* Hmm, don’t you wonder why? Could it have something to do with the bestial gang-rapes of Aussie teenagers? Could it be that the crackpot statements of their ‘cat-meat muftis and mealy mouthed ‘out of context’ apologies don’t wash with Aussies who have excellent BS detectors? Could it have something to do with Bali 1 & 2 where large numbers of Aussies were blown to smithereens? The terror trial against Nacer Benbrika and his gang? The murder of Aussie journalists in East Timor by Indonesian army thugs? That and a million other things like the constant push for more mosques and madrassahs which are as Australian as a Hitler helmet?

Nah. Foggeddabouddit: here’s another wakademic from the University of Western Sydney, a hotbed of tolerance and multicultural diversity-crock,  who’s telling us that we’re just not tolerant enough:

Abuse of the flag does not an Aussie make

Paki Daily Times

SYDNEY: One in ten Australians believe some races are superior to others and Muslims are the most unpopular group in the country, the lead author of a new study said on Sunday. (A false analogy: Islam is not a race./ed)

* Paki Daily discovers ‘Islamophobia’ in Denmark: Expel Islam from Europe

Professor Kevin Dunn from the University of Western Sydney said a 10-year study of 12,500 people found that Australians were generally tolerant, with more than 80 percent viewing cultural diversity as beneficial. But about 10 percent of the population were racial supremacists.

Dunn said Muslims were most often seen as the group that did not ‘fit in’ to Australian life. (they don’t/ed)

“They stand out at the moment as the group that people would be most concerned about,” Dunn said. “There’s stronger levels of social distance or fear of Islam or concern about Islam than of any other group at the moment.”

Asked how they would feel if a close relative was to marry a Muslim, 54 percent of people in New South Wales would be concerned, he said. afp (a false argument: Muslim men are allowed to marry Christian or Jewish women. Muslim women are not permitted to marry a non Muslim by threat of death/ed)

*

Islam Online tops it up:

Unpopular Muslims, Superior Aussies

A case for Yusuf:

Irfan Yusuf: Silence over suffering is deafening

4:00AM Monday Sep 22, 2008
Irfan Yusuf

We often read stories of India’s economic miracle, its IT revolution and its Bollywood culture. We’re keen to do business with India, and Indian migrants are regarded as highly skilled and hard-working.

Australia is even considering selling uranium to India, presuming its status as the world’s biggest democracy makes its nuclear programme less dangerous than that of Iran or Pakistan.

But what about human rights? We so often implement double standards when determining how human rights might affect our international relations.

The experiences of India’s religious minorities have generally been ignored by Western Governments and commentators.

India’s majority faith is Hinduism, an inherently pacifist and tolerant religion. Notwithstanding the caste system, Hindu societies have traditionally practised liturgical and doctrinal pluralism.

Yet indigenous Indian faiths also include Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, a deeply religious man, borrowed freely from all Indian religious traditions.

Gandhi’s vision was of a truly civilised and democratic India which zealously protected its minorities. He fought not only the British Raj but also communal extremists who incited bloodshed between religious communities. His assassination occurred at the hands of extremists of his own Hindu faith. In recent decades, these forces have re-emerged in mainstream Indian politics.

The spirit of Gandhi’s assassins was present in the various social, educational and political organisations linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which ruled India federally from 1998 until 2004 and which continues to be the ruling party in various Indian state legislatures. In 2002, BJP activists in Gandhi’s home state of Gujrat systematically murdered at least 2000 Muslim (and some Christian) civilians and made 150,000 homeless.

Police stood by and watched these atrocities take place. State Government workers carried lists of Muslim- and Christian-owned businesses and properties which were destroyed. The Gujrat Chief Minister Narendra Modhi praised the attackers, and remains Chief Minister.

Christians in Pakistan are often victims of discrimination, some even prosecuted under Pakistan’s selective implementation of religious-based laws. In recent times, there has been much discussion of the precarious position faced by Christians in Muslim-majority states such as Malaysia, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

These are all crucial human rights issues about which people of all faiths, especially Muslim minorities, need to agitate.

