Here is the latest comment by our Syrian contributor, Lilly Martin:
Sydney, Australia has suffered a terrorist incident which took the lives of two of its residents. Young people: who were taken from their families forever. Others were injured physically, not to mention the emotional upheaval they endured during the many long hours of siege.
The Radical Islamic terrorist who committed this crime had deep and long standing mental issues. The 'Fake Sheikh", Man Haron Monis , was well known in Sydney and the large Muslim community there. While there is the very real issue of mental illness involved in the crime, still there is the very important issue of radicalization. Was Sydney , Australia really an innocent city, devoid of any complicity in the terrorist attack on the Lindt Chocolate Cafe? No: Sydney and its residents played a very large role in the radicalization of the terrorist responsible.[tag]
The Australian government and civil leaders would have you to believe that Sydney is a peaceful place, full of respectable citizens. The truth is far removed from that fantasy. If you simply do an easy Google search for 'Sydney Australia Syria terrorists', you will have hundreds of articles to read, spanning almost 4 years. The truth of the matter is that radical Islam is alive and well in Sydney. It is so well cultivated there, that they even export it.
Residents of Syria have been hunted down in their homes, maimed and killed by members of the Muslim community of Sydney. The number of Syrians killed by Australians is in the hundreds. Whereas the media had non-stop coverage of the siege and resulting death of two persons in Sydney, they have not mentioned the innocent unarmed Syrian civilians maimed, killed and kidnapped by former Muslim residents of Sydney, Australia.
While Sheikh Haron cannot be held up as representative of all Muslims in Sydney, we must address the issues that promoted his adhesion to a form of Radical Islam, which is a political ideology, and not a religion or a religious sect. Regardless of the many denunciations of terrorism by the Grand Mufti of Australia, he and his associates knew about the killers being sent from Sydney to Syria. What action did they take to protect the innocent unarmed Muslims, and non-Muslims of Syria from members of the Sydney community?
A key question is: who in Sydney was responsible for the radicalization of Haron?
The terrorist Haron was an immigrant from Iran and a member of the Shite sect of Islam. However, the ISIS group he identified with, and mentioned by name when requesting of authorities an ISIS flag, is strictly a Sunni terrorist group, and their avowed enemy is all Shites in the world, whom they consider as less than human.
The Radical Islamic terrorists in Syria often have beheaded Shites, and in one spectacular case, a terrorist ate the liver of a non-Sunni man. There are no Radical Islamic terrorists in Syria who are not Sunnis. You could characterize ISIS and their associates as a "Sunni-only club".
Why would a Shite convert to the Sunni sect? Islam is supposed to be one faith; however the modern world sees bloody divides among Muslims, as many different sects exist. What radicalization techniques or peer pressure were put upon Haron in Sydney, causing him to turn from his original identity and adopt a new Sunni identity?
The Muslim community of Sydney is large and well known. They have been written about and reported on around the world because of the support and participation of many of their members in the sectarian war in Syria. Many Muslim families of Sydney have sent their fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to Syria to fight in order to establish an Islamic State in Syria, and there have been numerous deaths of "Sydneysiders" in Syria.
They left Sydney to fight in Syria. They didn't only target government forces, or military bases. Their targets were schools, hospitals, mental hospitals and mainly the homes of unarmed civilians.
In August 2013, Radical Islamic terrorists entered the sleeping village of Ballouta, Syria, near Latakia. They went methodically from house to house killing all men, women and children in their beds. They cut open the stomach of a pregnant woman and hung the fetus in the trees. Many survivors ran for their lives and later gave eye witness reports of what happened. The Radical Islamic terrorists kidnapped 100 small children, and a few older females. The survivors were desperate to know what had happened to all those children of Ballouta. It was assumed they had been taken to Turkey to be sold as sex slaves, or perhaps for their organs to be harvested for wounded terrorists, or for wealthy Turkish citizens.
