Q Society of Australia

The Q Society of Australia Inc. is a volunteer-run Islam-critical organisation. As a not-for-profit association it was incorporated in Victoria in December 2010, but is now active with local groups and supporters in all states. The 'Q' is said to relate to the Melbourne suburb of Kew, where the initial planning meetings were held. The association is led by an annually elected board. The president for the 2013/14 business year is Debbie Robinson. She is assisted by Deputy President Andrew Horwood. Islamic researcher, blogger and American author Robert Spencer is a board member and the international patron of the association. Q Society is aligned with the international SION (Stop Islamisation Of Nations) movement.^[1]

Activities

Petition Alma Road Community House, East St Kilda, Melbourne

A number of Muslim men had met for some time at Alma Road Community House in East St Kilda for Friday prayers.^[2] The single-storey 3-bedroom house was used mainly by local mother groups and other social activities. Q Society was approached by residents (in this Jewish neighbourhood) when it became known that this community house was listed on the website of a radical Islamic organisation. Port Philip council published plans to increase the number of persons allowed from 40 to 100 and rededicate the house as formal 'place of assembly'. Since most members of the prayer group were not local residents but taxi drivers from across Melbourne, locals were concerned about the ramifications of this planning proposal. Q Society circulated a petition to object to the proposed increase and re-dedication, which was supported by about 600 signatories, including members of the local orthodox Jewish community.

Several progressive, secular Jewish community leaders in Melbourne opposed the petition. Deborah Stone of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), which actively counters prejudice against Jews (including from fundamentalist Muslims), stated that the fears of the Q Society were greatly exaggerated: "Assuming Muslims are terrorists is the same as expecting that Italians running a restaurant will be using it as a Mafia hideout, or that the local Catholic school is sheltering a paedophile priest." The Port Phillip Council has strongly supported social diversity and multiculturalism, and the Muslim prayer group had not caused concern until the Q Society intervened.^[3] The council later approved its own revised planning proposal.

Petition against BDS campaign by Marrickville Council

In January 2011 Q Society launched a petition aimed at Marrickville Council in Sydney.^[4] A majority of the then Green-dominated city council had voted in December 2010 to align the municipality with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and Israeli companies, academic, cultural and sport exchange with the Jewish State. About 4250 signatories voiced their protest through the Q Society petition against BDS. Q Society handed copies of the petition to the council and relevant NSW state ministers on March 1. The Council BDS campaign was eventually rescinded with 8 vs 4 votes at a council meeting on April 19, 2011.

SOS Save Our Schools Campaign

SOS Save Our Schools Campaign is concerned with the Islamisation of public schools in textbooks, curriculum, tuck shops, uniforms and installation of parallel rules. Q Society criticises that the well-intentioned curriculum rationale of social inclusion in the case of Islam fosters religious apartheid and cultural exclusion. Members and supporters state that they are committed to real integration, but campaign against practises that exclude either Muslims or non-Muslims from participating fully in Australian education, sport, cultural and social activities in secular public schools.

In particular the pro-Islamic curriculum campaign titled "Learning From One Another" is seen by Q Society as one-sided, promoting uncritical and positive-only images of Islam and a systematic whitewash of what Q Society describes as the discriminatory nature of Islam.^[5]

FairFood Campaign for the Labeling of Halal Certified Products

Q Society lobbies for religious slaughtering to be restricted to the actual needs of the observant members of religious communities, not imposed on the majority of Australians. According to the society all Islamic certification schemes of sharia (halal) compliance should be permitted on a "user pays" basis only. Society members seek to alert consumers and politicians to halal certification and the implications of buying from halal-certified suppliers. Halal-certified products are sharia-compliant products - that is compliance with Islamic sharia law. Since only Muslim males are permitted to work on the killing floor of halal-certified abattoirs, Q Society points to a violation of Australia's anti-discrimination laws.^[6]

Q Society argues that there is a need for clear labeling of such products at the consumer level. Commercial halal certifiers do not only take ongoing fees for certifying meat and meat products, but now also take fees from the majority of Australian dairy producers and many other staple products of the Australian household. Food, non-food products and services are targeted for what is equated by Q Society as an Islamic tax on Australian consumers. Q Society lobbies for a fair choice for consumers who do not wish to support Islamic-only causes, or finance the spread of Islamic sharia law through religious certification schemes.^[7]

1st Symposium on Liberty and Islam in Australia

From 7 to 10 March 2014 the society held a symposium in Melbourne with scholars, authors and activists from India, Egypt, Israel, the UK, the USA and Australia.^[8]

The introduction to the event read 'From China to Iceland and from New York to Sydney, Islam is spreading. Since the 7th century this unique theocratic ideology, veiled in religious veneer, has conquered people and nations. No other ideology spawns discrimination, division and violence on a global scale. People are looking for information, perspectives and better policies. This symposium offers insights and answers.' Social events were intertwined with workshops, lectures and meetings. The main event on Sunday 9 March at RMIT's Storey Hall was attended by around 250 patrons from all Australian states, as well as a small number of New Zealanders. Recordings of the lectures at the main event were published on Q Society's YouTube channel.

