Australia - Melting Pot Politics

2006-03-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

Letter to John Howard regarding divisive comments against Muslims

Dear Mr. Howard,

I am writing with strong concern about the comments by yourself and the the treasurer Mr. Peter Costello in recent days in the media.

The constant negative attacks towards migrants and Muslims are divisive inaccurate generalisations.

There is not a great difference between strict Muslims, observant Jewish people and even staunch Christians.

I can also assure that Christians and Muslims from overseas, for example, Arabs are generally quite similar and yes they have religious differences but many Middle Eastern Christians still adhere to practices attribted to Muslims for example honour systems for their daughters, marrying cousins and not marrying out of the culture. I have personal family exeperience in this matter with a cosin having a terrible time from her Christian Lebanese's family regarding their marriage. Culture is culture regardless of religion.

I can assure you I have travelled and the caste systems of India are appalling and the strong class based societies of many south Asian and Middle Eastern countries go completely against my beliefs and upbringing as an Astralian. This has little to do with religion. I actually find the complete egalitarianism demanded in Islam very compatibility to Australian values.

Back to the situation in Australia. Peter Costello has blamed 'migrants' again for not fitting in. That is partially true for migrants of all religions. It is difficult for non-English speaking background people from any country to adapt imitially. My grandfather was a Swedish migrant - illegal for many years actually, my mother told me he still ate his own food and never learned perfect English. My mother's mother's family Irish/French immigrants and 'scorned' Catholics but her uncle also started Bega cheese. They certainly contributed to australian society eventually even though they started out as humble migrants from a marginalised and persecuted religious group.

I must mention that all observant Jews actually practice a religion very similar to Islam and even more strict. Particularly regarding women and men mixing and women showing their hair etc. Strict Jewish women don't even show their hair to their husbands! I recommend a very interesting documentary aired on the SBS twice in the last two years about the lifestyle of an observant Jewish family in Melbourne. It is charming and informative. The family have around 15 children. Dad is very 'Aussie' having grown up in Australia dn finding religion in his twenties. Mom is from Israel and an Australian citizen. These people are still Australian and still seem have what I call 'Australian' values (work, family, fair and honest easy going people) though they have little to do with Australian 'popular' culture.

I will lastly mention you comments directed against Muslim women are unacceptable. Many women from poor marginalised countries are treated 'unfairly' or as second class citizens without access to money, resources, work, voting rights, and fair treatment in the law in their societies for example. Poverty and lack of resources in developing countries have more to do with the treatment of women than religion. First generation English, Australian and north American Muslim women are generally educated, have access to work and legal rights and are contributing to society. There are many terrible abuses of women in Asia, Africa and Papua New Guinea were the AIDS epidemic is out of control many of the transmissions are because of rape and prostitution. Asia and Easter Europe have terrible records with women being forced into the sex trade. These sort of problems are not so evident for women in Muslim countries so comparatively I think they are doing well in these areas.

I hope you will consider my comments and please stop driving a wedge between Australians wherever they hail from. It is affecting people from my electorate badly with reports of Muslims women particularly being abused by their neighbours even. This is how comments from our 'leaders' translate to the general public. People often can't discern between an moderate Muslim and a radical and have no real idea about these things. We are all ' Muslims' and the emeny (Iraq War) to many average Aussie's. Please try to avoid these generalisations that are making people scared and anxious and unable to function in a normal life.

2006-03-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

Religion and Culture - what's the difference ?

The negativity against average moderate Muslims not fitting in with Australian values and culture people is unfortunate and mostly il-informed. yes there are very strict and sometimes seemingly unreasonablly strict Muslims, however, the same can be said for fundementalist 'observant' Jewish and Christian people.

Migration brings many religious groups and cultures to Australia, instead of Muslim Middle Eastern people and Africans, Asians should just Christiansbe allowed as migrants? Would they be more like Aussie's ? Native African Christians or Christians from PNG , Asians etc . They may be spiritually alike with practicing. Christians perhaps. It is unlikely will they be anymore like the average Aussie because they are Christian. I can assure you there is little difference in the cultures whatever religion people are Christians. Christian and Muslim Arabs are still Arabs and have similiar cultures regardless of religion. Average people from developing countries are generally conservative, women are marginalised because of difficult economic conditions and the societies are generally partriachal - Christian, Jewish and Muslim. Extremist religious people in all religions are generally minorities and won’t want to be in anything except a complete religious existence whatever country they live in.