Nine months later, 44 of those children were released. They had not been taken to Turkey, but had spent 9 months in a basement underground in the Syrian village of Selma, within hiking distance of Ballouta. They had endured torture, abuse and some of the children had been killed by the terrorists. They said their captors were a mixed group: some were Syrian and many were foreigners who spoke no Arabic. Some were Arabs, but with accents identifying them as coming from countries in the Saudi Arabian area, otherwise known as the Arab Gulf countries. Several terrorists spoke Arabic with a distinct Latakian accent, but also spoke English much of the time among themselves.
Who are these Radical Islamic terrorists who were originally from Latakia, Syria as evidenced by their distinct Latakian accent, but who were also so fluent and accustomed to speaking to each other in English?
Sydney, Australia is the home of many Syrians who are originally from Latakia, Syria and several members of them have indeed fought in Syria during the ongoing sectarian war, some dying in the Latakia region.
The Australian government, the residents of Sydney and the Muslim community there, must all ask themselves important questions about who and what promoted Haron to identify with ISIS. I believe the answer lies within Sydney. Do Australians support the sectarian war in Syria? Are Australians identified with and in support of ISIS? Will the Muslim community of Sydney be allowed to promote hatred, death and destruction abroad with impunity?
Australians probably thought that Syria was a far removed place, with a war going on which they had nothing to do with. They thought it was safe to be ignorant of the death and destruction of a country on the Mediterranean Sea of 23 million persons, who had enjoyed a secular form of government, as is the Australian government. Australia loves to boast of its multicultural and diverse population. Syria was home to 18 different religious sects, with a Christian population numbering in the millions. Yet, there were many "Sydneysiders" who traveled to Syria with the express purpose of killing Syrians who were not Sunni.
The Muslim community of Sydney, Australia must stand up and take responsibility for their members. The Australian security forces will be held accountable for keeping residents safe from homegrown terrorists. Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance cannot coexist with Radical Islam, and the Australian residents, who follow, defend and promote sectarian hatred and death must be made to stop.
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AUSTRALIA'S most senior terrorist in Syria, former Sydney sheik Abu Sulayman, has been photographed celebrating with members of his ...
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ABC Online-Dec 8, 2014
Attorney-General George Brandis says at least 20 Australians have been killed fighting alongside terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, and warns ...
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The Australian-Dec 13, 2014
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Herald Sun-Dec 14, 2014
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Sydney Morning Herald-Jan 3, 2014
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Sheikh Fedaa al-Majzoub, a former vice-president of Australia's National Imams Council, is an activist in the opposition Syrian National Council ...
à ¯ Popular Sydney Sheikh Mustapha Al Majzoub martyred in Syria
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Sydney, Australia -- The Syrian conflict has gained a very powerful local feel with news that popular Sydney Sheikh Mustapha Al Majzoub has ...
à ¯ Counter-terrorism agencies warn of hidden danger of radicals who ...
The Daily Telegraph-Jun 20, 2014
Now the western Sydney- based Dawah on the Streets is rallying its ... After the popular Sheik Mustapha al Majzoub died in Syria in August of ...
à ¯ Unmasked: Aussie jihadists heading into Islamic State terror zones
Herald Sun-Sep 17, 2014
Former Sydney-based convicted terrorist who travelled to Syria on his ... Mustapha al-Majzoub, 30 -- killed in rocket attack in Syria, 2012.
Must see terrorvision: Goodbye and good riddance
Brisbane Times-Jun 23, 2014
Yesterday brought news another Sydney criminal, Zakaryah Radd, 22, had ... Moussalli and Muslim preacher Sheikh Mustapha al Majzoub.
Former Australian soldier Caner Temel killed fighting alongside ...
ABC Online-Mar 18, 2014
It says Caner Temel, from Auburn in Sydney's west, spent 17 months in the Army before going absent without leave in September 2010.
ASIO cancels passports of western Sydney men for 'jihadi mentality'
Sydney Morning Herald-Dec 7, 2013
Mr Haddad said ASIO attention on their communities had increased since the death of popular Sydney sheikh Mustapha Al Majzoub in a rocket ...
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