Unfortunately, minority rights have become an issue of double standards. We rarely hear local Muslim religious bodies and lobbies talking about the plight of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim-majority states. Few Muslim religious leaders have taken the example of imams like South Africa’s Farid Esack, who has agitated against the mistreatment of Pakistan’s Christian communities.

Imagine a situation where members of an established indigenous Christian community in Malaysia are wrongly accused of murdering the leader of a Muslim chauvinist group. They are hunted down by Muslim thugs, their homes and villages firebombed.

The situation becomes so tenuous Christian leaders announce they might even form their own militia if the Government refuses to provide effective protection.

This situation is happening, though not in Malaysia and not at the hands of Muslims. In India, activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a movement that forms part of the BJP opposition, have terrorised Indian Catholic communities and institutions.

The VHP regards Catholicism as a foreign faith, despite its presence in India for at least a millennium. Catholic welfare groups are accused of pressuring lower-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity. Most Catholics are either former Dalits (untouchables) or from indigenous tribal groups.

On August 23, a senior VHP leader was murdered in the eastern state of Orissa. Maoist rebels claimed responsibility for the murder, accusing the VHP leader of having Nazi sympathies. But VHP leaders blamed Catholics. More than 40 churches and 11 other Christian institutions (including those linked to the order of the late Mother Teresa) were destroyed by VHP supporters. One female missionary was burned alive and dozens of other Christians murdered.

Yet the silence among otherwise vocal Christian activists about the suffering of India’s Christian communities is deafening. Even politicians claiming to champion our Judeo-Christian heritage are silent.

There are 18 million Catholics in India, more than in Canada and England combined. Yet as Father Raymond de Souza lamented in a recent article for Canada’s National Post, anti-Christian violence by VHP and BJP extremists cannot be checked if it is not even noticed.

As if to underscore his remarks, the Australian newspaper reported on September 16 that violence has spread to Karnataka, with some 14 churches destroyed.

All believers must all agitate for the rights of all religious minorities, especially those suffering human rights abuses in friendly nations. Selective indignation on human rights abuses compromises not only our faith but our very humanity.

* Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer and associate editor of AltMuslim.com.

 

“There’s stronger levels of social distance or fear of Islam or concern about Islam than of any other group at the moment,” Dunn said. (Google)

SYDNEY — The Muslim community is the most unpopular in Australia, a new 10-year study has revealed.“There’s stronger levels of social distance or fear of Islam or concern about Islam than of any other group at the moment,” human geography and urban studies professor Kevin Dunn told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, September 28.

“They stand out at the moment as the group that people would be most concerned about.”

The study of 12,500 people by Dunn showed that 40 percent of Australians believe some ethnic groups don’t belong to Australia.

“The most often-mentioned groups were Muslims or people from the Middle East,” he noted.

The study, “Challenging Racism: The Anti-Racism Research Project”, found New South Wales to be the least tolerant state in the country.

Asked how they would feel if a close relative was to marry a Muslim, 54 percent of people in New South Wales would be concerned.

And some 47 percent of people from the same state indicated at least one group that didn’t fit in Australia — the highest percentage in the country.

“It means that in New South Wales there is more of a narrow idea of what constitutes Australian.”

Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.5 percent of its 20-million population.

Hurt

Dunn said the anti-Muslim sentiments are strong across Australia.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that and that tells something about what needs to be done in terms of reconstructing images of some groups.”

Australian Muslims have been haunted with suspicion and have had their patriotism questioned since the 9/11 attacks.

A recent governmental report revealed that Muslims are facing deep-seated Islamophobia and race-based treatment like never before.

“I love the Australian culture, the music and food,” said Asma Yusra.

The 21-year-old Muslim from Lakemba has been the subject of racial prejudices.

In one incident, a man threw a newspaper at her face, opened at a story about a terrorist attack.

“I was deeply hurt by that experience. I feel just as Australian as everyone else. I was born and raised here,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

The study also found that one in ten Australians believe that some races are superior than others.

“Only about one in ten people across the various states would hold those views nowadays,” said Dunn.

“But one in ten is a lot. It means one person in every lunch room, one person in every locker room, five or ten people on a train.”