Does religious pratice also mean that Christians and Jewish people are rejecting mainstream Australia. Regarding Christian fundamentalism, a friends daughter attended Hillsong Church in Sydney's northwest and was told she should only be friends with other Christians who accept Jesus etc and nobody else. I have also been to a Church of Christ women’s meeting where the faithful where indoctrinated with the advice that women should follow and obey their husbands!

The Islamic faith upholds similiar doctrines to Islam . Jewish women also cover their hair and extreme practitioners don't even show their hair to their husbands and in some cases shave their hair completely. The religion and cultures of these semetic people have many common roots including language. A large proportion of the Hebrew alphabet has the same letters as Arabic and language crosses over as well. Are Jewish people being ostracised for practising their religion in Australia, fortnately not in this decade. The history of religious intolerance and its terrible consequences are well known, particularly for the Jewish race.

Islam is often blamed for intolerance, bad treatment of women, poor humam rights records and terrorism. These complaints are often true, but it has more to do with the nqual distribution of wealth and poverty, lack of education and competetion for resorces often experienced in develpoing contires and is typical experience of such nations regardless of religion. China is mostly Buddhist but has one of te worst human rights records in the world. Executions, forced abortions etc. Africa has terrible Human rights recor and women are regulkarly absed and raped contributing to the high AIDS incidence. This is typical of Papua New Ginea as well. America regularly exectes poor black marginalised and sometimes underage young men. The shining beacon of democracy and human rights has it's own questiobale practices regarding human rights and racial tolerance. Religion cannot be blamed for any of the above though some do use it for their own agendas.

So back to Australian values! What are Australian values? I say egalitariansim is the key. A fair go ! I have seen much of the class distinctions of other 'cultures' in my travels Middle Eastern, Indian, Asia this is regardless of religion. Treat other fairly and equally no matter what their background rich poor , black white etc... They are the values I fight for.

2006-03-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Australia: Getting lost in the past trying to find the future ?

So 'retro-ocker' here we come, just when Australia the 'lucky country' was almost escaped it’s ocker image.The latest television advertising campaign to entice American’s to come to Australia features the final of line of a young gorgeous girl on the beach asking “Where the bloody hell are you” 1 . Sounds like a comment “Shazza” the ‘ocker’ chick from local SBS comedy Pizza2 fame might be screaming at her stoner boyfriend . It just doesn’t sound credible coming from the sweet young thing ‘circa 2000’ dispensing the line probably unbeknownst to most Yanks. Other lines used in the series include 'Aussies' telling the audience that 'the beers have been pulled', 'camels shampooed' and 'sharks cleared out of the pool'. These phrases are more likely to cheer the heart of the more traditional baby-boomer Aussies remembering the good old days when Australia was full of real ‘Aussie’s’, you know the type, the ones Tony Abbot likes, ones who don’t have foreign names or accents 3 . Mr. Howard has endorsed these notions of Australianess by supporting the advertisment. Peter Costello, Tony Abbot and their ilk all seem to be suffering some form of an identity crisis and need to return to an outdated era of Australian culture. Will prospective travellers from other countries ' get the drift' . I doubt it.

Where are the old antipodeans heading for ? Where do they want to take modern Australia? Do they feel lost somewhere far off in the southern hemisphere, adrift those cultural sources we have traditionally adhered to (English and American), on a collision course with greater Asia ?

This retrospective ‘ockerism’ has recently been invading the media and is making a return to Australian popular culture particularly in television advertising. This 'strine' English takes me back to the simpler life we led as kids in the seventies north of Brisbane and goes even further back to my sixty something mother’s youth. I often heard things like 'living of the sheep’s back’ , Waltzing Matilda, ‘blokes’(men), ‘sheilas’ (women) , 'she'll be right', 'bloody oath' and other classic 'ocker' language and cultural references. The use of these terms and this classic lingo may give baby boomers and those of the Howard generation a warm moment of nostalgia and sentimentalism for an era in which they were in their prime but for others it identifies an era which was much less cosmopolitan and less interesting.

This iconic 'Aussie' image which has become part of the traditional Australian cultural identity is of those who battled and tamed the land and environment (and the aboriginals, now it is taming migrants for the conservatives) . These icons are important and still relevant to many, however, are these ‘ideals’ fitting for the future of Australia. How releveant are they to the younger generations. They may also be interpreted to be somewhat 'exclusive' with those that don't have a connection to this history not being considered a part of the 'nation'.

