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AL-VIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
Sheikh al-Hilali’s rescue mission—during which the Sheikh’s spokesmen and supporters announced several “breakthroughs” and even the anticipated release of Douglas Wood—is over:
A spokesman for the Australian Muslim cleric who has been helping to negotiate the release of hostage Douglas Wood, says the Sheikh has done all he can.
Sheikh Taj El-Din Al-Hilaly has left Iraq.
I must object to you linking the lakemba loon to a fine british automobile marque of the early 20th century. Possibly the only similarities being the fact that they were extremely underpowered, highly likely to spew out unfortunate fluids at inappropriate moments, steering control was a very iffy concept and they often promised far more than they could ever hope to achieve. Actually, now that I think about it, perhaps you were spot on in the first place.
I’m usually happy to see out local allah nuts get embarrased, but this is just depressing. So what, now his fellow members of the religion of peace will decapitate this poor man on video? What a great belief system.
I despise these scum. Next time an Australian is kidnapped by Buddhists and held at risk of decapitation maybe we can ask a local Lama to go intercede. I hear Buddhists are alot better at getting their co-religionists to not riot, bomb, kidnap, extort, threaten and murder their fellow humans in the name of God.
I hate to say this, but I’m starting to seriously despise and loath muslims.
Remember the mythological ‘snuff video’? You know, rumours in the 60’s and 70’s of the existance of videos of people actually being killed as a form of psycho porno? According to Snopes, it was just a urban myth:
All the fretting about it aside, not so much as one snuff film has been found. Time and again, what is originally decried in the press as a film of a murder turns out, upon further investigation, to be a fake. Police on three continents routinely investigate films brought to them, and so far this has always been their verdict. No snuff films. Some clever fakes, yes. But no real product.
Well they’re real now. Muslims have seen to that. They can’t build a video camera, but they can use one to film them cutting off a prisoner’s head. They can’t build an airplane or a skyscraper, but they can crash one into the other in order to murder defensless people at work. And people say they contribute nothing.
It’ll be interesting to see what sort of spin comes out of this. If the highest ranking cleric in Australia, who is presumably a good muslim, decrees that Wood must be freed but can’t convince these terrorists to do this, then they logically can’t be good muslims. That undermines their position.
Then again, maybe the Middle East simply decides that any cleric from Australia has obviously been seduced by our soft, decadent ways, and therefore has no moral authority. In which case the terrorists are good muslims after all, and off they go on their merry way. The cleric, on the other hand, comes back to a divided community.
Or, as is more probably the case, logic and reason have nothing to do with it. Islam and its attendant culture aren’t exactly noted for their rationality.
Posted by blandwagon on 2005 06 09 at 10:06 PM • permalinkSadly, I suspect Wood was dead before the swine Hilaly ever turned up…
How long before Nwab turns up to tell us we’re bing insensitive...?
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 06 09 at 10:44 PM • permalinkThis was always a perfect win/win situation for the Sheik.
If he had managed to assist in the release of Mr. Wood. All plaudits to the sheik.
That he has not means that he has had a chance to go as the “great hope” and has managed to renew his contacts in the Middle East (wonder who they were). Further more, , under the pretext he was doing this at the behest of the terrorist kidnappers and to secure the release of Mr. Wood, he was able to call for the withdrawal in the first instnace of all Coalition forces and subsequently the Australian forces from Iraq and their Crusader war against Islam and the Muslims. He now comes home empty handed and Mr. Wood still languishes in the hands of the “heroic” Muslim Jihadists. The Muslim Religious leader of Australia can claim he tried his hardest to persuade his Muslim co-Religionist to release Mr Wood, and therefore the lack of success was not his fault (begs the question of what his real influence is on these matters). He now returns to Australia as the great sympathetic hero. IMHO it was all a sham designed as a propoganda coup for the Sheik.
Posted by LaVallette on 2005 06 09 at 10:46 PM • permalinkI agree with LaVallette - this was a win/win publicity stunt for the sheik.
Behind the scenes - the sheik has some enemies within the Muslim community - many Muslims say that he doesnt speak for them at all. He needs to do something to win the confidence of both the Muslim community and Australians (good luck with that one).
He has stated the real reason he went (or as far as he is prepared to disclose)- in one of his first interviews, he said that Muslims in Australia should not be asked to bear the political weight for the actions of the Australians govt. - ie, sending troops to Iraq. He went on to say that Muslims in Australia ‘understood the jihad of the Iraqi people’.
He also said that he was speaking ‘for all Australians’ - that must have made PM Howard and the majority who voted for him very happy indeed.
Its all about first, the sheik, and second, the Muslim community in Australia. He couldnt care less about Wood, and one has to wonder how much he knows about this terrorist group.
Yes Richard I’m expecting the admonishing finger of n-wad to show up any moment.
Perhaps the attention-seeking wad will remind us that these people have grievances. As aloof sophisticates we should not feel frustration, anguish, outrage or despair (presumably that’s only excusable in primitive, cloth-clad Eastern types).
