MELBOURNE, Australia - Austraila, the land down under, could soon be known for something else.
Government research revealed last summer that young Muslims there were more at risk of being lured into militant Islam than any other western country.
Click play to watch Pat Robertson's analysis following this CBN News report.
When he was Prime Minister, John Howard took a combative stance against radical Islam and urged Aussies to remain vigilant-- vigilant against incendiary outbursts like Sheik Fez Mohammed, formerly of the Global Islamic Youth Center near Sydney.
"We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam," Mohammed said. "Teach them this: that there is nothing no more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid."
That got Howard's attention as did others concerning the treatment of women.
The leading islamic cleric of Sydney -- the former grand mufti Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali suggested that an Australian rape victim deserved her attack because she left her home without covering her head. He said, "Uncovered meat is the problem."
Some Muslim community leaders expressed outrage at Hilali's remarks. But that didn't stop the Sheik from voicing contempt for Australians and their culture.
"The most dishonest and unjust people are Western people and the English in particular," al-Hilali said. "Listen to me - Anglo Saxons came to Australia in chains while we Muslims paid our way and came in freedom. We are more Australian than them!"
Pastor Danny Nalliah, of Catch the Fire Ministries, moved to Australia from the Middle East ten years ago.
"People leave their home countries because they think Australia is a better place to live in, and unfortunately what happens right now, people try to change this country to the place where they've come from," Nalliah said.
"I think the immigration policy needs to be tightened to find out, get people understanding that people who come here should adapt to the country and become part of Australia," he said.
The Australian government took steps to do just that. Last year it began requiring a 20 question test for people applying for citizenship. It remains to be seen if new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will continue or expand the tougher immigration policy.
So why do some think some Muslim immigrants have difficulty assimilating into Australian society?
Pastor Daniel Scott, a Pakistani Immigrant and a lecturer on Islam and the Koran, says Islam prohibits them from embracing a non-Islamic culture
"Allah says in the Koran -- the Koran is the holy book of Muslim people. In Sura 3 verse 28, a Muslim shall not befriend a non-Muslim. Allah would cut them off from himself,' Scott said.
scott suggests that can lead to Islamic enclaves -- isolated neighborhoods and communities within a secular society. They become potential breeding grounds for Islamic extremism.
They're places where lessons of hatred and anti-Semitism for Muslim youth can flourish -- like these comments -- again, from Sheik Fez Mohammed:
"This creature will say oh Muslim, behind me is a Jew, come and kill him. They'll be oink, oink, all of them, every single one of them!"
Those remarks came of no surprise to Scott.
"Allah says in Koran, Sura 98 verse 6, it says people of the book -- that means Jews and Christians -- are shalobaraya -- the most most evil of all creatures," he said.
What do Muslims think of their treatment in Australian society?
At one of the largest mosques in the Melbourne area, we talked to one of the head imams. He wouldn't appear on camera, but off camera he told us the Muslims here are non-political."
"We do not get involved in politics here," he said. "Not at all."
But one young Muslim approached us to offer his opinion. He said he doesn't believe Muslims can speak openly in Australian society.
"You can get in trouble basically," he said
"Can you be arrested for that?" we asked.
"It depends on what you say and what you stand for, you know. A simple example, the war between Israel and Hizbollah," he said.
Our discussion was interrupted by a Mosque elder who took the young man inside for prayer.
"After prayer, go see the leaders of the mosque, not the followers because some people don't have as much knowledge as others," the mosque leader told us.
Perhaps leaders like Sheik Fez Mohammed, who has said, "The peak, the pinnacle, the crest, the highest point, the pivot, the summit of Islam is jihad!"
*Original broadcast June 7, 2008.
