Accept Diversity and Make It Work

Democrats Candidate Silma Ihram has called on Pat Farmer – Federal Minister for Macarthur, to meet with her in order to address his constituents concerns about the proposed Islamic school in Camden.

In her letter to Pat Farmer Silma said “In reality, Muslim schools are now part of the private school fabric of Australian society and are actively engaged in the fight against extremism and ensuring a diverse and integrated society.” In response to a perception that the area does not have a significant Muslim community and that many students may be bussed in, local residents have complained that this will result in their town changing.

Silma has expressed concern about an apparent concerted campaign where leaflets are being distributed to local residents and sms sent in order to alert them to concerns about an increase of Muslim families into the area. One speaker at Monday’s Rally of a 1000 protesting residents alleged that terrified families were moving from Bankstown “which used to be a really nice town” into country areas. Another speaker warned that the community would be hoodwinked, and that Australia should “watch out!”

This kind of hysteria is reminiscent of the pre-Cronulla riots activities where locals banded together against a perceived threat from Muslim visitors. Neither Labour nor Liberal have taken a tough enough stand on the issue of our diverse community. The Australian Democrats have long held to policies that ensure our diverse society is well integrated – and specifically geared to ensuring that the individual needs of our diverse communities are respected and met.

“We need to accept that Muslim schools are part of the answer to an integrated and diverse society, not part of the problem. They have come under scrutiny from all levels of government and bureaucracy – it’s time they were recognized for the valuable work that they are doing. If there are any real concerns about traffic or about local amenities, there are laws and regulations in place to deal with it just as for any other development proposal.” Silma has requested the local community to talk to the various representatives of the Muslim community, and to meet with her and other representatives. She has urged them not to respond to any racist or inflammatory propaganda, but to work constructively to resolve any real issues of traffic or amenity in the area.

Metropolis 2007

In early October 2007, the International Metropolis 2007 conference was held in Melbourne, and i was fortunate to be there. over 750 delegates discussed, questioned and listened to papers about Immigration, diversity and social cohesion. Delegates and speakers came from Europe, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, not to mention a considerable contingent of our own fine speakers from Australia. Academics, policy makers and community representatives participated in more than 60 workshops over 4 days, presenting a remarkable range of research about the movement of people across continents due to economic and political pressures, and the huge challenge that this is presenting to governments around the world.
The elephant in the room that was occasionally identified and sometimes highlighted, was as usual, the Muslim community, Islam and security. As with so many other conferences that I have attended in recent months, there continues to exist an almost total vacancy in representation from the Muslim community itself. Statements are made about the motives of the community, beliefs, actions, threats and solutions including virtually no direct engagement with the community being discussed.
For example, a speaker from Europe in the presentation on Faith and Social Cohesion, referred to the legislation taken by France and currently under consideration by Germany, on removing the oppression of Muslim women through the banning of the hijab. Firstly, from the audience I requested enlightenment on what oppression I was currently suffering from, and secondly I suggested that the choice of clothing and identification was a personal one, but that perhaps the males in the audience needed freedom from oppression as virtually all of them felt it necessary to wear a suit and tie - they seemed to have little choice in their own attire!
An aspect of the conference I found particularly troubling was the emphasis on economic grounds for the assessment of policy and consideration of matters that affect so many humans around the world. While economic management is essential to the effective running of any human situation, the welfare of humans should not be subject to it - surely economic management is there to benefit humanity, not vice versa. We have forgotten that wealth is not an end in itself, but what we as humans can create and develop as part of our contribution to the civilisation of humankind. It seems that so many of our leaders and policy makers see an over-riding concern in ensuring that wealth increases in order for us to consume ever more products regardless of their effect on our health, happiness or future.
It is vitally important that we return our focus to realistically meeting our needs, not our greed.