“AN AL-QAEDA recruiter, described as the No. 1 terrorist threat to America, was engaged by a Sydney youth group to address hundreds of young people – a decision that has caused deep divisions at one of Australia’s largest mosques.”
Read more of the source article here.
Anybody got contacts with Lakemba mosque?
Postscript: It has emerged elsewhere that Anwar al-Awlaki gave the speech by phone link from Yemen last February. Taking a leaf out of the multisite church book.
Curious Christian 
Noted this in a follow up article: “The only response from the group that organised the sermon, Sydney Muslim Youth, was an email criticising the Herald..”
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-did-not-act-on-terrorist-sermon-20100415-shs9.html
Sydney Muslim Youth website is here:
http://www.sydneymuslimyouth.com/
Are they fostering hate?
Interesting article here on tollerance, limits to tolleraance, and non-Muslim minorities in Muslim majority states:
http://www.sydneymuslimyouth.com/articles/tolerence.htm
I wonder what they’d say about Muslim minorities in non-Muslim majority states, which is actually the more pertinant issue here.
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When I did my Grad Dip Social Sciences there a youth worker from Lakemba Mosque. It was in 2003. He was a moderate in terms of his views – quite tolerate of other faiths and critical of Al Queda whom he regarded as an abberance of the Islamic faith due to its violence toward the innocent in acts of terrorism, especially 911. I enjoyed many discussions with him sharing theologically as well as about social justice themes to do with care for the homeless, drug addicted etc. Unsure if he still works at Lakemba Mosque. He had a great grasp of social justice issues to do the Palestinian homeland issue, was very fair and reasonable in his approach, didn’t hate Jews at all, and also had a deep respect for Christians who were serious about their own faith. There were also quite a few Christians on that course run by the university of Western Sydney, as well as people of no religious affiliations at all. We all got on well and there was a mutuality of general respect among all participants as well as freedom to share from a faith or non-faith based social welfare perspective on issues.
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I’d be interested to hear from a guy like this.
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Unsure if he is still employed by Lakemba Mosque, but will go through my old course stuff and find out his name and contact details for you over the next week.
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