Whether it’s Mohammed becoming the most popular baby name, or one in 10 babies in Australia being Muslim or the fact that halal meat is being served in Pizza Hut, a Muslim story always tends to generate more heat than light. Yet what most Australians fail to recognise is the fact that Islamophobia within Australian communities pose possibly a greater threat to humanity than Islam itself.
Early this week, Islamic State insurgent group ISIS, circulated photos and a video purporting to show images and a video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kasaesbeh, being burned alive in a cage. While the beheading of hostages from the US, Britain and Japan drew condemnation from most religious sects within Islam, the horrific images of the airman’s murder served as a unifying …show more content…
Today this so called “war on terror” - with no end in sight, a generalised societal fear, the suspension of civil liberties, and an ill-defined enemy who could be anywhere or anything – provides Australians with the golden egg of opportunities to exhibit hateful and dehumanising behaviour towards Muslim people.
Unfortunately, the greatest victims of “terrorism” are in fact *shock horror* Muslim Australians, who represent diverse ethnic groups across the country and yet are being targeted as one homogenous mass. Late last year the Sydney Morning Herald revealed a plethora of hate-crimes against Muslim Australians across all states, including: graffiti on mosques, Egging of homes, verbal threats, drive-by bigotry, and Muslim mothers being told to remove their children from public playgrounds! While anti-sematic remarks and other racial assaults often draw disapproval within Australian society, the widespread vitriol against Muslims in the wake of recent terror events has been sadly
Early this week, Islamic State insurgent group ISIS, circulated photos and a video purporting to show images and a video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kasaesbeh, being burned alive in a cage. While the beheading of hostages from the US, Britain and Japan drew condemnation from most religious sects within Islam, the horrific images of the airman’s murder served as a unifying …show more content…
Today this so called “war on terror” - with no end in sight, a generalised societal fear, the suspension of civil liberties, and an ill-defined enemy who could be anywhere or anything – provides Australians with the golden egg of opportunities to exhibit hateful and dehumanising behaviour towards Muslim people.
Unfortunately, the greatest victims of “terrorism” are in fact *shock horror* Muslim Australians, who represent diverse ethnic groups across the country and yet are being targeted as one homogenous mass. Late last year the Sydney Morning Herald revealed a plethora of hate-crimes against Muslim Australians across all states, including: graffiti on mosques, Egging of homes, verbal threats, drive-by bigotry, and Muslim mothers being told to remove their children from public playgrounds! While anti-sematic remarks and other racial assaults often draw disapproval within Australian society, the widespread vitriol against Muslims in the wake of recent terror events has been sadly