A report in The Australian newspaper says that  Keysar Trad, the longtime spokesman for Muslim cleric Sheik Taj bin al-Hilaly, was described as racist and offensive by a Supreme Court judge who rejected his defamation claim against top-rated Sydney radio station 2GB.

Trad sued 2GB in the NSW Supreme Court after 2GB's Jason Morrison described him as "gutless" and " just trouble" for his conduct at a rally after the Cronulla riots in December 2005.

Mr Trad's comment about the "shame of tabloid journalism" caused the crowd to boo and harass a 2GB reporter near the stage.

The reporter told Morrison he feared for his safety, prompting Morrison to deliver his tirade the following morning, in which he also described Mr Trad as a "disgraceful and dangerous individual who incited violence, hatred and racism."

We all spot the disconnect when someone criticizes Israel and is immediately called anti-semitic.  Israel is a country and Judaisim is a Religion - not the same thing.  And when someone criticizes a Muslim, they are called racist - at least by Muslims.  Huh?  Muslims belong to the Islam Religion and although they are often of Arabian Origin, they can also be caucasian, punjabi (e.g. Pakistan), black (there's millions of Muslims in Africa), Chinese and any other race.  So why the allegations of racism?  Simple - most people disapprove of racism and it's easier to say "You're racist"  than "You are criticizing my Religion and that's not right".  If a Catholic criticizes an Anglican, there are no cries of "racist" unless of course one happens to be a different race to the other.  But many people exploit the general disapproval of racism to invoke it when they should be defending freedom of religion.

An article here describes how Muslim women in countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan are beaten, treated as slaves or chattels, and have virtually no rights.  I have extracted a large part of the article here:

Rise in Bangladesh female canings alarms rights groups

There has recently been an increase in the number of women in Bangladesh caned for behaviour that would do no more than raise an eyebrow elsewhere.

The cuts on Rahima Begum's legs are healing but the unmarried mother will carry, for her whole life, the psychological scars from a public whipping for revealing who was the father of her child. In Muslim Bangladesh, having a child out of wedlock is a great taboo, and the elders (Jirgas) in Rahima's village in Eastern Bangladesh decided she should be taught a lesson after pointing the finger at a neighbour, who denied the charge.

"They called me before a makeshift court and ruled that I was a liar", the 22-year-old told AFP from her hospital bed. Rahima's punishment was to be caned 39 times in front of the village elders and its Islamic clerics. The case shocked many in Bangladesh, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordering Rahima to be moved from a small village hospital in Comilla to one of the best in the capital Dhaka. There, she is receiving treatment, including further counseling, a month after the beating.

"Every time I close my eyes, I just play the scene over and over in my head", she said.