HREOC Website: Isma - Listen: National consultations on eliminating prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australias
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Notes: 13 November 2003
Consultation with the Antiochian
Community Support Association (ACSA), Melbourne, 13 November 2003
The meeting was organised
by Ms Amal El-Khoury and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) from
HREOC. It was attended by nine invited participants.
Have you experienced prejudice
and discrimination?
Some participants
had not experienced discrimination themselves. One woman mentioned that
she had experienced significant prejudice but did not give details. However,
she related the following experience of her son.
"It's not me,
it's my son who is in high school this year and they have a school project.
He had to do a project on the country his parents came from, and it
was Palestine. I was very little when I came here but I am a Palestinian
too. He stood up in front of the class and he had to present a project,
and when he said Palestine, everyone just laughed at him. After that
he just didn't want to have anything to do with being Arab again. Then
they sent him a [text] message on the phone which says 'Bin Laden'."
"At work, it
is to a certain extent bad. If they need something, say if they want
me to get a chair from another office, they say 'Oh, you Arab go and
pinch it' or something."
Participants talked
about their anxieties about travelling, especially overseas. However,
it was at least as much due to fear of a terrorist attack as fear of discrimination
due to their Arab appearance.
"They can be
unpredictable and you are scared to travel. You think where are they
going to hit next? Who are they going to hit next?""I have lots
of offers to go overseas, but I refuse them, because I don't want to
travel, and my face is Arabic. First of all it's what is happening around
the world. Secondly it's my look.""It's no longer
a battlefield. It started to be a battle against innocent mums and dads
and they've got nothing to do with it. I mean they [the terrorists]
sat on the aeroplane and they said 'bad luck'."
One participant shares
his experience after the Gulf War.
"I experienced
something horrible, with my brother who is in Queensland at the moment,
which is really scary, and that was in 1990, when Saddam Hussein hit
Israel with the rockets. We were down in a suburb in Melbourne, and
we happened to make a U-turn and there was a florist man sitting under
a pergola or something on that street, so I went to the drive-way which
happened to be right next door to his pergola that he was sitting when
he was selling flowers. As soon as I backed into that drive-way to get
out and turn into the main street, our back window is open and of course
my brother is talking to me in Arabic, and all of a sudden, from nowhere,
this man stormed at us shouting 'You bloody Arabs, you've gotta be shot
and you've gotta be killed, you shouldn't be allowed in this country!'.
I looked at him and I said 'Where the hell did you come from?' He said
'I am Israeli, I am Jewish, I am Jewish! You are killing us!' I didn't
mean to ask where he came from, I was backing my car and like 'Where
did you come from?' So I looked at him and said, 'Well, look, I am sorry
that you feel that way but I am Palestinian and you've been killing
us for the last 40 years!' He just shut up."
The group agreed
generally that Muslims are the primary targets of prejudice and discrimination
at present.
"A lot of them
[ie Australians] do not discriminate, unless you sort of dress up in
Muslim gear and stuff.""Or if your
name is Mohammed!"
One participant argued
that senior people in the workplace are largely insulated from discrimination
while those in more junior positions are affected.
"If you have
a powerful position, if you are a manager or something like that, we
get respected at work. People get to know us and they respect us. But
if somebody who is lower, then they find the discrimination."
He related the experience
of a Muslim colleague.
"During a conference
he used to go and pray and things like that. But for Australians, this
is very, very strange and they think 'how can you leave the conference,
how can you leave the food and go and pray. You miss out on things,
you miss out on activities?' But for him, this is normal of course.
This person ended up retrenched or leaving by force because of these
problems. The whole company used to talk about him. I mean, if he wants
to pray he can pray in his room and go alone and do it there."
This story prompted
a discussion about the extent to which Arab and Muslim Australians are
entitled to retain their values and practice their religion in this country.
"I respect
his rights to pray whatever he wants, but the thing is he's got to respect
the laws of Australia. Look, I've been in China and at a train station
a Jewish man stood in the middle of everybody and started praying. I
didn't think it was appropriate. If we expect an American or English
or Australian lady to put a veil in Kuwait or in Saudi Arabia because
she has to respect the system over there, maybe a Muslim in Australia
has to think twice before he does his praying in a community that is
not in well-understanding of what is going on.""Yes, we respect
his rights, but also, he can't just stop his work and say 'I am going
to go and pray'. The same thing happens also when an Australian lady
comes to work in Saudi Arabia. She can't walk on the streets unless
she has her face covered.""Yes, but the
difference between the two is, we are here, a free country and non-discriminatory.
