"Dear Prime Minister …": An Open Letter to Jacinda Ardern

By Summer Joyan

Dear Prime Minister Ardern,

I am a 13-year-old Muslim girl from Australia and I would like to publicly share my appreciation with you. I belong to the generation that was born after 11 September 2001. I have never really contemplated how dark the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant language is that permeates Australian society, because it is all I have ever known. I guess I've become used to hearing political leaders use that same language.

But then, after seeing the way you have responded to the terrorist attack in Christchurch, I realised that I now know what the role of a leader truly is. So I want to thank you on behalf of the Muslim community in this country for all that you've done since Friday. The way you have expressed support and genuine empathy for the Muslim community, and your care for the people of New Zealand as a whole, have been magnificent to see. And I wanted you to know how much it means to me.

Today I watched a video of you talking to the students at Cashmere High School regarding the terrorist attack. You showed such strength and kindness, and it made me wish I could experience the same thing in Australia.

In my high school, not a single teacher or figure of authority even mentioned the attacks. They didn't acknowledge that a white supremacist murdered 50 innocent Muslim men, women and children in a usually peaceful place of worship. They didn't offer support or reach out to the Muslim girls in my school or even provide counselling services for grief and support.

In a country that is so similar to New Zealand, and yet also so different, can you imagine the comfort that my Muslim friends and I felt, knowing there was one leader in a neighbouring country that was on our side? My friends and I are Muslim; we were all born in Australian and it is the only place we have ever known. But this has been the first time we have ever felt like we were part of the fabric of a community, and it breaks my heart that this feeling of belonging has come at the cost of 50 lives. If only more politicians had the courage to stand up to injustices and knew when to stop playing political games with the lives of people who depend on them.

Your leadership has brought the world together. By supporting the New Zealand community, no matter what their religion, you have shown what a great leader you are ― not just in the good times, but when the times are as dark as can be. I cannot imagine any other political leader doing what you have done. I think that you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize! Many world leaders could learn a lot from the way you have held your nation together and comforted those who are grieving.

I'm sure you will remain Prime Minister of New Zealand for a long time. But if not, do you think maybe you could move to Australia and become our Prime Minister? That would be a dream come true.

Thank you again for all that you have done.

From, an Australian-Muslim girl who now knows what real leadership looks like,
 

Summer Joyan

ABC News

Don’t Just Blame the Terrorist. The key issue is the word “Terrorism”

By Mohammed Shaheed, Brisbane-based Accounting Professional

Firstly, my heart goes out to the people of Christchurch and the families who have lost their loved ones in this murderous act of violence.

There has been outstanding support from the Australian community, politicians, churches and individuals who have united to stand in solidarity and offer any help to the Muslim community. This kind of support is what builds a great community and country.
As a Muslim and a professional, I have benefited from this country immensely in terms of my religious belief and professional development. In my opinion, Australia and New Zealand are still one of the safest countries to live in.

Now coming to the real issue, I have always had a huge concern how the word “Terrorism”, “Terrorist”, “Islamist Terrorist”, “White racist supremacists” are used by politician and media outlets. This is the real issue how easily and blatantly these remarks are referred to individuals who out of their narrow, sociopathic and Schizophrenic mind; attack innocent people in their house, streets and places of worship.

I was watching Sunrise – Channel 7 the other day and was appalled by the fact that David Koch and Darren Hinch accused Pauline Hanson of empowering “white supremacists”. Even If she admits, what good will it do now. What will change? Pauline Hanson for many years now you have lot of misconceptions about Muslims and openly blaming Islam for lot of issues around the world. This morning you mentioned “FGM” Female Genital Mutilation, please get your facts right for once and all. FGM is practised within both Muslim and Christian communities, as well as by followers of some indigenous religions. Although neither Islam nor Christianity endorse it, religious doctrine is often used to justify it. (Reference)

Pauline Hanson, you have been dodging a debate the Muslim Community for a very long time. I highly encourage you to meet our community leaders and scholars to discuss the issues you have with Muslims. Trust me, you have a lot of misconceptions about Islam and Muslim people. You need to educate yourself in these matters as a politician before you speak. I see some goodness in you, but you are misinformed and take things out of context most of the times.
 

"Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise: and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." Proverbs 17:28 American King James Bible.
 

Senator Fraser Anning you are an alien (with 19 votes in parliament) and will be alienated soon from politics. Nothing much to say to a fool like yourself.
 

The Qualities of a Good Politician in a Democratic Society.
With must respect to my community, please don’t see any success in this issue just because few politicians have visited and supported us in this very tough time. Sooner or later a sociopathic and Schizophrenic individual from our community will do something stupid and yes, he or she will be a labelled an “Islamist Terrorist” straightway by politicians and mainstream media outlets. How will you than defend yourself?
 

I highly encourage our Muslim community leaders to have a dialogue with the politicians, Government and media outlets regarding this issue and why such blatant remarks and words are used to poison the mind of young men and women around the globe to cause conflict, hate and racism amongst us all.
 

Focus on the key issue here, not just an isolated event as events happen and are forgotten unfortunately. We need to deal with “Real Issues”.

Read about Human Rights in The Qur’an.

An Open Letter To The Canterbury Crusaders

By Dave Andrews

It is with great respect I write to you, as I acknowledge you are the most successful professional club rugby team in the world and in 23 years of Super Rugby you have won 9 titles, been finalists 14 times, semi finalists 18 times - and the only Super Rugby team to complete a whole season undefeated.

I note with great interest that, in the light of the recent ‘Crusade’, that resulted in the slaughter of 50 defenceless Muslims in Christchurch, as a Christchurch team, you are considering renouncing your name as the ‘Crusaders’.

If you were to do so, this would be a decision, that be gladly welcomed, not only by Muslims in Christchurch, but also Muslims all around the world – and people like myself, who are working for peace between the Christian and Muslim communities.

While the word ‘Crusader’ has a heroic ring in Christian ears, our Muslim brothers and sisters hear the word ‘Crusader’ and fear it represents a bloody harbinger of mass slaughter.

In 1095 Pope Urban II called for a ‘Crusade’, or ‘Holy War’, to be led by ‘Christian Knights’, who would take up arms and sally forth to fight against the ‘enemies of Christ’. ‘Cursed be the man who holds back his sword from shedding blood!’ was the blood-curdling cry of Pope Gregory VII ringing in the ears of the dedicated ‘Soldier of Christ’. So, away they went. And, the Crusaders threw themselves, body and soul, into the task of killing so called ‘heretics’ and ‘heathens’ – mainly Muslims.

In 1096 the People’s Crusade sacked Belgrade, which next to Constantinople, was the greatest non-Catholic Orthodox City in the world. And, in 1204, the Crusaders attacked Constantinople itself - raping, pillaging and plundering this great Christian City, in the name of Christ, without mercy.

In the meantime, the Crusaders also managed to assault the Holy City of Jerusalem, and slaughter its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants. It was a massacre. Nicetas Choniates, a Byzantine historian, wrote at the time, with evident distress, that ‘even the Saracens are merciful ...compared these men who bear the Cross of Christ on their shoulders’.

But Raymond of Aguilers enthusiastically eulogized the massacre as ‘a just and marvelous judgment of God’: ‘Wonderful things were to be seen. Numbers of Saracens were beheaded .... Others were shot with arrows, or forced to jump from towers; others were tortured for several days, then burned with flames. In the streets were seen piles of heads and hands and feet. One rode about everywhere amid the corpses of men and horses. In the Temple of Solomon, the horses waded in blood up to their knees, nay, up to their bridle. It was a just and marvelous judgment of God, that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers. ’

Over the course of two centuries, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Muslims were slaughtered in the Crusades. And Muslims have not forgotten these Crusades. In fact many Muslims refer to the invasion of Iraq, in which more than a hundred thousand innocent civilians have been slaughtered, as the Tenth Crusade.

For you to renounce the name ‘Crusader’, because of its association, for our Muslim brothers and sisters, with the slaughter that they have been subjected to once again, would be a courageous act of reconciliation worthy of the world’s leading rugby club.

Your sincerely, Dave Andrews

Angela Davis Addresses the Whitewashing of Feminism and Islamophobia

"I want to argue for a feminist perspective that understands that we cannot simply reform

Davis, who has been widely considered a global justice leader, militant Communist, civil rights warrior, and feminist icon since the late 1960s, didn't address the Institute's decision (which was later reversed to reinstate the award) at her recent appearance at the Apollo Theater. She focused instead on her unwavering support for marginalized communities.

