Hummus, Hamas and the hopeless naïve

In the wake of the violent Islamist riots in Sydney and around the world, many commentators have pointed out the threat posed to free speech. Concerns that western governments will seek a political accommodation and try to appease Islamofascist grievances by limiting freedom to criticise Islam are not overstated.

In Australia, many elites in politics, government and academia have been intellectually programmed to pursue this course by the ‘multicultural mindset’ – by the set of ideas that have shaped thinking about how we should deal with racial and religious differences  for the last 40 years.

The assumptions underpinning the multicultural mindset are now being mugged by reality. But despite the facts changing, I fear that minds will not, and this mindset will shape the response to the riots in a way that will damage the principles of a free society.

When the official policy of multiculturalism was formulated in the 1970s, proponents believed that cultural…