It’s time to face up to the Muslim fault line

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/its-time-to-face-up-to-the-muslim-fault-line/story-fni0cwl5-1227312382729

• Peter Kurti
• The Daily Telegraph
• April 21, 2015 12:00AM

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Peter Kurti.

WE were given a stark reminder on the weekend that our nation faces a growing threat to its security when Victorian police intercepted alleged plans by alleged Islamic State recruits to launch Anzac Day attacks.

All the targets of Saturday’s terror raids were young men who had allegedly embraced the ideology of Islamic State, which wants to restore the caliphate — a form of Islamic government — and establish the pre-eminence of Islam.

Green-Left activists like to explain away Islamic assertiveness by talking about the grievances and alienation allegedly experienced by young Muslim men. Doing so turns Australian Muslims into victims. But instead of being victims, the tiny minority of Australian Muslims who want to attack this country believe there is a better system of religion, politics and law that needs to be imposed here.

What political scientist Samuel Huntington once described as a ‘‘fault line’’ is opening in our society and it’s one that we can’t afford to ignore. Huntington said fault line conflicts can occur between groups with commitments to different civilisations. He maintained they were particularly prevalent between Muslims and non-Muslims.

According to the 2011 Census, there are about 476,000 Muslims in Australia — 2.2 per cent of the population. Almost half were born here. The overwhelming majority of them are peace-loving people who are proud Aussies.

Furthermore, Australians are generally tolerant of different religions. The Scanlon Foundation’s 2014 social cohesion report found that 84 per cent of us think multiculturalism has been good for Australia.
But the limits of this tolerance can soon be reached if any particular religion threatens the stability of the social compact.

Today that compact is under threat from a tiny minority of Muslims.

Politicians and commentators are quick to brand Islamic State as a ‘‘death cult’’ and a ‘‘lunatic fringe’’. But IS objectives are shared by many Muslims who don’t condone IS brutality.

For example, many Australian Muslims support Hizb ut-Tahrir, which describes itself as “a political party whose ideology is Islam” and which wants to restore the caliphate and impose sharia law.

We should not be shy about rebutting this project to make Australia an Islamic country. Indeed, we should be proud to assert our strong commitment to multiculturalism.

People from all cultures are welcome in Australia. But in return, whatever your beliefs, you must embrace the values of Australia: tolerance, inclusiveness and fairness.

Even Sydney Muslim community leader Keysar Trad has called on all Australian Muslims to commemorate Anzac Day and “remember how lucky we are to live in a liberal democracy”.

We are lucky. And Anzac Day is an important national opportunity to give thanks for our way of life and to remember those who gave their lives so we live in freedom today.