The head of one of Australia’s oldest and most established Muslim organisations has criticised the federal government’s deradicalisation program as “pointless” and not genuinely consultative.
Samier Dandan, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, has written a scathing review (pdf) of the programs.
Dandan criticised the government for hand-picking “safe” attendees for high-level consultations, which he labelled “box-ticking exercises”.
“There are many voices in the Muslim community which can articulate the problem and recommend solutions based on these root causes [of extremism], but they are excluded,” Dandan wrote. “Clearly, to involve these voices would only constitute a concession that the government’s strategy has been flawed.”
“This, and other ‘consultations’ are evidently just box-ticking exercises. Opportunities for these departments to feel satisfied that they have ‘consulted’ with the Muslim community, without actually having done anything constructive,” he said.
“It boggles the mind, then, that it would continue to exclude legitimate Muslim voices and widely accepted research from the discussions about how to tackle radicalisation,” he continued. “It exacerbates an environment of disaffection and disempowerment, and does nothing but isolate the very community that best understands these challenges.”
Dandan was particularly critical of the Attorney General’s Department for accepting “outdated” research on counter-terrorism that focuses solely on Islamic ideology as a root cause for radicalisation.
“By narrowing the definition of radicalisation to the point where social issues and valid concerns over government strategies and policies become irrelevant, the various arms of the federal government, armed with over $1bn in funding, continues on its delusional path of diminishing returns.
“More importantly, it continues to use taxpayer dollars on pointless programs that do little to address the genuine concerns of both the Muslim, and the wider Australian community, all without true consultation,” he said.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, drew the ire of Muslim community leaders in February by implying the community was not doing enough to stamp out extremism.
“I’ve often heard western leaders describe Islam as a ‘religion of peace’. I wish more Muslim leaders would say that more often, and mean it,” he said.
The race discrimination commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, has warned that leaders must carefully consider the rhetoric they use in the counter-terrorism debate, or else risk disrupting Australia’s largely cohesive society.
The Lebanese Muslim Association was established by Lebanese immigrants in 1962, and today runs the popular Lakemba mosque in Sydney.