SYDNEY'S Bankstown might be less than 30 minutes' drive from the Lakemba Mosque, but yesterday it seemed like 1000 years away.
The almost medieval attitude that hailed Taj al-Din al-Hilaly on Friday when he justified his attack on immodest women was put to the sword yesterday in Paul Keating Park.
At the celebration of the end of Ramadan, speaker after speaker condemned Sheik Hilaly for his comments on rape, comparing unveiled women to meat left out to be devoured by rapists.
"I am not fresh meat; he should not compare girls to meat," said one young Muslim woman. "It was totally unacceptable and I am embarrassed by him," said another. Yet another described him as "ignorant, unprofessional, unacceptable".
One senior Islamic woman, Elettra Mehia, a teacher who addressed the Sydney Eid festival in the crowded park, said Muslims did not need someone in a leadership position to incite hatred and violence.
"We need strong leadership to join our community together and solve issues, not to create issues, and certainly not to give an excuse for violent acts against women. It is just wrong," she said.
"No matter what colour or creed, it is just not right. I think the majority of Muslim women would feel this way, it would be unimaginable for them to support him. Being a woman, how could you support that view?"
She said that as an educator she taught children they needed to be responsible for their actions. "This is what a leader should be saying to his male followers, that they should be responsible for their actions."
Among the official events of the festival, organised by the Islamic Charity Project in conjunction with Muslim Youth for Truth, was the awarding of certificates from the High Islamic Council of Australia for those who had passed a series of Islamic instructions.
One of the organisers of the festival, Mohamad Abboud, said the event had been a happy one, with almost everyone opposed to Sheik Hilaly.
"He is not representing the Muslim religion in Australia, he is representing himself," he said. "We are completely against what he has said."
A librarian, Dalal Saad, said she thought the mufti's comments degrading and appalling. "I think he should step down from his position," she said. "The majority of Lebanese Muslim people don't agree with what he said."
Another Muslim woman said she did not think Sheik Hilaly was fit to lead a group of people on a pilgrimage to Mecca, as he will be doing next month.
Local federal member for Bankstown Michael Hatton, who addressed the crowd, described Sheik Hilaly's comments as inappropriate, tasteless and damaging to the way Muslims were seen in Australia. He said he had long hoped the sheik would moderate his views and embrace Australian democratic society, "to make a better place for Australians, a better place for his flock".
He called on the Lebanese Muslim Association, which controls the Lakemba Mosque, to put a stop to the attacks on Australian women emanating from there.
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