Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Lazyboy moments with religiophobia

To celebrate the new term 'religiophobia', I'll have another Lazyboy Moment (I'll try to find the link):

The fear of Muslims

Compiled by Vikki Leone, The Age Education Unit
The Age, Wednesday December 4

Are Australians becoming less tolerant?

Having many cultures and religions flourishing in relative harmony has long been one of Australia's great achievements. Some are concerned, however, that since the terrorist attacks of September 11 last year, there has been a growth in ``Islamophobia'', a fear of Muslims. Robert Manne, an associate professor of politics at La Trobe University, says: ``Islamophobia now represents by far the most serious threat to the idea of multiculturalism, and even to the ideas of religious and ethnic toleration, that Australia has witnessed for very many years.''

Has fear of terrorism increased racist behaviour?

The September 11 attacks, the Bali bombings, public alerts about terrorism, the Washington sniper and the Monash University shootings have all fuelled concerns about personal safety in Australia.

The attacks in New York and Bali have allegedly been carried out by a small number of Islamic fundamentalists.

Few would suggest that Muslims in Australia - many of whom were born here - are anything but law-abiding citizens who share the same desire to live in peace and freedom as other Australians. Muslim community leaders have repeatedly condemned fundamentalist terrorism and expressed concern about growing resentment towards Muslims.

However, there is evidence of increased racist attacks on Muslim Australians and those of Middle Eastern appearance. Mosques have been vandalised and subjected to bomb threats, and Muslims have reported growing harassment. The hijab, the Islamic headdress which so visibly links Muslim women to their religion, has made some feel so vulnerable that they avoid public places for fear of harassment.

Some argue that any racist behaviour comes from a small intolerant minority, just as an unrepresentative minority carries out terrorism.

Recent developments

Recently, a NSW MP, the Reverend Fred Nile, caused controversy when he urged the government to consider banning the wearing of the hijab in public places as a security precaution, because it could be used by terrorists to conceal weapons and explosives.

Prime Minister John Howard initially did not clearly rule out supporting such a ban. Mr Howard's ambiguity drew fierce criticism from political opponents, unions, the Anglican church and the Islamic community, who claimed he was allowing peaceful Australians to be vilified because of their religious beliefs.

Mr Howard more clearly distanced himself from the proposal the following day. The Greens leader, Bob Brown, accused Mr Howard of fostering anti-Muslim sentiment by default, and opposition leader Simon Crean said: ``National leaders have responsibilities to respond to these statements immediately and unequivocally; to speak up for the nation and the need for tolerance; not to promote division, blame or scapegoating.''

Recent headlines

  • ``Muslims in the middle'' The Sunday Age, November 24, 2002.
    ``Crean blasts PM over stand on Muslim clothing'' The Age, November 23, 2002.
    ``Our leaders should mind their tongues'' The Age, October 21, 2002.
    ``Beware the new racism'' The Age, September 16, 2002.

What The Age says

``It is a very sad state of affairs that Australians whose only difference is their religion should exist in a climate of mutual fear and suspicion. It is the responsibility of Muslims and non-Muslims alike to see that this does not continue. Attacks on Muslims are to be deplored, but Muslim leaders also need to state, strongly and often, their condemnation of the terrorism that has been conducted in the name of their religion. Muslim Australians have as much interest in preventing terrorism as other Australians. We are in this fight together.''
Editorial, The Age, November 6, 2002.

What people say

``It is a sad day when an MP feels the best way to fight terrorism is to wage a war against Muslim women. The Australian Arabic Council is not only appalled that an elected politician would so clearly scapegoat Australians, but that senior political figures should let him get away with it.''
Roland Jabbour, chairman of the Australian Arabic Council, The Age, November 25, 2002.

``They'd have understood Nile in Moscow when those Muslim women invaded a theatre with bombs under their burkas.''
D. Smith, The Age , November 25, 2002.

``Fred Nile points out that as world terrorism is coming from mainly Muslim extremist sources, and because Muslim women are now joining their menfolk in acts of terror - as recently happened in Russia and has happened on several occasions in Israel - it would be prudent to ban Muslim burkas, which could be used to conceal weapons. Some of your readers have argued (22/11) that we then must ban all such garments worn by judges, priests and nuns - but that is to miss the point that none of these is associated with a culture of terrorism.''
R. Walker, The Age , November 25, 2002.

``Indeed, no country in the world is as conscious of terrorism as Israel is; no country, unfortunately, has had more experience. Yet Israel has never banned its Muslim citizens from wearing anything, and I'm yet to hear of an Israeli expert who thinks such a method would be effective in combating terrorism.''
Sol Salbe, The Age , November 25, 2002.

``The IEU is appalled that anyone, particularly a MP, would come out and promote such religious intolerance. There is nothing Christian about this attitude; it is divisive and plays into the hands of extremists.''
Dick Shearman, NSW/ACT Independent Education Union.

``Perhaps Fred Nile might also ban maternity smocks, beer guts, oversized jeans, sombreros . . . the list is endless.'' Diana Greentree, The Age , November 23, 2002.

``Before the (ASIO) raids, Australian Muslims had frequently encountered an outrageous and vitriolic discourse of hate on talkback radio, and in tabloid columns. We observed our government's manipulation of mostly Muslim refugees in a scare campaign to retain power in the 2001 election. It is natural then that Muslims viewed ASIO's horrific and unnecessary tactics to raid Muslim homes as either a calculated message, or an involuntary expression of an underlying paradigm.''
Waleed Aly, president of the Melbourne University Islamic Society, The Sunday Age, November 21, 2002.

``Just last week, molotov cocktails nearly set alight the Doncaster East mosque at which my family and I worship. One of my closest girlfriends, who only last month commanded the personal courage to decide to wear hijab, went home in tears after being harassed and sworn at by a car-load of women while filling her car with petrol.''
Randa Abdel-Fattah, The Age, October 21, 2002.

Your view

Students are encouraged to share their views. Have you seen or been subjected to anti-Islamic behaviour? Is Australia's identity as a tolerant and peaceful multicultural society at risk? Have Muslims become an undeserving target of suspicion? Do religious garments pose a security risk? Submit your view online.

Curriculum links

CSF II Learning outcomes

SOSE: Australia's people & places, 3.1, 3.2; Eco 4.2, 5.1; History 6.6

Web Links

Islamic Council of Victoria

Racism no way

And these two were written by Iain Lygo.

This is where religiophobia comes into play, not racism.

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