That's what life is based on, whereas over there, it's different."
What causes anti-Arab prejudice?
The discussion ranged
widely over several causes of the prejudice against Arabs which the group
recognised exists in Australia. The first point was that discrimination
and prejudice are not uniquely Australian or Western phenomena.
"The Arab world
did not like what the Americans did in the Arab World. And all of a
sudden a hatred was created on the streets back home against Americans
in general. Now we understand why the whole thing flares around the
community rather than a person or a few persons because people don't
understand how to verify between the wrong of one person or the wrong
of the whole community. So the discrimination that is not really a new
thing even to us; it is a thing that we understand very well; it grows
everywhere."
Some felt that Arabs
could have done more in the past to head off the possibility of prejudice.
"When they
decided to take the decision that Sikhs and Jews are accepted as a race
[under the RDA], where were our people to push that we should be understood
as a group? We didn't care and that's why we are suffering today. We
do not care. We can't blame the whole world because we sit back and
do nothing ... We are the ones who are causing it more than anyone. We
are always around and it is our duty to let them know about ourselves,
but we never did."
The impact of the
terrorist attacks was recognised as a significant cause of prejudice.
"What's happening
in the Middle East, you see it on the news, but it doesn't really hit
you. But all of a sudden, hey, it happens in America, it happens in
Bali. Bali is like Australia. I mean how many tourists go to Bali? So
it is near home.""It started
looking like a war between the Muslims and everyone else.""They [ie Muslims]
made it look like that.""Well, they
killed Australians. They targeted the tourists' area where they knew
that there probably had very minimum percentage of Muslims injured,
but they had a lot of tourists."
The role of politicians
was discussed. This group felt that President Bush and Prime Minister
Howard had stressed that the war on terror was not a war on Islam after
September 11 and the Bali bombings.
"What happened
in Bali, the situation that happened in Bali, again involved Islam,
and John Howard stood and said it's not against Muslims. It's the people
[ie the individuals] who we hold responsible. He never put it as against
Islam ... The country here is trying to tell people that this doesn't
mean the religion. They are trying to say that. Now I believe, if it
was in the opposite corner, they will say that all Westerners are bad."
One participant,
however, felt that "John Howard did not do enough".
Inconsistency in
media coverage was discussed as another cause, particular in crime reporting.
"They talk
about how we have been shooting or killing or something and people start
to identify the person as an Arab or a Muslim. And if an Australian
has done the same thing, they will not identify him.""These days
it is very publicised. People are very aware of the Arab nation.""It's Asian
as well. An Asian does the crime, and they will say 'an Asian' person."
Ignorance more generally
was also mentioned.
"Most Australians
here don't really know our culture. I have met so many Australians when
they start talking about our culture either Palestinians, Arabs etc,
they don't really know even where is Palestine, where we came from and
even with Christianity, they didn't even know that there are Christians
living with Muslims there. They didn't know that.""There is a
little bit because there is always the assumption that every Arab is
a Muslim. That's all they know. There are Christian Arabs, too."
How has anti-Arab prejudice
impacted on Arab Australians?
The reactions of
young Arabs, especially, to the prevalent prejudice vary significantly.
Some tend to mix only with others of similar background.
"A lot of them
[ie young Arab males] struggle because they group together. There is
a group mentality where they all get together and they feel that every
race are out to get them.""I personally
won't keep a lot of Lebanese friends. I just think that they have too
much a sense of ethnic identity. A Lebanese and an Egyptian, they won't
necessarily get along because of this 'you're Lebanese' or 'you're Egyptian'
[so] 'you are not like me'. There is discrimination within the Arab
community. There is discrimination within the Arab community.""There's nothing
wrong with standing with your community. But, the problem is when you
make a core of a community yours and block out the rest. There is nothing
wrong with standing with your community; it's just up to the community
to understand each other. But, where it's wrong is when you start discriminating
against others. You have to blend in with everybody and accept everybody's
culture as you want them to accept yours."
Others reject or
deny their background and try to 'pass' as 'purely Australian'.
"I would say
that there are a lot of our Arabic community who do too much to mix
with the Australian people. They overdo trying to be accepted, while
I don't think Australians are looking for that. OK, sometimes it gets
a little bit too much, and sometimes, overdoing it could cause a backfire
in denying that you from a certain race ... Is it because we are ashamed?