I am happy to leave the past where it belongs ‘in the past’, relish it, revel in it if you must but that doesn’t mean we have to continue to live it. These ideals of 'Aussieness' are only a minimal part of what has driven Australian culture. The principles of equality and equity are a strong underlying theme in Australia’s historically classless society. The ‘fair go’ and mateship that have bonded Australian's socially are what Australian’s are renowned for. These ideals are a much more constructive sentiment to focus on as a cultural reference. These ideals, I believe are the source of Australia’s open, easy going pluralistic society seem to fading with the past .

John Howard and his followers perhaps want to return back to that less complicated demanding world of the seventies. Women were still relatively powerless; a house on a quarter acre block was still affordable in most parts of Australia; the dollar was stable; protectionism isolated Australia from the vagaries of the world economy; the white Australia policy had not long been dismantled; education had become accessible to all (thanks to Gough Whitlam and the ALP); multi-culturalism was just a rumour in federal parliament and 'Skippy the bush kangaroo' 4 ruled. It was an ideal time, if that is what you are used to.

Sentiment can an abstract state though. Memories are often viewed through a rose coloured kaleidoscope. The life that many baby boomers experienced in the prime of their life was good for them but nothing lasts forever and change is inevitable. Communication, technology, international conflict, media saturation, unbridled capitalism and the free worldwide market has done much to make the world a more complex and demanding place to live.

The landscape of the Australian cultural economy has changed rapidly in the last two decades and so has the world at large. The beacon of capitalist world, America, has managed to export its economic products to most of the ‘free’ world, much to it’s own financial benefit. Australia has moved from out of the shadow of protectionism and a fixed dollar to the free market model quite successfully. Well it is for those with the end product of the process – money and profit. For those without the skills and resources to secure a functional position in the marketplace ? They end up marginalised and disenfranchised probably thinking 'imports' stole their jobs at riots chanting things like "we grew here , you flew here".

John Howard has wholeheartedly reconnected Australia with the United States back to the relations of the Menzies era. Trade is roaring since the inception of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement 5, it is for the U.S and it would be for Australia if the U.S. would stop protectionism for it’s own farmers and trade fairly in the system it created. The U.S. won’t buy Australian wheat, why would they, they have their own. They even try steal our customers. But perhaps they may need our wheat soon since they are top on the list to sell their wheat to Iraq. The Iraqis don’t want Australia’s economically and morally contaminated wheat anymore after the AWB kickback scandal 6. A loss of 500 000 tonnes of wheat sales has resulted from this debacle. How many farmers would that kept off welfare ? Thanks Mr. Howard. Shopping in the supermarket lately is also indicative of the state of Australian farming economy. “ Product of the U.S.” has started to feature regularly in my local Woolworths. Oranges, Lemons, nuts a whole range of fresh produce. Why would I want Californian Oranges when I am sure it is much cheaper to ship them from Mildura or wait till there in season. This however goes against the free market ethic even if it does make sense. I must admit to the odd nationalistic/patriotic sentiment when it comes to buying my vegies and groceries.

Trade is also roaring for cultural imports (imperialism) into Australia in the form of American entertainment which is saturating Australian television and music. Yes we are being invaded by foreigners, ones with well disguised American accents in movies and television, hip-hop culture, toys, fast food and fashion. It is an American mono-culture which is entrenching itself all over the world. And it has very commercial agenda which the younger generations particularly, are happy to succumb their bank balances to. Brand name clothes and food, entertainment products etc. Perhaps this ‘invasion’ of American consumerism is what is driving some Australians (and it’s leaders) back to the past trying to find something familiar in contrast to the imposition on Australian culture by American capitalist culture and consumerism. Yes, its true money does make the world go round, but it is mostly the American dollar.

