Shire Ali “was known to ASIO and had his passport cancelled in 2015, it is understood to prevent him travelling to Syria to join Islamic State.” Mental illness? Come on. The family’s claims might carry more weight if they could produce any evidence that Shire Ali was actually being treated for mental illness; so far they’ve just asserted that he was mentally ill. And this excuse is so often used in obvious cases of Islamic jihad that skepticism becomes unavoidable. The Muslim community in Australia is trying to prevent scrutiny of Islamic teachings, the very thing that is most needed. Kudos to Morrison for (so far) standing his ground.
“PM dismisses mental health as an ‘excuse’ for ‘radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam’ in Melbourne terror aftermath,” by Cameron Jenkins, Australian Times, November 12, 2018:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australian Muslims need to take greater responsibility in helping to uncover potential terrorists….
“Religious extremism takes many forms around the world and no religion is immune from it. That is the lesson of history and, sadly, modern history as well,” he said.
“But here in Australia, we would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam.”
In interviews with Australian media on Monday, the prime minister urged the Muslim community to be more “proactive” claiming some imams and community leaders will know who is “infiltrating” and radicalising members of their congregations.
He dismissed the idea that the metal health of Friday’s attacker was the root cause of the incident as an “excuse”.
“This bloke, radicalised here in Australia with extreme Islam, took a knife and cut down a fellow Australian in Bourke Street,” Morrison told Network Ten on Monday.
“I am not going to make an excuse for that. Of course issues of mental health and all these other things are important.
“He was a terrorist. He was a radical extremist terrorist who took a knife to another Australian because he had been radicalised in this country.”
On Friday evening on Bourke Street in Melbourne’s CBD, 30 year old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali crashed a car loaded with gas bottles before stabbing three people. He was shot by police and later died in hospital. One of the victims, well known Melbourne restaurateur Sisto Malspina, died from his wounds.
In a letter given to 9News, the family of Shire Ali say he was mentally ill and was in need of help but refused it.
“Hasan suffered from mental illness for years and refused help,” the letter reads.
“He’s been deteriorating these past few months.
“He has seen a psychologist and psychiatrist, but stopped as his paranoia and hallucinations led him to believe they’re ‘after him’.
“Please stop turning this into a political game.”…
30-year old Shire Ali was born in Somalia and moved to Australia in the 90s. He was known to ASIO and had his passport cancelled in 2015, it is understood to prevent him travelling to Syria to join Islamic State, but was not being actively monitored.