Australia's immigration minister criticized the country's former prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, for allowing "Lebanese-Muslim" immigrants into the country in the 1970s.
Minister Peter Dutton pointed fingers at the immigrant population, saying it has links to terrorism.
"Out of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offenses in this country, 22 of those people are from second- and third-generation Lebanese-Muslim background," Dutton said, according to The Guardian.
"I don’t want terrorist offenses being committed in our country."
Lebanese-Australians and other Australians were quick to criticize and condemn the ministers comments and broad generalization.
Because 22 people don't define the majority
The comments are deeply offensive
And there is clearly a double standard
Nobody is making the same argument about other immigrant groups
People are connecting this to part of a disturbing global trend
Australian Muslims are sick of taking the blame
And there are calls to #SackDutton
The Lebanese Muslim Association responded
"Mr. Dutton is just another in a long line of politicians and public personalities to question our community, to question our loyalty, to question our contribution and to reduce us as a community to a stereotype and a caricature," President of the Lebanese Muslim Association Samier Dandan said.
"Let us not beat around the bush here. What Mr. Dutton said was racist. What he implied was racist."
Dandan also reminded Dutton and Australia that many Lebanese immigrants came to the country to escape their country's civil war. He said they were escaping the same kind of violence Dutton is now trying to blame on the community.