When One Path Network approached the Australian National Imams Council, ANIC, for comment on the above individual, they stated that Mr Tawhidi was “not recognised as an Imam, Sheikh or Muslim leader”. ANIC is the official representative body of all Imams across Australia and has over 250 members.
The Imams Council of South Australia was also approached for a public comment and they too stated that ” he was not recognised” and “not part of the Islamic leadership in South Australia”.”
And Rachid, the supposed scholar brought on to claim that alcohol and pork are halal? One Path Network reports:
“The other “Imam” used in the segment is known as Mustafa Rashed, and is a known imposter and fraud. He has previously claimed to be the Mufti of Australia, and was exposed by ANIC in 2014 for his fraudulent remarks. He has no known credentials in Islamic Studies and neither does he have a centre in Australia or a following.”
This was followed by a media release by ANIC, the Australian National Imams Council, featured in the video report by One Path. It observed that Tawhidi is “not a recognised Imam, Sheikh or Muslim leader”. The video report, fronted by Malaz Majanni, noted that “Imams for Peace” seems to consist entirely of Tawhidi.
We may find more of the Tawhidi saga unravelling in time. He has now locked his twitter page, so his tweets can no longer be publicly viewed. Perhaps he’s worried about what people who do some digging might find? As for Today Tonight, it hardly seems worthwhile going through the motions of criticising the trashiest “news” program in Australia. No-one expects any of its staff to develop anything like journalist standards, or the miracle it would take for it to become less racist. On the bright side, this episode can stand as a useful illustration of Today Tonight’s racist credulity.
That said, the excellent journalistic work of One Path Network deserves recognition and praise. Their Facebook page can be followed here.
Donate To New Matilda
New Matilda is a small, independent media outlet. We survive through reader contributions, and never losing a lawsuit. If you got something from this article, giving something back helps us to continue speaking truth to power. Every little bit counts.
