Islamic State wants Australians to attack Muslims: terror expert

Rasa - Nick O'Brien says: "It’s in the interests of Islamic State for Muslims in Australia to be attacked or for their mosques to be attacked, because doing so would help divide the Australian community. But we should be very clear: the only people who win if Australia is divided are the extremists.”

News ID: 1176

Date: 18 September 2014 - 16:13

RNA - In an article published on The Conversation, former head of International Counter Terrorism in Special Branch at New Scotland Yard, Nick O’Brien, writes: “It’s in the interests of Islamic State for Muslims in Australia to be attacked or for their mosques to be attacked, because doing so would help divide the Australian community. But we should be very clear: the only people who win if Australia is divided are the extremists.”

“The new allegations of a plot to kidnap and behead Australians as a way of supporting the Islamic State didn’t surprise me,” O’Brien claims, “because there was a similar plot in the UK about seven years ago. In that UK case, it was a plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier, film it, and put it on the internet. Fortunately that never happened, because the men plotting that UK murder were caught.”

“I haven’t personally seen any signs of an anti-Muslim backlash in Australia in response to today’s raids and the allegations that have gone before the courts. But you could expect to see some kind of reaction if an attack took place in Australia. That’s certainly what happened in the UK after the so-called “7/7” London bombings.” O’Brien adds.

Mentioning the fact that “it’s only a tiny minority of the Muslim community that are ever involved in any kind of extreme action” O’Brien continues: “The vast majority [of Muslims] are decent, ordinary people, who shouldn’t be attacked, and who should feel as respected and protected as any other member of the community.”

According to the European news outlets, Islamophobia has been rising since the so-called Islamic State first announced its establishment.

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