2006-03-03T16:56:00.001-08:00

The Tide of Fear and Racism: Sydney’s Race Riots

The riots of Cronulla beach in Sydney’s southern beaches have further contributed to Australia’s majority population as being labelled as inherently racist in the international community. There may be some incidence of racism at work, however there were various social and political elements at work. The race flag is regularly waved by mainstream political opportunists, and by those of the underbelly of Australian politics represented by extremist nationalism. The flag is also often raised high by tabloid journalists and commercial AM radio station. The ‘sticks’ which stirred up this bitter brew of territorialism and nationalism has caught Australian’s unawares. The agitators would have us all believe that Australia is failing fast with an influx of foreigners over-running the country and particularly the beaches of southern Sydney. Has the unrest and events on the day and in the days following race riots in Cronulla and surrounding Sydney suburbs suggest a turning point in the veneer of ‘tolerance’ expounded in the modern Australian democratic state ?To see so many young Australian’s chanting anti-immigration and racist statements is deeply troubling. Many are saying it was just thugs and hooligans, but a closer look at photos taken at the event show many young, average looking middle class ‘white’ kids. They probably turned up for a good time but soon changed their tune to become abusive and racist hooligans fuelled by those with deeper agendas and grog.Politicians are floundering, looking for easy answers to difficult questions of why such turmoil could arise so quickly in a city which generally celebrates it’s cosmopolitan multi-cultural urban lifestyle.A critical review of the behaviour of young Lebanese men emerged regularly in Sydney’s sensationalist tabloid paper 'The Telegraph' in the week before the riots. ‘The Telegraph’ took it upon itself to review some of the past misdemeanours of this ethnic group. It willingly criticised and repeated past incidents involving Lebanese male youth as well as continuing the ‘debate’ about the incidents which started at Cronulla beach that started the rioting. A group of Lebanese young men bashed two life savers after being told not to play soccer on the beach by the young life savers. There was some mention of taunts about the beach being ‘our beach’ from some Anglo Australians. The bashing was cowardly behaviour and not acceptable, however, police were followed up the incident. ‘Extra-legal’ proceedings had begun however in ‘The Telegraph’ and by the ‘shock jocks’ on local AM radio stations particularly by Alan Jones on 2GBPeople rang into Jones complaining about other anti-social behaviour of Lebanese boys or supported his sensationalist views and suggesting various ‘action’ be taken. The broadcast about the beach incidentwas something of a live-to-air ‘kangaroo court’.Yes there were ‘some’ Lebanese young men do behave badly down at Cronulla beach and in Bankstown and wherever they live and frequent. Some Lebanese criminals do hang out in Bankstown and cause trouble in the area (as unnecessarily reported in ‘The Telegraph’ by Anita Quigley. P 30 10/12/05). This is where the majority of Lebanese people live so it likely a majority of criminals in that area could be Lebanese. The majority of criminals in Cabramatta are likely to be Asian, as they are Anglo in areas such as Gosford or Newcastle where Anglo Celtic Australians are the majority. This is not hard maths to work out. And some of these men are racist and made racist taunts on the beach and elsewhere – the Lebanese and the Anglo’s both are guilty of this. Racism happens all over the world. It is not pleasant, socially unacceptable but unfortunately it happens and should be curtailed.The Federal government also has a role to play in this modern tragedy for it's handling of the recent arrests of Lebanese terrorist suspects in Sydney. There was a 'beat up' of the capture of those men and their arrest was somehow 'leaked ' to the television media and were made on camera for all too see on national television for a week after the event. The arrest of a major criminal group on television is unprecedented, so why was it allowed in this case? Self-aggrandisment for the government and justification of the recently introduced laws restricting freedom of speech and legitimate protest, distraction from the repressive industrial relations regime being forced on the country. This coverage by the media could have only helped to contributed to the race riots. The oppurtunistic behaviour by the media its own commercial and rating gains is deplorable and verges on racial vilification.There seems to be an expectation lately in Australia that if your part of a particular ethnic group there is a requirement for higher standard of social behaviour. This has been termed as a two-tiered citizenship approach. The height of the bar appears to be lowered for the social behaviour of Anglo Celtic people in Australia, in the media at least. The bar seems to be raised considerably higher for those of an ethnic background, particularly those from the Middle East. This assumption would be easily made if reading and listening to last weeks tabloid media in Sydney. Anglo Australian’s can steal, rape and commit misdemeanours and will rightly be dealt with in the law, as will any Australian of any ethnic background. However those of Middle Eastern origins seem to have to face the public media trial as well as the legal system for their crimes. This adds an extra dimension of punitive punishment for them and humiliation for the ethnic group as a whole. This should not be acceptable in a modern democratic state based upon the rule- of- law, not the rule–of-the-media.Refugees and migrants have come to Australia to try and find a better and fairer life. Life has most likely been very unfair to them at some stage, that’s why they are here. They should be treated fairly in the law and the media as with all Australian’s.Australian’s generally see themselves as living in a 'fair' country, famous for giving other’s a ‘fair-go’. This concept is iconic in Australia’s history. This is a cultural norm. If threatened there is bound to be an adverse response. This loss of what’s 'fair', the backbone of Australian cultural values are being seriously compromised in recent times. The introduction of a strict sedition and law enforcement regime in response to the imminent terror threat, the possible loss of working rights and conditions, the war in Iraq, the London and Bali bombings are also a part of this phenomena of things that are ‘not fair’. The fear of something so ‘unfair' as death associated with terrorism may be part of what is contributed to the recent uprisings. Perhaps some of the anger is sourced to the arrests of the suspected terrorists in Melbourne and Sydney. A terrorist attack in Australia would have rocked our relatively peaceful country with indiscriminate and unfair death. If this is related to the anger spilling onto the streets and beaches of Sydney let’s hope now that it is vented it will go away.Another regrettable event in the riots was the burning of a Uniting church in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn. It was neighbours to an Islamic centre and school(for 20 years). The two groups are familiar and have friendly relations. The Islamic centre has now offered parts of it’s recently upgraded premises to the church to use till a new church is built. Protagonists have tried to turn the trouble towards a religious dispute. The cooperation between the church and it’s neighbour is the greater reality of race relations in Sydney not those that were stirred up at Cronulla beach.There were various factors at work in the events in Sydney’s south and west. Gang rivalries - Anglo and Lebanese, played a role in events. Further incitement by nationalist extremist groups (white supremacists) also added considerable fuel to the fire. These groups have railroaded these events for their own dark agenda and are trying desperately to prove their own issues from it to support their arguments against the success of a multi-cultural society. These extreme ideologists can have success if reasonable people start believing there is a huge racial problem which is leading to Australia’s demise. That can only happen if events which happened at Cronulla continue. It is up to all Australian’s of all ethnic backgrounds to stop it from starting again.

