Australian Muslims get a wake-up call

Australian Muslims get a wake-up call

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne

"How do you feel when each time something bad happens, you
seem to cop the blame?" asked Kayser Trad, vice president of the
Lebanese Muslim Association of New South Wales.

Trad was referring to incidents where Muslim communities in
Australia became victims of harassment, verbal and even physical
abuse by some irresponsible elements of mainstream Australian
society.

What made the sore point even sorer is that they are usually
blamed for acts that they themselves find repulsive. The most
recent example was the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington.

In reality, as soon as news about the attacks came out,
Islamic councils from all Australian states put out releases
condemning them and pointing out that many of the victims were
indeed Muslims. Sadly, the segments of the Australian population
who are inclined to vent their anger at those who are not white
Anglo-Celtic, do not read the newspapers that published these
statements.

"They are a minority," said Trad. "They are also ignorant.
They even firebombed a Roman Catholic church, which apparently to
them looks like a mosque!"

A minority they may be, but this minority has the capacity to
effect considerable damage, in the physical, as well as in the
psychological and sociological sense. After the terrorist
attacks, Muslim communities throughout Australia have
consistently been victimized in various forms.

In Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, mosques have been
firebombed and pelted with rocks, Muslims, especially women
verbally and physically abused, while families have received
anonymous letters and phone calls with death threats, and Muslim-
associated buildings defaced with unsightly graffiti.

In New South Wales, where the largest and most multi-ethnic
Muslim community lives, this series of unpleasant incidents has
served as a wake-up call.

Syech Khalil Chami, who manages the Islamic Welfare Center in
Lakemba, a south-western suburb of Sydney, where the Ali ben Abi
Taleb, the biggest mosque in Australia is situated, believes that
the community will be a lot more proactive in future.

"Until recently, we weren't very good at planning for the
future," he said. "We've seen the evidence of this negligence in
some of our young people, who are lost between Islamic identity
and the generally Western values. We have now begun to open up
and reach out.

"There have been efforts to explain to mainstream society what
Islam is and what it stands for. And we now have people in
professions with a capacity to educate and inform, such as in
teaching and journalism. In 10 years time, we hope to participate
further in the process of nation-building. We shouldn't remain in
a defensive position."

Sydney alone has over 130,000 Muslims, mostly from Lebanon, a
fair number from Turkey, Somalia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
India, and a few from Indonesia. They are fairly represented in
small to medium businesses and the building trade.

Sheikh Khalil Chami OAM (Member of the Order of Australia), an
authorized marriage celebrant who has lived in Australia for 58
years, recounted that Muslims migrating to the country some 75
years ago established very good relations with mainstream
society.

Despite being a minority, he did not recall any significant
tension for the immigrants, especially tension caused by
religious differences.

"We were respected as we were and never had difficulty
obtaining suitable employment," he said.

The first turnaround, he recalled, was during 1976 to 1978,
when large numbers came from the war-torn Lebanon.

"Seventeen to eighteen thousand of them. And we, mainstream
society included, just didn't have the capacity to absorb them,"
he continued.

The sudden swelling in the numbers to be educated and employed
was stretching society's tolerance beyond limits. Resentment grew
among some in the mainstream population, making the newcomers
feel unwelcome and defensive.

"We should have learned our lesson when the community's anger
was turned against us during the 1991 Gulf War," Sheikh Chami
conceded, "but instead, when things settled, we forgot. Our
community grew, the potential for tension also grew, and we were
not prepared."

The Muslim community did grow. The Ali Ben Abi Taleb Mosque in
Wangee Street, Lakemba, for instance, is the place of worship for
over 6,000 Muslims every Friday, and on Idul Fitri and Idul Adha
festivals some 40,000 go to pray there.

Kayser Trad who, among his numerous community tasks, looks
after those who looks after those who wish become Muslims, said
that people approached him for induction purposes every day. This
may be the result of his tireless endeavors, including networking
with the media, translating Friday services in the mosque into
English for non-Arabic speakers and, above all, his positive
attitude in general.

While exasperated by the noisy, hostile and action-happy
minority within mainstream society, Trad believes that there is a
counter minority who actively defends the Muslims' interests in
Australia.

"Most Australians are not racist or hostile," he said
emphatically. "We have had non-Muslim women coming to us offering
to accompany our Muslim women in the streets so that they
wouldn't be harassed or abused. And we've had people calling to
say that they sympathize with our current plight and offer to
protect us in any way they can."

Trad's story was reinforced by Syeikh Chami's accounts of
church and community leaders having made joint-statements with
him condemning the attacks. They have also marched together in
peace rallies.

"Why do they think we'd support the Taliban?" asked Syekh
Chami. "If the Taliban were allowed a free hand, Islam would be
reduced to nothing in no time."