"To integrate Black people, or Latinx people, or Indigenous people, or Asian-American people into a society that remains the same [won't work]. And, obviously, recognizing how Islamophobia has transformed racism as it's experienced by all racialized groups is so important," Davis said to the audience, saying she believes homogenizing approaches to activism have failed Muslims on the basis of race and religion.

"The violent domestic racism that has been produced by Islamophobia means that we all have to stand up passionately against Islamophobia," Davis said on Sunday.  

Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia, and support is surging

By Kristy Campion

The first step in coming to terms with the attack in Christchurch is to understand that it has been produced by right-wing extremism, both in Australia and internationally.

The problem does not lie with immigration policies. The problem does not lie with the so-called outsiders, such as Muslim communities, who are so often the targets of right-wing rage.

In this country, the problem lies with the broader Australian community that ignores or accepts the presence of right wing extremists in its midst, and tolerates the increasingly Islamophobic and anti-immigrant discourse in Australia.

Right-wing extremism generally starts with perception (or construction) of a threat that imperils the extremist's way of life.

Groups promoting this idea, like the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society, have dominated headlines in Australia in recent years. But they are far from the sum of the extreme right in Australia.

Instead, they are a recent manifestation of a recurring problem that can be traced back decades. Here's a primer on the history of right wing extremism in Australia.

What right-wing extremism is and what drives it
Right wing extremism is an umbrella term used to describe a complex array of ideologies. The core components are authoritarianism, anti-democracy and exclusionary nationalism.

Fascist, national socialist, white supremacist ideologies — especially those that advocate ethno-states and monocultures — sit firmly within the remit of right wing extremism.

Racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and intolerance are fellow travellers: they are characteristics of the ideologies, without actually defining them.

In Australia, right-wing extremists tend to position themselves in response to an imagined or constructed threat.

Sympathisers believe that society is degenerating, or is at risk of degenerating. Then they externalise this to attribute blame to a target group, such as an ethnic or ideological community.

Right wing extremists foster feelings of peril, and exploit crises to drive narratives that society's problems are entirely the fault of a target group of outsiders.

They believe the only way to safeguard their society is to remove the threat — often through violence.

The roots of Australian right-wing extremism
Historians of the radical right have documented reactionary and radical groups, collectively referred to as the Old Guard, operating in Australia in the 1920s. These groups were concerned about the communist threat, and were driven by the Bolshevik-led Russian revolution in 1917.

Although they stockpiled arms, they did not appear to proactively engage in violence.

Dismantling supremacist ideologies after the Christchurch massacre

By Adis Duderija

Two weeks ago, I was in Christchurch as part of a lecture tour of New Zealand, speaking about issues pertaining to the theory of interfaith dialogue with special reference to the Islamic tradition, Islamic hermeneutics and Western Muslim identity construction. I was there at the invitation of, among others, the Imam of the Lynwood Mosque. Lynwood was one of the mosques attacked last Friday, where 10 innocent people lost their lives.

When I first learned of the terrorist attacks in Christchurch, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Immediately I thought about the people that I had met during my lecturers, most of whom were Muslims, and was gravely concerned for their safety. On Saturday, I found out that the Imam was not harmed during the attack, but that his spouse was shot in the arm. I was also very saddened ― even angered ― that a city that is still recovering from the devastating 2011 earthquake was chosen as the location of this heinous crime.

What I want to focus on here is the importance of a multifaceted critique when confronting the ideologies that inspire terrorist incidents, regardless of their ideological pedigree.

As evident in their manifestos, white supremacist groups want us to believe that: Islam is an inherently violent ideology bent on world domination; that Muslims in the West all subscribe to this ideology; that Muslim immigrants, many of whom (like me) are refuges and have fled horrific conflicts in their own countries, are single-mindedly focused, not on rebuilding their lives and living in peace with their fellow citizens, but on transforming the West into an ISIS utopia.

White supremacist groups use major episodes from premodern Islam-West relations ― such as the conquering of Constantinople by the Ottomans ― as evidence of the perpetual threat all Muslims pose to Western civilisation.

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