Or are we really thinking that they might think of us as bad because
we are an Arab or a Muslim or whatever? Or am I thinking am I gonna
be looked at in a different way, and that's why I try harder to keep
away from my community and mix with them [referring to non-Arabs or
non-Muslims]'? This actually creates the worst result you can have.
We get to a stage where we are ashamed of our origin. The reasons for
that is the subject we are talking about tonight. It is discrimination
against us as a nation, as an Arabic-speaking people. And probably,
I would say, the Muslims are copping a big part of it, with the religion
being mentioned in the news lately.""Especially
regarding the first generation, like with parents coming from different
Arab countries: the kids seem to be lost between the two cultures. It's
due to the fact that they don't want to belong to that particular gang
or that they don't want to belong to that particular ethnic group. So
they really go to the extreme and try to be pure Australian. My sister-in-law
was with my mother-in-law and her young kids about 10, 9, 8. Because
my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law were talking in Arabic on the
train, they left them. They said 'Don't talk in Arabic, don't say things
in Arabic'. And they left them as if they don't want to know them."
Pride in oneself
and one's heritage was also seen as important.
"This guy that
I know, he is purely Lebanese from Batroon [a small village in the north
of Lebanon]. Now, he is purely Australian, and he is married to an Australian
lady. When I was visiting them, this guy is about in his sixties, so
all of a sudden, with support from his Australian wife, he said to me
'I want to show you a video about my hometown', that he never lived
in. His father was born here, and he never lived in this town either.
It was amazing. I had goose bumps when he told me and showed me about
Batroon in Lebanon. He said that it is a beautiful place and that he
couldn't wait to go and see it. And being in his sixties, of course,
I gave him credit because he realizes what life is all about. He said
to me 'Our ancestors are very important to us. It's about where we come
from. We are proud of it. Look, Australia is a beautiful country and
we love it, but as much as I love, and you love Australia because you
were born here, at least even if it [Batroon] is only a town or a small
village, whatever it is, it is the most beautiful place on earth. Why?
It's my background and it's my ancestors, and it should never be forgotten
if you realize your life and the value of it.' Because if you were born
in Australia and you go to India, the moment you say that 'Oh, I am
Indian now, and I don't want to remember anything about Australia',
hey, watch out. What have you done? What happened to your background?
So, we have a little bit of what we call, well we get to a stage where
we are ashamed of our origin. We do ...We have to be careful, if we are
not proud of ourselves, if we do not really respect our ancestors and
where we came from and talk about it even to Australians and say 'You
were born in Geelong and Geelong is a beautiful place, can I show you
where my father was born or where I was born and proud of it. It's beautiful.
Egypt is a great place.' Egypt is longer history than Australia and
well-known in world history, and why wouldn't I be proud of it? If I
were an Egyptian, I would absolutely talk about these things, the Pyramids
for example, for hours, because they are the most beautiful place on
earth."
What can be done to eliminate
anti-Arab prejudice?
Changing Arab community attitudes
"You should
always remember that we are all Australians. You are here in Australia,
right, so let's all be Australian or act together. You may be of a different
culture, but live together.""Do we expect
the world even when we travel [and live] overseas to take our 'Shariah'
[religious law] into their law? It's not going to work. So we need to
modify ourselves. Our 'Shariah' law needs to be looked at. Is it, in
itself, maybe causing discrimination to all of us, without us noticing?
Not that our 'Shariah' is wrong. To us it's fantastic. But maybe to
others it's touching a very fine line and we may have to look ourself
and clear up ourselves in that way in front of the world."
Changing the law
"Government
can only put out a law and it's all they can do. Then if something cropped
up, [it's up to you to] take it on and it will be an example. But at
least, in the back of your mind, you know that the Government is not
really with the wrong, it's with the right. It's symbolic."
Need for anti-racism education
in schools
"That's the
biggest thing. If you get it through schools, then it will all be finished
in one to two generations. I think if you work it with schools and put
in a good system of teaching the kids ...It's not like you have it every
week or so. You just have a program where they get around the school
and talk to them in groups and teaching them. Then within one to two
generations it will all be gone.""When September
11 happened, my girls at school, at the time they started to tease the
Arabs, and the school put a stop to it. They got all their Arabic girls
together and they said if anybody said anything to them, we want to
know about it, and they just put a stop to it completely, and that was
it, it was never heard of it again."
Promoting successful community
members
"Are we harvesting
this intelligent group and putting it on TV, telling the Australians
that Mohammed and Elias are successful business people. Or in Ballarat
the gold mine; have we ever told them that it was Mohammed and Elias
who did it?