But could one of these empathic pedagogues do us a favour and send a heartfelt message to the jihadists the be a little more gentle when carving the heads off our people? Or is that too much of a hegemonic imposition of our values on them?
Damn, I need a decaf soyaccino.
At no stage did I ever have any confidence that this guy could achieve anything positive. He’s a two-faced lying arsehole muslim terrorist booster.
# 12. Underscore was working beautifully until he mentioned the soyacchino. Lost double credibility from that comment - like the brownie point system. You earn them in single figure integers and lose them in thousands.
I’m no big fan of this cleric, but I at least give him credit for trying, apparently at some risk to himself.
Good to see Mr Marsupial sticking up for the Grand Poo-Bah- based on what evidence was he ever at risk? Indications are he’s as matey as billy-o with a fair swag of the insurgent groups, and this was a nice Woods-family funded trip to catch up with his mukkas, and work out what next they can do or say to give Infideldom the shits.
I think the family would have been better served slinging some dough at some former SAS or Mossad boyos with a bit of time on their hands.OT File Under: Save an Aussie
Hey, you Aussie guys-- maybe y’all should cancel that PowerLunch in Indonesia…
Posted by zeppenwolf on 2005 06 10 at 03:12 AM • permalinkI’m with Habib on this one, and against wombat head.
Shake Hilary goes over and pleads with clerics for the release of Woods - something very wrong with their religion.
Why arent the muftis out there stopping this unlawfulness?
Answer: they are part of it.
Its like a time warp, they are (still) back in the dark ages.
Aside from raisng false hopes about the fate of Douglas Wood, Al Hillbilly’s mission to Iraq managed to get in the word to the terrorists that Muslims in Australia do not support their government, demanded that we withdraw not only our Australian troops, but everyone else’s as well, mutter a few mystical mumbo jumbo comments, claim he has been “misquoted” in translation again, and had a side trip or two to Egypt to catch up with Mum and the family at his supporter’s expense.
Top effort Al. Worth every penny.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2005 06 10 at 04:03 AM • permalinkThings didn’t go as planned. He didn’t have the backing he expected - He didn’t have masses of Aussies in the streets demanding the government give in to the demands of the terrorists.
I’d like to believe that he went for Douglas Wood’s sake but every thing he has ever said makes me think he went to get our troops out and it backfired.o/t Hot gossip at Crikey,VERY Very interesting.Blood in the water around SBS.
Sasha Uzunov writes “Do we really need SBS.”
Rhetorical question.Centres around Donald McDonald and Press Club Luncheon,the prospects of merging ABC and aforementioned.
Writer advocating a bi-partisan political enquiry into said merger.
Ends “after all we’re all Australians,regardless of our origins.”#26 “after all we’re all Australians, regardless of our origins.”
Whispered in an aside, “But some of us are more Australian than others”.
Posted by walterplinge on 2005 06 10 at 06:09 AM • permalinkI think the saddest thing about all this is that nobody seems to be surprised about the Sheik’s stupendous lack of success.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 06 10 at 07:34 AM • permalinkWhy would we be, when it was obviously a cynical use of a wealthy family’s resources to try to clean up his terminally tarnished image with the majority of Australians? If the Grand Poobah is truly representative of Australia’s Islamic community, we have a major problem. The only thing the bastard’s missing is a hook.
Well, I might have one for him to hang from out the back. Will that help?
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 06 10 at 08:04 AM • permalinkThis was the Disney character I was referring to. Maybe he’d like to holiday at Steve’s place? I’ll throw in the clock.
Off-topic, sorry - but couldn’t resist:
“Margo: Hi Syd. Do you live in Sydney? Would you be free to come to a Webdiary 5th anniversary party next month? I’d like to meet you. “
1. I wonder if Margo is even capable of organising a piss-up. A “peoples piss-up”?
2. Let’s show up in “Sod off swampy T-shirts”!
Sorry 2dogs, (#25) we have to let him back in.
Commissar Keating bestowed citizenship upon him in return for the SW Sydney vote for the ALP.
Wasn’t THAT a good deal!Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2005 06 10 at 09:38 AM • permalinkWhat does that mean?
"There was really nothing more that he could be expected to do as a cleric in Iraq and Iraq is a very dangerous war zone and his heart condition was getting worse and worse as he was waiting there ...
And ... and ... and ... and ...
And now it’s all about Al-Hilaly.
And his heart condition.
And no mention of D. Woods
An Iranian Mullah on his death bead says"Islam is Murder
ChrisPer,
Nice try with the quasi “chicken-hawk” angle. I spent a year serving in Afghanistan, but I wouldn’t expect that fact to silence a critic of a position of mine. If I say something off the wall, or just plain foolish, I would deserve a rhetorical beating. The same applies to a good argument, or a well made point by someone who has not "been there”.
