The discovery that many Australians have joined the “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist enterprise has been alarming, especially in Australia itself. The authorities are trying to come to grips with this development, shocked that young people raised in Australia could engage in the barbaric actions carried out by the group.

Australia has had a counterterrorism strategy in place for some time, but apparently it has not been effective in stemming the supply of Australian terrorists who have now joined their Middle East fellow extremists in wreaking havoc.

Highlighting this new development, Prime Minister Tony Abbot said in August, “The threat to Australia and Australians from extremists is real and growing… Australian citizens and dual nationals are currently fighting overseas in Iraq, Syria and other conflicts, committing unspeakable atrocities and honing terrorist skills. … Many violent jihadists will attempt to return home.”

Most Muslims around the world agree with him on condemning terrorism in all its forms. In particular, the “Islamic State,” with its shocking brutality and presumptuous claims about a caliphate that rules over all Muslims, has enraged almost everybody.

Kingdom’s Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Ashaikh, country’s top religious authority, described the group as the “number one threat to Islam,” adding that, “Extremist and militant ideas and terrorism which spread evil on earth, destroying human civilization, are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims.”

To deal with the new threats, Abbot recently proposed new legislation giving security agencies increased power to deal with terrorist threats. The Counter-Terrorism Foreign Fighters Bill would broaden the definition of terrorism to include training with terror organizations, as well as promotion and encouragement of terrorist acts. It would also prohibit travel to certain locations without proper reason. Changing the legal definition of terrorism would lower the threshold for arresting suspects and could lower evidentiary standards. The legislation will include measures to deal with threats arising from technology advancements, including data retention and telecommunication interception law changes.

The bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in the first week of spring sitting and is expected to have bipartisan support. To give teeth to the new legislation, the government is allocating about $600 million to enhance counterterrorism efforts. Although technically the terrorism threat remains unchanged at medium since Sept. 11, 2001 the government is not taking any chances; the Australian premier recently asserted that, “The potential for terrorism in this country has substantially increased. The number of people that need to be monitored has substantially increased.”

Intelligence assessment released in June 2014 estimated that up to 150 Australians had fought with radical groups abroad. Last week, Australian police issued arrest warrants for two Sydney men believed to be fighting alongside the IS after one of them appeared to pose with severed heads of his victims.

It was with that background that Abbott spent this past week meeting with Muslim community leaders to garner support for the proposed counterterrorism legislation and to build a unified front to fight extremists with “Team Australia.”

Community leaders were divided about those meetings. While adamant about rejection of terrorism, in any shape or form, they reject being associated with the behavior of violent extremists abroad, including some wayward Muslim Australians. They are frustrated by the need to always justify themselves over actions that they have nothing to do with, and that they condemn and deplore.

They lauded Abbott’s objective to foster unity, and consider his inclusive leadership as a key component of the most important counterterrorism strategy — reducing the alienation and anger among a small section of the Muslim community that can breed extremism and lead to terrorism.

However, Muslim activists are concerned that the language being used by government officials was framed in an implicitly accusatory manner; they point out for example to Abbot’s statement to the media as he was heading into the first of the meetings: “You don’t migrate to this country unless you want to join our team, and that’s the point I will be stressing. The only flag that should be flying is the Australian national flag.”

One of the strongest grievances in the Muslim community is the apparent official double standard, whereby the government does not seem to be critical of Israel’s devastation of Gaza, or of Australian citizens joining Israel’s armed forces carrying out the most brutal onslaught on Palestinian civilians. Skepticism lingers in the Muslim community from the time in 2012, when Abbott, while still in the opposition, reportedly said: “Australians are Israelis. We are all Israelis.”

Despite the skepticism going into the meetings with the premier, community leaders later described them as constructive, and praised Abbott for listening to their candid concerns.

It was noticeable that the government rhetoric also became more inclusive later in the week, taking the lead from the premier himself who told ABC Radio, “I don’t want any suggestion that some of our citizens are against our country. The point I keep making in all of my discussions with migrant groups is that you chose us… You voted confidence in Australia that makes you first-class citizens of your new home. You chose our country in a way that the native born haven’t.” He was also reassuring: “You’ll never find this government questioning the loyalty to Australia of our migrant communities.”

Security agencies also appear determined to reach out to the Muslim community. For example, David Irvine, head of Australia’s Security Intelligence Organization said on the radio that he was “utterly outraged” by the Australian newspaper’s headline I quoted in my column last week that “We will fight Islam for 100 years.”

There is a need that these reassuring and discerning statements be echoed by Australian media, to prevent an anti-Muslim backlash every time there is an outrageous act committed in the name of Islam.

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