Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C
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WHAT ARE INTERVIEWEES’ MAIN POLITICAL INTERESTS?Very varied! Our interviewees nominated their particular concerns across a range including litter, recycling, speed humps, street beautification, Indigenous rights, crime prevention, human rights in Australia and overseas, racism, Palestinian autonomy, global warming, the global financial crisis and more. For some, their interests were principally local (particularly those working in local government), while others’ concerns extended internationally. Several interviewees pointed to recent migrants’ frequent preoccupation with politics in their home country and emphasised the need to engage with Australian issues and become involved in Australian politics. In 2004, the Australian Muslim Electoral Taskforce canvassed parties on issues the Lobby identified as important to Muslim voters. Co‐convenor Ahmed Kilani recalled: A lot of it was more to do with general things, but also issues like the Palestine issue, things like pornography, censorship of the media ... freedom of religion, funding of Islamic schools, anti‐ discrimination. Many emphasised equality and fairness for everyone, rather than limiting their concerns to Muslims. This was particularly evident for the interviewees who were members of, and in some cases candidates for, the Greens. It arose especially in relation to the Greens stance on same‐sex marriage. Interviewees who had stood for the Greens differed in their positions on gay and lesbian rights—some would have preferred to see Greens policy changed, while others supported the existing position. However, interviewees were unanimous in the view that they could not support human rights for their own communities while opposing them for others. The same view has been expressed by overseas Muslim politicians in parties that support same‐sex marriage or equivalents. New Zealand LaborMP Ashraf Choudhary abstained when the Civil Unions bill (allowing a marriage equivalent available to same‐ and opposite‐sex couples) was first debated in 2004, but voted in favour on the second reading, telling the New Zealand Herald that he had decided, ‘after a lot of soul searching’, and despite hefty lobbying from some Muslim and ethnic minority constituents, that ‘the law has to treat everyone equally and fairly ... if the law allows one minority group to be discriminated against then all minorities are vulnerable’ (NZ Herald 30/11/2004). Canadian Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi similarly supported her country’s move to same‐sex marriage, despite being ‘lobbied by every religious group in town’ to oppose it. She explained to irate callers that, if she failed to support one vulnerable minority, she would be less effective in protecting her constituents’ rights in future. To a person, those in elected office resisted being seen as representing minority interests. ‘I represent my whole electorate, not just its Muslim members,’ was a very frequently‐repeated line. This observation is consistent with the views of Muslim politicians we interviewed in Canada, and of those in other western countries available in the international data, reported in the literature review. To take just one example, Ghulam Gillani, a Labor member of Liverpool Council in western Sydney, reported supporting development applications for a Muslim school and a Christian school, both on their merits, and emphasised: I particularly believe that my identity is not based on my colour or my belief ... And in the chamber, when I debate, it’s my ability to debate, it’s my way of communication that makes me good or bad. It’s not my Muslim identity, it’s not my faith, it’s nothing ... it’s my personal experience, I’m telling you. Hutch Hussein, who works at Spectrum Migrant Resources Centre and considers one day pursuing a more directly political career, saw being Muslim as: One of my identities. It’s not my sole identity, so I wouldn’t at all hide the fact that I am of Muslim background ... I don’t think that Muslim people automatically vote for Muslim people. That’s, I think, a really dangerous trap that people fall into ... What I will put up front is ... my record ... as a community activist and what I’m proposing to do ... Anything else will be behind that, really. The tendency to fit people into ‘Muslim’ stereotypes was experienced even by one interviewee who was not a Muslim and found Australians reluctant to accept that one can be an Arab but not a Muslim. When this respondent identified as a Lebanese Christian, people would respond, ‘Oh, so you’re a Christian Muslim?’ This participant was regularly asked by non‐Muslims to speak on behalf of Muslims—about the hijab, the status of Muslim women, the political climate. But then, if non‐Muslims finally ‘get that I’m not Muslim, they want to vent all their anti‐Muslim sentiment, and I end up again defending and speaking for Islam’. Hicham Zraika told us that, before his election as Mayor of Auburn, he had reached out to every ethnic and religious community in his electorate except his own; only after the election did he build political connections with the Lebanese Muslims with whom he identified. Several respondents cited the cautionary instance of Ed Husic, a Labor candidate of Bosnian Muslim heritage, who was defeated in the traditionally Labor seat of Greenway in the 2004 federal election after a leafleting campaign falsely suggested he was promising “a better deal for Islam” in Greenway. If even someone not particularly closely associated with the Muslim community could suffer electorally as a result of their heritage, several respondents reasoned, those who practised their faith and identified closely with their community could fear even worse vilification. (Mr Husic was elected Member for Chifley in the federal election on 21 August 2010) On the other hand, some respondents distrusted Muslim politicians and public figures who do not immerse themselves in a community. One Sydney activist worried that a Melbourne academic and opinion maker is ‘not a community man’. To a small number, Muslim politicians who emphasise their connections to the mainstream are ‘sell‐outs’. This perhaps reflected the fact that, while politicians and some other public figures found their work impeded by being perceived as too close to a particular ethnic or religious community, those employed as community workers were much more likely to be overtly concerned with issues relating to Muslims. Even then, the nature of their work affected their willingness to be seen addressing a primarily Muslim audience. For example, a policy officer working in a multicultural settlement services agency emphasised that his work was for all ethnic groups, not just Muslims. An academic, who preferred to remain anonymous, avoided being seen as representing any particular ethnic or religious community in the academic arena. On the other hand, when asked for advice to young Muslims wanting to become politically active, this academic replied, ‘community context is everything, so stay connected’. Most interviewees nominated negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims as a major concern. A common view was that interventions which target Muslims exacerbate the problem, even if they are intended to do the reverse. One youth leader told us: I think the governments—state and federal—have too much of a tendency to fund Muslim projects. And I don’t think that’s the right way to go ... the beauty of EYC [the Victorian Ethnic Youth Council] is the fact that it is a mixture of ethnicities, it is a mixture of religions, and for young people to learn about each other, and to live and work with each other, because that’s what they have to do as Australians. If we really are a multicultural society, then we have to promote multiculturalism in the makeup of projects that exist. ... Any mainstream or any funded projects in my opinion should actually promote diversity, rather than ‘We’re going to give you more money, because you’re targeting this particular group which is the flavour of the month right now’. Many participants felt deeply discouraged by the targeting of Islam under the Howard government, tied up as it was with punitive treatment of asylum‐seekers. Some whom we had hoped to interview refused to participate in our research on the grounds that the National Action Plan had emerged from a political agenda which they saw as unfairly targeting Muslims. On the other hand, a few saw the Muslim Community Reference Group as a positive development—not only in getting Muslim voices heard beyond the Muslim community, but also for its internal effects. For example, Jamila Hussain felt it had made male Muslim leaders readier to take notice of women’s voices. To many, the Rudd government’s less punitive stance towards asylum‐seekers (up to and at the time the interviews were conducted) was a major attraction and several felt it had contributed to a safer and more welcoming atmosphere for Muslims and migrants in Australia generally. Those who supported the Greens similarly cited that party’s history on refugee and asylum‐seeker issues as a plus—in some cases, big enough to cancel out the deterrent effects of other Greens policies, with which they disagreed on religious grounds. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> 01 2014 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union 01 2014 -> Voices Shaping the 01 2014 -> Muslim Voices – Hopes and aspirations of Muslim Australians Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies 01 2014 -> Editors: Kerry Download 16.24 Mb. Share with your friends:
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