the case of jean charles de menezes, the brazilian electrician murdered by police on a london train, demonstrates that having the wrong coloured skin and being in the wrong part of town can have fatal consequences. unfortunately, melbourne is not immune from such totalitarian excesses.

australian politicians and the media are baying for the blood of brunswick cleric sheikh mohammed omran because he is daring to publicly question the official version of events. no-one has accused him of a crime against anyone, but john howard is calling his opinion “apalling” from london, and backbenchers are wanting his citizenship revoked.

this is not the only case. a university student who graduated from the honours program in terrorism studies at monash uni last year was recently interviewed by the federal police on the basis of the books he had bought, all of which were on the recommended reading list for the course. the reason he was singled out of the 40 or so students taking the course? he’s a muslim and his name is abraham.

so now we are to be alert and alarmed not only about suspicious criminal activity, but also about people saying or reading the wrong things. am i the only one reminded of the words of

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1. Explosions in London
2. The Cutting Room Floor of the Melb Model
3. Melbourne Modeling
4. Who’d be living at Parkville?
5. Feminist Symposium