Fudamentalism in Oz - Hey, This ain't Africa.

Here's some news from down under where a Lebanese Muslim cleric has been feeling his "Jihad Brand" oats.

A radical Australian cleric drew widespread condemnation Thursday over a series of videos in which he encourages children to become martyrs for Islam and ridicules Jews as pigs.

Sheik Feiz Mohammed, head of the Global Islamic Youth Center in western Sydney, made the remarks on a series of video lectures for sale in Australia and overseas.

"We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam," the Australian-born cleric said in one video broadcast on Australian television.

The lectures were denounced as offensive by Australian government leaders and as not helpful by the head of the Islamic Friendship Association. The chief of the opposition Labor Party called them an incitement to terrorism.

In one video, the cleric said many parents were stopping their children from attending Islamic lessons for fear that they "might create a place in their hearts, the love, just a bit of love, of sacrificing their lives for Allah."

"Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid," or holy warrior, he added. "Put in their soft, tender hearts the zeal of jihad and a love of martyrdom."

He also ridicules Jews as pigs, snorting and saying they will go to hell.

The sheik, who has spent the past year living in Lebanon, was not immediately available to comment. Calls went unanswered Thursday at the youth center, a volunteer-run organization that sponsors pajama parties, pingpong matches and rock climbing expeditions for young Muslims.

How should a western society react to this? It's probably a good thing that he has been living in Lebanon for the past year. In the old days, the citizens would have taken the matter into their own hands if need be. Sheik Mohammed might have been horse whipped to within an inch of his life or worse. Long before his hatred reached these levels, he would have been tarred and feathered. But, in the good old days, they wouldn't have had the problem to begin with because they weren't so into multi-culti diversity as we are now.

Australia seems to have more tension with Islam than the United States but I suspect that it's only a matter of time before radicals everywhere become more emboldened to "speak truth to power." No doubt, the fundamentalists, flush with perceived victory in Iraq and Lebanon and overflowing with hubris, will push too far. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the Mosques these days what with victories over the Great Satan and the little Satan. This hubris is not limited to Muslims. The rising anti-Americanism was recently manifest with a rocket attack on a US Embassy in Greece. Its troubling that Democrats and the American public seem not the least bit concerned with the aftermath of a perceived defeat in Iraq.

I hope that the FBI has their "flies on the walls" just as they did during the heady days of revolucion de Nicaragua (twenty eight years ago). The central American revolutionaries enjoyed a significant amount of support on American campuses and although it wasn't known at the time, the FBI apparently did too good a job of surveillance. Subsequently, as a reward for their vigilance, the FBI was neutered by a Democratic Congress. Let's hope that's been corrected, but remember the Dems could uncorrect the correction. They preach love, understanding and tolerance but Dennis Kucinich, with a House majority for less than a month, is already trying to bring back the Federal Communication Commission "Fairness Doctrine."

The political pendulum may have swung back to the left in the UK and the US but for now it seems as though the Australians are still somewhat sensible:

The sheik's remarks created a firestorm of condemnation Thursday.

Kevin Rudd, the opposition Labor Party leader, said the sheik should not return to Australia.

"These are appalling statements and they have no place in Australia," Rudd told reporters. "As I see it Sheik Mohammed's statements add up to incitement to terrorism."

A senior government minister, Kevin Andrews, agreed.

No, the Sheik should not return to Australia. For his own safety, he should stay in Lebanon where he will be more hospitably received.

The Howard government should try to find a way to keep him out of Australia but since that country is not in Africa, the government's hands may be tied by its own laws and it will most assuredly have a pack of "human rights groups" nipping at its heels.

But what should the people do? Don't answer that, it's rhetorical question.