The Q Society and the anti-Halal campaigner, Kirralie Smith, agreed today to make a public apology and have made an out-of-court settlement over the defamation case brought against them by Mohamed El-Mouelhy, the director of the Halal Certification Authority1.
The action brought against the Q Society, Kirralie Smith and others was in response to two videos posted to YouTube in 2015. The videos featured Smith discussing Halal certification, and allegedly accused El-Mouelhy of “promoting a global push for Islamisation calculated to destroy Australian values of freedom and tolerance”. Coming from the ultra right, this statement only engenders hilarity. I suspect these people wouldn’t recognise irony if it bit them on the nose.
The reliably half-witted Cory Bernardi2 and Jacqui Lambie3 have backed the anti-Halal group which has been led by Smith since 2011, such that they maintained that the fees charged for the Halal certification service effectively acted as a religious tax because the Halal Certification Authority charges a fee. Funny how people like the Q Society only ever point to Halal and not to the Kosher Certification Authority or even the gluten-free accreditation program, both of which charge a fee for their services.4
So, it is clear that these right wing nutters are simply bigots who clothe their rationale in bogus argument.
Sources
