MUSLIM
AUSTRALASIAN
Multimedia News & Views
ISSN: 1039-2300
AMUST
Print Post Publication No. 100021354
Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates
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Issue # 138
May 2017; Sha’aban 1438
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Muslims in the Mainstream
Dr Zaheer Australian Tour
Interview with Minister Ray Williams
A good deed in a weary world
Yassmin demonised, yet again
COMMUNITY PAGE 9
Tamana Daqiq.
Trent Sullivan.
AMUST Media In a world filled with Islamophobia and what seems like a never-ending barrage of hate towards Muslims on social media, TV and the media, one must remember that there are many good souls out there in the community. One of these is Trent Sullivan. Tamana Daqiq, Principal Solicitor at Hikma Legal found herself in a bit of a bind as her car had run out of petrol at the side of the road on 28 April at Windsor Road in Westmead. Trent volunteered to help out in an extra ordinary manner. Tamana wrote online “Run out of petrol on the way to work. This guy pushed my car into his driveway, filled it with enough petrol to get me to the station and wiped my car clean at the end! Hope in humanity restored. If you need a vending machine for your business, call him!” We contacted Trent who reflected “I believe the more we can show kidness and care for each other, the better society will be”. It’s a reminder that a great majority of members in our Australian community are good, fair people and no matter the climate, to remember to never lose hope in random acts of kindness and to ensure we pass it on to others. Trent Sullivan owns a vending machine business called Royal Vending. Tamana’s post on Facebook even generated potential business opportunity for him. Trent’s character is a great representative of this business. As William Shakespeare said, ‘How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.’
AUSTRALIA PAGE 13
Mobinah Ahmad The ongoing media assault on Yassmin Abdel-Magied had dominated the spotlight last month almost like an obsessive love-to-hate frenemy. Yassmin wrote: “Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine…)”. It is astounding how seven short words on a facebook post (which was later deleted) has sparked some of the most disgusting vitriol from social media trolls, online news platforms and television panels severely demonising Yassmin. The mania behind the reaction reveals a kind of hypocrisy, from some Liberal politicians, right-wing columnists and shockjocks and shows the true nature of who freedom of speech is reserved for in this country. The over-reaction of hate towards Yassmin resulted in multiple petitions with thousands of signatures calling for her to be sacked from her presenting role at the ABC. She was called a “bitch” by a reality TV housewife on live television and vilified on so many public forums. The right-wing lynch mob tactics of press and politics vilified her identity rather than what she wrote. It’s a clear portrayal of vicious retribution against the 26-year-old, through the incessant piles of articles and commentary nationwide. However, a number of columnists have come in defence of Yassmin, writing against her victimisation because of her gender, skin colour and religion. Masrur-Ul Islam Joarder wrote for the Huffington Post on how freedom of speech is a white man’s privilege. “Her lack of sensitivity towards ANZAC Day certainly raised eyebrows from her followers, but it
Untold Stories From Gallipoli
UMMAH PAGE 23
SOCIAL PAGE 30
was the reaction from the right which was most shocking. Waves of racist, sexist, Islamophobic attacks came her way because she dared to exercise her freedom of speech. She dared to even utter a reference to ANZAC Day, an almost religious occasion for most Australians. People lost their damn minds. Yassmin is a brown, Muslim woman. Her opinion does not matter. Her right to free speech does not count. Regardless of her values, intellect and demeanour, she needs to be silenced at all costs because she is a threat. Yassmin threatens every conservative Australian who may have reservations about Islam and Muslims because she is willing to engage in discussion and reveal the truth: that Islam advocates for peace and the majority of Muslims want exactly that. The truth is threatening as it limits an individual’s ability to conceal their racism behind a pretence of national security and “Australian values”. Jane Gilmore wrote an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald saying “it would be naive to the point of delusional to think (that Yassmin being a brown Muslim woman) plays no part in the weight of the rage that has settled upon her. She hits every hot button of ideology and it is abhorrent, but sadly unsurprising, that her every action is scrutinised by the right-wing conservatives whose message of exclusion is most threatened by the identity she proudly carries into the public eye.” continued on page 4
Ongoing turmoil in Kashmir Abu Anees
per year
Kashmiris are undergoing another cycle of suffering due to the heavy handed and excessive use of force by the Indian army in handling public protests by a new generation of young people in the Kashmir valley. The BJP central government has been accused both outside and within India of going for the military option and strong-arm tactics against a political solution to the Kashmir issue, in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir. The result is the vicious cycle of protests and oppression leading to further militancy, terrorism and border clashes between India and Pakistan at the line of control.
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