 Sydney Muslim leader Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly has set off a new controversy, claiming Muslims have more right to be in Australia than the descendants of convicts.
| He's really asking for it, isn't he. |
On Arabic television, he said westerners were the world's biggest liars and accused the media of trying to bring him down.
The sheik was invited to appear on Egyptian television to explain his sermon comparing women who show some skin, to uncovered pieces of meat that invite predators. At the time, Sheikh al Hilaly claimed his comments were taken out of context, but on Today in Cairo he defended the remarks, blaming the media for the national outcry. "This is a calculated conspiracy aimed at terrorising our Islamic community, aimed at me first in order to bring the Islamic community to its knees," Sheik Hilaly said in Arabic.
| "The infidels are picking on me!" |
He went further, claiming Muslims had more right to be in Australia than the ancestors of convicts. "Westerners are the biggest liars, especially the English," the sheik said in translation. "The Anglo-Saxons came to Australia in shackles, while we paid for our own tickets."
| That'll go over well in Australia. |
He also claimed Australia's courts were racist for sentencing Bilal Skaf to 55 years' jail for gang rape.
Even the sheik's closest advisers fear a backlash over the latest remarks. They have apologised for the comments, saying the sheik's words will cause offense. "As a Muslim Australian, I can just apologise for the remarks," the sheik's spokesman Keysar Trad told 7News.
| "You idiot! You're going to make them suspicious!" |
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