Arguments should stand and fall on their logic and supporting evidence, etc. I thought we were past all that type of nonsense…
Posted by Major John on 2005 06 10 at 04:43 PM • permalinkMajor John - Thank you for your service.
Your argument, however, is lost on such as he.
Posted by Barbara Skolaut on 2005 06 10 at 05:52 PM • permalinkADMIN OT: der Fred, could you please clear your email box? I’m getting your bounced rejected comment notifications.
ChrisPer: some of the commenters here have been in Iraq recently, yes. In fact, some are commenting from there. Try not to stick your foot in so far next time.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 06 10 at 06:03 PM • permalinkChrisPer, I’m currently in Kuwait, and I’m with Major John; indeed, I have posted comments here that were soundly and rightfully trounced.
The chichen hawk argument, played from any angle, is a farce. Much like Sheik Al-Hillbilly.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 06 10 at 06:59 PM • permalinkThank you Sheik Al Hilali for your services to Australia. You rank way up there with Bradman, Phar-Lap and Ned Kelly! ( I included Phar-Lap because he was a horse and he couldnt speak english either).
Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 06 11 at 05:00 AM • permalinkThis al-Hillaly character got exactly the results I (and everybody with common sense) expected, which is: zilch. If I were the Wood family, I would denounce him publicly and loudly for capitalizing on their tragedy.
JeffS, Major John, et al: you’ll never know how much people like me appreciate what you’re doing. There just aren’t enough words.
Very succinct, Srekwah. I agree. Maybe somebody can plant a boogie board on the sheik before he gets back here.
Also, as the daughter of a trained jungle killer and referring to RebeccaH and others… what she said. There are dirty jobs and difficult situations to deal with, and somebody has to do it. Thanks to all you guys over there. Afghanistan, Iraq, everywhere else you are needed.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 06 11 at 07:38 PM • permalinkI triple that thought. Jeff S and Major John are legends in my book. Thank you .
Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2005 06 12 at 05:44 AM • permalinkI know this is completely off topic, but whenever I see a post by The_Real_JeffS I keep thinking of the (cough) Melbourne Exhibition Centre, aka Jeff’s Shed.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 06 12 at 06:43 AM • permalinkWaiting anxiously for his royal shakesperson Al Hillbilly to come back to Oz and hear his explanation of how he managed to piss away a bagful of someone else’s dollars on a mission from Allah that would put the Blues Brothers to shame in its total inept failure to achieve anything except serious embarassment to the country in which he lives.
Undoubtedly it will resemble the 25th quatrain of the seeing eye of Nostradamus or similar BS, full of mystical references that the slummock infidel is unable to understand, and then will be translated incorrectly, of course, to give him a bad wrap in the press,In the meantime his Amex card will be paid by the trusting fools, “it is permissable to lie to the infidel”
Unbelievable.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2005 06 12 at 10:30 AM • permalinkMajor John,
Thank for your service from me too, if you are there again say Hi to my mate who is there right now.Your point: being in a place like Iraq does not have anything to do with whether your argument about the place is valid. Quite correct, of course.
Nevertheless, the carping peanut gallery slagging this local sheik off, in general display f*ck-all knowledge or facts about him and the overall situation. The person who commented about building his cred on the money of the Wood family may have a good point, it would be great to have a bit more evidence that actually illuminated the situation.
Barbara Skolaut, perhaps you would enjoy my letter that capped the Weekend Australian letters page a few weeks ago.
Sent:Friday, 6 May 2005 11:43 AM
To:’letters@theaustralian.com.au’
Subject: Douglas Wood kidnapping is the Australian’s faultOur media are not discussing the real reason Douglas Wood is facing death in Iraq.
The men holding the gun muzzle to his temple are being richly rewarded for kidnapping and murder. When news commentators repeat the words of terrorists, they pay the terrorists for murder. When they reproduce the beheading videos or the pleading of victims, their hateful crimes totally succeed.
It isn’t new; the 1970s terror crimes of Palestinians were hugely successful in the media, so we got thirty years more of murder. The media orgy after the Dunblane murders led to Australia’s Port Arthur massacre. At that time, concerned people protested not only guns, but our media culture that rewards the cycle of violence. Self-serving bias meant that those ideas were dismissed, and we focused on guns alone.
For years now media have followed responsible guidelines for reporting suicide, yet still ignore the obvious applications to headline-seeking violence. Hijackings, spree killings, suicide bombing and video beheadings all took off because the news industry exploits and rewards these hideous murders.
Applied to terror crimes, we should move the violence below-the-fold and further back; our words should disrespect the persons and ideas of perpetrators instead of amplifying their self-image; the headlines would empower people who rebuild lives after a disgusting and regrettable episode. Actual words and pictures created by perpetrators would not be spread, but disrespectfully misquoted and recut.
These media skills are already deployed every day against people with politically incorrect views. Let’s use them to make the world a better place!
ChrisPer
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Do you know, call me skeptical, but I’m not entirely convinced that there was ever anything that he could have achieved.