It shouldn’t be the norm, but it is.
Women who are active on social media are used to some level of online abuse. We even expect it.
But when Tanya Plibersek tweeted earlier this week about a meeting we hosted with Muslim women, we were shocked at the reaction.
Minutes later, tweets emerged in our feeds spouting racism, sexism and vitriol..
These women were in Canberra to talk about how bringing community voices into the national security discussion will both make us more safe, and build more social cohesion. Incidents like the shooting of Curtis Cheng are tragic, awful and we must do everything we can to ensure that they do not happen again. And that means – amongst many other things – better engagement with Muslim Australians.
Earlier this year, we met for dinner in Melbourne with a group of Muslim women leaders. The stories they told about how the tone of the national security conversation is affecting their everyday lives stuck with us.
Most of these women were born in Australia and have lived their whole lives here without being subject to serious racism. One friend, Tasneem, talks about her childhood bush dancing and catching yabbies in Bendigo. She was treated as a bit of an oddity, but otherwise like any other Aussie. In recent years, that has changed.
The racism that is currently being experienced by Australian Muslims is shocking and it is real: acts of violence, sneering, snide remarks, and rampant social media trolling.
As mothers, as women, as Members of Parliament, what we found most disturbing is the impact this has on children. To hear about kids who won’t tell their classmates what religion they are for fear they won’t play with them, and who have to learn what racism is from the age of six or seven, was heartbreaking. We believe that if more Australians understood the effect of this kind of behaviour, they would pull back.
These women are not victims – no way. They are strong, articulate community leaders – lawyers, policewomen, psychologists, cultural consultants. A small group came to Canberra this week to discuss community-based approaches to dealing with young people at risk. If parents are to be the front line of extremism, they need to be a part of the conversation. And so far, that’s not been the case.
While we’re pleased to see a change in the national security language since Malcolm Turnbull has become PM, government actions need to reflect the PM’s tone.
A critical point, too, is how our national leaders respond to racist extremism. Multiculturalism is the cornerstone of our national identity, yet today in Australia, we have racist political parties holding rallies, which one Coalition Member of Parliament has attended, and spoken at.
We want Australian Muslims to know that racist extremists do not speak for us, they do not speak for the Federal Parliament, and they do not speak for the vast majority of Australians, who deeply value the people in this community as neighbours, citizens and friends.
Top Comments
Here is a solution: Ban religion!
I frankly don't care what you believe in but this need that myself (an athiest) should bow down & respect it is bullshit. This is a secular pluralist country: 1 set of rules for all.
Gay rights & Womens rights are non existent in Muslim Countries, the worst of them is Afghanistan & Saudi Arabia. Those rights/responsibilities need more respect now then ever. Frankly Islam & others need to be dragged into the 21st Century.
If you don't believe me, look it up on Google.
Fightback.
The destiny of Australia has become
linked with all the nations where Islam has gained a foothold.
Australia is being eaten away from
the inside, by hidden worms in the woodwork.
Australia, our home, is not free
anymore, because, freedom begins with speaking the truth.
Today, in Australia, we are branded
as extremists if we speak the truth.
Even if it’s made from silk, a muzzle
is still a muzzle.
We are branded as ‘racists’ if we say
we don’t want any more ‘refugees’, but I believe that we must stop this
“migration”.
We were told that it was only going
to be a certain number being allowed to come here.
But I am saying that only crime and
terror will be the end product of this “humanitarian” stupidity, as it will
endanger our way of life, our culture, our customs and our Christian
traditions.
It is obvious that these Muslims have
already built up their own separate world for themselves, with all it’s own
laws and ideology, which is forcing apart the 200 year old and hard won
cultural structure that is Australia.
Consequently, we are demonized if we point out
that this is not an accidental chain of consequences, BUT, a planned and
orchestrated operation, with the sole intention to “Islamise” Australia.
But if we say that they are scheming
to over run our nation, we are being ‘alarmists’, even though we ALL know that
their whole purpose for wanting to come here is to reshape the religious and
cultural landscape of Australia, and to re -engineer our ethnic foundations,
which eventually, if left unchecked, will eliminate our national ‘state’.
The Muslims are being allowed to
devour more and more of our country, bit buy precious bit, all with the total
support and endorsement of our present government, without even seeking the OK
from all Australians to do so.!
The threat we face is cut from a
different cloth than the enemies we once faced, those being the Imperialistic
Japanese, the Communists, and the Nazis.
But these Muslims use a different set
of rules in their efforts to force us into a submission.
It is the international media’s
artillery bombardments, denunciations, threats and blackmail that are enough,
up ‘till now.
With more and more Australians
becoming aware of what is actually happening, it will be only a matter of time
before we have, as a nation, regrouped and recovered the ground where our enemy
currently stands.
The mosques and businesses these
Muslim’s currently have will be torn down and all their businesses dissolved,
as all Australians realise their future is at stake.
We must unite and stop this erosion
of our way of life, because it’s not only our comfortable lifestyle, but our
very security and our peace of mind that are menaced as well.
The people of Australia, those who
have been sleeping comfortably in abundance and prosperity will eventually come
to understand that the very principals of the life Australia has been built on,
is in mortal danger.
We are, as Aussies, a community of
Christians, free and independent, enjoying the fact that we are all equals,
engaged in fair competition, solidarity, with pride, humility, justice and
mercy.
Today, the dangers we face are not
attacking us the way wars and natural disasters do, where the rug is suddenly
pulled out from under out feet, but it is a slow and determined enemy who are
disguising themselves as a humanitarian cause, and what they gain, we lose.
And all these obsessed human rights defenders
feel an overwhelming urge to reprimand us and make allegations against us, that
we are hostile xenophobes, where as, the truth is, that the history of our
country is also one of inclusion and a history of intertwining cultures.
But those who have come here with the
intention of changing our country, shaping it in their own image, the ones that
have come with violence and ideals that are against our will, will always be
met with RESISTANCE. !
If we want the freedom we currently
have, we must tackle Canberra, as the main danger does NOT come from those who
want to come here, but it is all these politicians who are tied to fanatical
internationalism, being, the United Nations.
We don’t want to find ourselves being
told to pack up and leave our own country, and we should not tolerate the
blackmail or threats of our politicians.
The bell has been rung, and now, it
is time for strong opposition and resistance.
Raise our nation’s flag and rally
underneath it and help save the future of Australia.
We can only look danger in the face-
if we are brave enough.
Shall we be slaves. ? or free men.?
I KNOW WHAT THE ANSWER IS, AND SO DO
YOU.