As before with the visit of Dutch MP Geert Wilders in 2013, a number of Australian newspapers refused to publish advertisements for the event.

Guests

Robert Spencer lecture tour

At the invitation of Q Society, America's outspoken researcher and best-selling author on Islam and Jihad toured most Australian capital cities in November/December 2011. The key theme for his first Australia tour was 'Socio-Political Jihad - Conquering the West without Swords, Guns or Bombs'.

Robert Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community. Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Centre, and author of ten books, including New York Times best-sellers 'The Truth About Muhammad' and 'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam'.

Gavin Boby lecture tour

Islam-critical UK lawyer and town planning specialist Gavin Boby toured Australia on invitation of Q Society in August/September 2012. Mr Boby is the director of the British Law and Freedom Centre, an organisation which assists community groups on pro-bono basis, if they are faced with inappropriate planning applications for mosques in their neighbourhood. Mr Boby states that mosques in the UK are increasingly being built in disproportionate numbers and often in communities with a very small observant Muslim population present.^[9] Speaker of Q Society Andrew Horwood argued that many Australians still have misconceptions about the important function mosques and mosque-building plays in Islamic doctrine, and how a mosque differs fundamentally from a church, temple or synagogue.^[10][11][12]

Geert Wilders lecture tour

The Q Society invited the Dutch politician Geert Wilders to tour Australia. Wilders opposes further Islamic immigration to the Netherlands. He sees the conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims as rooted in a general refusal by many Muslim migrants to integrate in their Western host society, based on the belief that Islam is not only a religion but a social, legal and political system that gives Islam primacy over the secular state. During August and September 2012, the Australian Government delayed the issue of a visa. One day after Wilders and Q Society eventually postponed the tour due to the ongoing uncertainty, the then Minister Chris Bowen MP (Labor) granted the visa to Wilders. The tour eventually took place in February 2013 with speaking events by Geert Wilders and Sam Solomon scheduled for 19 February in Melbourne, 20 February in Perth and 22 February in Sydney. The tour was overshadowed by a total of 30 venues refusing or cancelling bookings; some reneging on fully paid contracts two days before the scheduled event and after lengthy police briefings.^[13] Paul Sheehan, journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, documented the difficulty of Q Society finding a venue willing to host the talks, bus companies and newspapers willing to accept adverts, online ticketing companies afraid of potential hacking attacks and Westpac Bank unwilling to process credit card payments. The venue for each talk was announced 24 hours before the event to booked patrons.^[14]

About 550 people attended sold-out venues in both Melbourne and Sydney, but the event in Perth was cancelled two days before the scheduled event. The Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett (Liberal), stated Geert Wilders was not welcome in his State. Islamic leaders in Sydney and Melbourne recommended that these talks be ignored, so as to avoid or minimize the possibility of violent protests. Members of Socialist Alternative and Students for Palestine, picketed the Melbourne event.^[15][16] The reported number of protesters varied between 40 ^[17] and 100, with one ABC report stating 200.

Some people attending the speech in Melbourne claimed to have been injured by the protesters.^[16][18] In contrast protests were noisy but peaceful at Wilders' Sydney speech.^[19]

Criticism

Critics of Q Society suggest the organisation would be responsible for hate-mongering against Muslims.^[20] Left-wing commentators have referred to the Q Society as a modern example of 'organised intolerance'.^[21] Citing the view that most Muslims have integrated successfully in Australian society, critics suggest the activities of a comparatively small number of radicals and militants should not give rise to criticism of the Islamic religion.

The organisation has been critical of the controversial proposal to construct a $3 million mosque and Islamic community centre in the rural Victorian centre of Bendigo.^[22] Opponents of the mosque displayed anti-mosque information produced by Q Society at a meeting of the Bendigo City Council.^[23] State MP Jacinta Allan described the move as an attempt to divide the community, stating that "Bendigo has a proud history of tolerance and diversity dating back to the gold rush era, and we'll work hard to preserve and build upon it."^[22]

References

External links

• Official website