Tackling “Islamaphobia”
Recently we’ve seen a lot of tough talking by members of the government on values and multiculturalism. The main group in question has been Muslim Australians, and last week, Peter Costello’s comments on respecting Australian values were aimed at them. This follows talk by Browin Bishop on banning the headscarf, Danna Vale on Australia becoming a Muslim nation and John Howard on finding women in chadour ‘confronting’. It was less than three months ago that the Cronulla riots displayed the extent of ill-feeling between sections of the White Australian community and the Muslim community in Sydney. Yet since then, outrage at the violence has quelled and the nation’s leaders have decided that assimilation, rather than multiculturalism, is a better way to address the divide. Keysar Trad, from the Australian Islamic Friendship Association, spoke to the Wire live in the studio.