2006-03-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

Wind Scuttled.

I am astounded by the ignorance Mr. Keith Windshuttle seems to display regarding the refugees of the Lebanese community of Sydney.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17580509%5E7583,00.html

As a local government councillor in the 'ghetto' suburb of Auburn 'as he refers to it, to "little Lebanon" ( only 15% of the LGA is Arabic speaking) .

I was also member of Friends STARTTS (Service for Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) for 5 years.

I am astounded at the lack of knowledge Mr. Windshuttle has on these matters particularly from a man of his academic standing.

The reality of patterns of migration and refugee settlement issues are notable in the history of the local Lebanese population of Auburn.

Lebanese Christians were a group that chose to migrate and settle in Australia to find a better life in the nineteen fifties and earlier. Many Muslims also migrated in this time. A majority of these migrants still live in Auburn, they run local language schools, real estates, factories , shops and are highly successful with well educated children, Muslim and Christian.

The migrants, Christian and Muslim, escaping the strife of the 1970's civil war experienced a typical pattern of displacement by war. They were forced to leave their homes by the harsh circumstances of war, of a country in turmoil. I have heard stories - death, foul garbage, loud explosions and a lack of clean water and food are the basic elements of war.

Commonsense dictates that many of these people would have escaped and continued to exist in highly traumatic circumstances even once they had left the conflict of Lebanon.

Many refugees from war torn countries suffer post-traumatic stress symptoms and this is exacerbated by settling into a foreign country and culture.

There were few settlement services available for refugees in the seventies in Australia. This has now changed and the problems are recognised and addressed by programs such as Federally funded' Early Intervention' program run by STARTTS and it's interstate sister agencies like Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST) Settlement programs are also offered by Multi Cultural Resource centres and even local schools.

Much study and academic writing is available on these areas and treatment and settlement help is now available for new settlers from war torn areas such as Somalia, Afganistan and Iraq (including English cultural education).

These settlement services were not available to the refugees from countries such as Lebanon and Vietnam in the seventies and early eighties. These people were literally thrown into Australian life with little knowledge of local culture and English in many cases. This on top of their own trauma of war.

Mr. Windshuttle should come and hear the 'war' stories of the parents of the disaffected youth Lebanese, Vietnamese, Iraqi, Afghani and so on.

I am outraged by his lack of knowledge and sensitivity on the subject.

I highly recommend Mr. Windschuttle attend the Working with Torture and Trauma Survivors' offered by STARTTS in Fairfield. He may be more considerate and accurate in his writing if he improved his knowledge on the topic prior to assuming he has some authority to write commentary from his own opinion.