Keyser Trad, A Racist?

This particular post might be of more interest to my Australian readership and those that have an interest in race relations and defamation in Australia.

Keysar Trad, founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia and spokesperson for Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, had sued Harbour Radio, the owners of 2GB, for the comments of Jason Morrison on air. In essence, Morrison said that Trad was gutless, trouble, disgraceful, and dangerous, and also an individual who incites violence, hatred, and racism. These comments were made in 2007 just after the Cronulla riots.

Just on the Sheik, this is the same Sheik that said the following in response to a rape:

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."

Trad went onto sue and won a jury trial. However, Harbour Radio appealed on the grounds that what was said, although defamatory, was true. In the appeal at the NSW Supreme Court, Chief Judge Peter McClellan agreed with Harbour Radio. McClellan J was unequivocal in stating that the comments made by Trad were "offensive", "racist", and "condoned violence".

In dismissing the claim and ordering that Trad pay Harbour Radio's costs, McClellan J said, "There is little doubt that many of the plaintiff's remarks are offensive to Jewish persons and homosexuals". He then went on to say, "I'm satisfied the plaintiff does hold views which can properly be described as racist."

It is of little surprise that Trad plans to appeal. It will be interesting to see where the Supreme Court has erred in its application of the law in order for the appeal to go forward.

Alan Jones, Lebanese Muslims, Vilification

Alan Jones is no stranger to controversy so it is not surprising to see him embroiled in more controversy even though this is something that has been on the horizon since 2005 and never fully resolved. Alan Jones broadcasts on 2GB radio. This is an interesting case and will test the vilification laws and the lengths that elements of the community can go to in order to suppress criticism. It also has the potential to test the bounds of free speech in cases where discrimination has not been made out.

The crux of the matter will turn on whether you can vilify a religion or an idea. Simply, can an idea or a religion have rights? I can see and understand the arguments for vilifying a person and can comprehend the idea that a person has rights. However, I am less convinced that an idea, and religions are ideas, have rights which can be protected by a vilification or hate speech law.

The issue stems from two incidents. The first is where Sheik Faiz Mohamad told a gathering at an Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool that women who dressed in skimpy clothing only had themselves to blame if they were raped. Essentially, the Sheik said that a woman is to blame where a man cannot control his sexual urges.

This brought on an outburst from Jones that saw him saying that all Lebanese Muslims were "vermin" and "a national security problem". It did not stop there for Jones, as over the next several days in April 2005 he referred to the "much discredited Lakemba Mosque" and added it was time to "take the gloves off and teach these bastards" (presumably a lesson in the Australian way).

But the words keep coming with, "we are far too tolerant of these people, we have to take out the root cause". On another occasion Jones said, "They have no connection to us. They simply rape, pillage and plunder a nation that's taken them in. I can't believe what I'm seeing. What did we do as a nation to have this vermin infest our shores? Tell me we don't have a national security problem in the making."

This prompted Keysar Trad of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia to lodge a complaint at the Anti-Discrimination Board. After two years the Board failed to reach a decision but instead referred the matter to Administrative Decisions Tribunal Equal Opportunity Division.

The gist of Trad's complaint is that Jones had "expressed hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of a person or a group of persons on the grounds of [their] race". Furthermore, Trad alleges that the Jones tirade suggested that Muslims and particularly Lebanese Muslims are "despicable people", "unsuitable immigrants" who "do not and cannot assimilate". The Trad complaint also alleges that Jones suggested that members of Muslim communities were "prone to commit sexual assaults", were "parasites", and "an internal danger to the security of the country".

It is unclear whether Trad is going to have any more luck at the Equal Opportunity Division but the EOD has asked Trad to elaborate his complaint. This would suggest that the complaint is not going to be dismissed out of hand.

I will try and follow this case and post on it if and when juicy stuff becomes available (photo is from the SMH).