The real perpetrators of yesterday’s terrorist plot: authorities and media..!

Australia is in shock after the arrest of 2 terrorist in Bankstown yesterday. Media and authorities are wasting time discussing details of little importance. Names, ages and motives of the perpetrators are of really little concern. The fundamental question that should be asked, especially if we want to prevent more plots and attacks, is: who radicalized them and who recruited them?

We now know that one of the teenagers was known to the authorities for his violent actions and extreme views. Why is no one asking the right questions? Where was he radicalised and by who? Who recruited him? Was he undergoing a de-radicalisation program and which one?

Once we know the answer to all these questions we can take the steps needed to stop the recruiting and brainwashing of others.

Two years of government funded de-radicalisation programs, costing tax payers millions of dollars, has achieved little or nothing. An evaluation on such programs is urgently needed.

I was the first to raise concerns over how the authorities’ were handling extremism. With such concerns in mind I helped draft a letter and collected many signatures from different anti-extremism experts and campaigners. We wanted to alert authorities they were on the wrong path in dealing with radicalisation and terrorist issues.

The letter explained how the authorities were consulting with the wrong people. We expressed our concerns about the de-radicalisation funding and how it would be spent on the wrong organisations.

The course taken by our authorities soon after, was both dangerous and disappointing.

Suddenly authorities and media started to promote extremist and terrorist sympathisers as the champions of de-radicalisation. They gave a voice to extremists like Shady Al Sulieman, Jamal Rifi, Keysar Trad and the so-called Australian Mufti.
These are the same people who actively participated in spreading extremism and radicalisation in Australia, through their active role in supporting terrorists in Syria.

We also tried to explain to the authorities and media that supporting terrorism in Syria would actually cause radicalisation and terrorism back home.

All real experts on the matter know too well that all radicalisation and terrorism in Australia is directly and indirectly inspired by the terrorism in Syria.

Not only our letter and various warnings were ignored, suddenly I became number one enemy. For this reason authorities refused to consult us and support our anti radical efforts. This is why Multicultural NSW refused to grant us even the small sum of $5,000 but continued to grant millions of dollars to the extremist organisations.

The media who consider persons such as Jamal Rifi and Keysar Trad to be champions of peace, should explain to us how they reached such conclusion.

The government also needs to explain their strange policy in engaging extremist and inviting them to Iftars and private consultations.

Multicultural NSW and the Attorney-General’s office, should issue a detailed media release outlining where the hundreds of millions of dollars of de-radicalisation programs were spent and what did they achieve.

Multicultural NSW needs to send us (Social Justice Network) a letter explaining the reason why our $5000 request for a grant was rejected.

Instead, Multicultural NSW granted $750,000 to an extreme organisation which often broadcasted lectures by number 1 Al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar Al Awlaki who was later killed by a US drone.

If our authorities and media don’t change their approach soon, I am afraid we will face difficult times. Next time we could have someone’s head roll in the street of Bankstown or Lakemba beheaded by another brainwashed teenager.

Multicultural NSW: when authorities encourage radicalisation!

After the first terrorist attack on Australian soil in December 2014, our authorities admitted we could be facing a problem of radicalisation and possible terrorism.

Journalists who in the past ignored such problems started contacting me and telling me that I was right in saying all along about our growing extremism in our suburbs. For the past 3 years I had voiced my concerns about the growing number of radicalised Muslims.

For the first time in many years, local politicians had started praising my work and my ideas. Even liberal politician Greg Laundy had asked me to visit him at his office to discuss such issues.

At the time, Social Justice Network was carrying out a de-radicalisation program called “Together We Live”. We were bringing together people from different backgrounds and religious beliefs to discuss the sectarian tensions arising in our suburbs. The meetings were held at people’s homes where we would discuss various issues over coffee.

Encouraged by the positive message from our authorities and media, we decided to take our project “Together We Live” to the next level.
State and federal government announced an increase in funding for de-radicalisation programs. The government allocated 8 million dollars.

Social Justice Network decided to apply for a sum of $25,000. This would allow us to increase our meetings taking minutes to document and publish recommendations. We were sure we would be granted the money since we are a well recognised organisation fighting against extremism and have experts on radicalisation.

Our application was rejected! We were shocked to receive a letter from Multicultural NSW rejecting our application on the grounds that we didn’t provide a financial statement.

A financial statement is required from organisations that have previously received public funding. Our organisation never received any public funding which meant we were not required to lodge a financial statement.

It appears that our rejection was merely a political one.

We were taken aback when we found out that Multicultural NSW granted 8 million dollars to organisations that some of them played a vital role in spreading radical Islam and to organisations who knew nothing about extremism.

A grant of $750,000 was given to the Lebanese Muslim Association. This organisation is known for holding radical Islamic ideology. This organisation was at the centre of many extreme “fatwas” including forbidding Muslims to wish Christians Merry Christmas and happy Easter.
(http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/no-merriness-here-mosque-puts-fatwa-on-christmas-20121222-2bsk2.html)
The organisation allowed known extreme preachers to deliver extreme ceremonies in its mosque (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/alqaeda-at-city-mosque-20100414-se8g.html) .

We applied again, this time only for $5000. Surely after finding out the list of all the extremist organisations that got hundreds of thousands in grants, our small amount would be approved.

This time Multicultural NSW didn’t reject our application. It just chose to ignore it in violation of procedures of official dealings.

On one hand we have our authorities publicly question the increased levels of radicalisation in Australia. On the other hand we have Multicultural NSW granting millions to the organisations guilty of spreading extremism.

Multicultural NSW participated in spreading extremism by granting millions of dollars to extreme organisations. One of the individuals arrested over a terror plot was going through a de-radicalisation program (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/boy-16-arrested-over-anzac-day-terror-plot-was-in-deradicalisation-program-20160426-goexwm.html ), most likely administered by Multicultural NSW.

Do we stand a chance of defeating terrorism? I doubt it.

When an organisation like ours that has been fighting extremism for years is refused a $5,000 grant but at the same time extreme organisations are granted 8 million dollars, one needs to ask whose side the authorities are on.

More on authorities support for extremists on our Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEKMmEajEo&feature=youtu.be) or my blog: www.jamaldaoud.blogspot.com