Consultations Homepage || Meeting Notes: 12 June 2003
Consultation with Lebanese Muslim children and young people organised by the Lebanese Muslim Association, Sydney, 12 June 2003
The meeting was attended by 8 people including 7 young people aged between 9 and 15 years and one parent. Omeima Sukkarieh (notes) from HREOC attended and facilitated the consultation.
1. What are your experiences of discrimination and vilification?
Although most of the discussion focused on discrimination in the school setting, it opened with several more general points about discrimination and its causes.
"Basically what all Muslims get is discrimination. There's just a basic idea and a stereotype that they're all trouble makers and that they just don't like you just because of your looks. A lot of people are like that and well you can't straight away tell them that they should stop being racist. But there's a difference about being racist and actually acting on your discrimination. If you are discriminating against someone and you can't help it, keep it to yourself. Stay away from that person. Don't give them dirty looks or scream at them no matter what they do. Obviously that happens to everybody because everyone gets discriminated against particularly about their race and I'm sure everyone's been discriminated against because they're a different race. I'm not going to talk about my personal experience because I can't remember it but discrimination is everywhere. There is nowhere you go that there is no discrimination."
"People expect a lot from us and they want everyone to be like them and everyone to be the same. What they don't understand is that if everyone is to be the same, there is no point in life. Everyone is influenced by their leader. The student is influenced by the teacher, the teacher is influenced by the principal, the principal is influenced by his boss, but you know the biggest leader is probably the politicians and the media in general, and what they say is one sided. They have their opinions and they get people to say things who agree with them only. They don't get other people's opinion and if they do, they twist it around, and they twist around their words and make it sound like they have said something different. And if someone is not like them or what they want them to be, then that's where discrimination starts, when someone's not the same or what they expect them to be."
"Every single discrimination is different. Like if you go for a football team and someone else doesn't and then they abuse you for it. And sometimes it's about who you are. Like when I first put on the hijab about seven years ago, when I was five years old, I remember it was like new to my school and in the first few years people in primary school found it really weird so they made fun of it. Some of the kids, even in my brother's grade they used to say stuff about ghosts and stuff because the hijab was white. A friend of mine who's Aussie, her mother said to her 'Don't hang around her because she wears a tea towel around her head'. The girl felt ashamed to be seen with me near her mother."
The crucial role of the media and of political leaders was identified.
"I reckon that the media and the propaganda that the media has caused is a big case of discrimination against Arabic and Muslim people, and it's all double standards.
"It's not just the media, it's the leaders especially the politicians which is like really, really sad because you got the highest people with the most power who are still discriminating and racist and that's just shameful. It's disgusting and it's just wrong, completely wrong."
"When you are leading your country, you basically have taken the responsibility, the responsibility is yours, you can't just become a leader and say 'I can't be bothered doing this; it's way too much of a burden'. You become a leader [and] that's your responsibility and you should know that."
Apparent discrimination and bias on the part of their teachers most troubled the young people.
"Last year I remember I was discriminated against. I did this assignment on Islam and we had to study a website. I studied an Islamic website and she gave me a 10 out of 20. I'm not one to brag or anything but it was a very, very good assignment. We had to get an Islamic website and we had to research it and we had to give it ratings and evaluate it. At the end of it she said I was being very biased. She goes I was saying it from a Muslim's point of view whereas I should have been saying it from a normal person's point of view. As if a Muslim isn't a normal person!! The teacher says to me, 'You let your loyalty to Islam get in the way of your assignment. I'll give a student 10 just for doing the assignment.' I had to print over 50 pages out so she could have a look at the assignment and she just goes and gives me a 10. She didn't even talk about the assignment, and how to do it. It's about Islam the assignment not about whose point of view is it meant to be from."
"Teachers are influenced by the media as well. What they hear on the news is the one sided story. If they hear something on the news then that's what they will accept. I once had a teacher that forced us to all say stuff about the New York attacks, to say sorry for what's happened and to accuse that one person which was Osama. He said if anyone doesn't do it, then he will put us on detention. If the media says it then everyone automatically believes it. And why don't they say sorry to Palestinians or people from Afghanistan or to the Iraqis. Who's gonna say sorry to them?"
"The media is turning the community against each other and people are discriminating against others in our community because they have experienced it. Leadership is important, and leaders they can have a say but they shouldn't control other people's opinions, they can have their own opinion but they shouldn't convert other people's opinions, or change the way other people believe. They can show you the similarities and differences but they can't do it just by talking to you, asking you to change your mind about things. They can tell you the good points, but they shouldn't go around picking on the bad points of other people. They should just inform you and then let you make your own decision."
"During the time after September 11, my teacher was awful, and whenever teachers used to refer to Lebs or Muslims, they used to refer to them in a bad way, like some teachers, used to say to us 'Typical dumb Leb attitude'. Whenever they tried to complain, the teachers would get them in more trouble. At first I thought this teacher was alright, but after he started saying stuff about my religion, about my culture, it was just like very rude on his part and I cannot look at him the same way anymore. I just think that it's very rude and un-appreciating of other cultures."
"Some high school teachers I think need more experience in dealing with children with special needs. My son after September 11 and Bali was treated in a less friendly manner by the teachers who treated him nicely before."
"I don't like some ethnic teachers because they discriminate against others the most. Like the Arab teachers they discriminate against the Arab kids because they don't want people to think that they are being nice to them because they are Arab."
"Basically it's the Arab students who are discriminating, too, and Arab teachers who are discriminating. Just because they are Arab, it's all still discrimination."
The failure of some teachers to check comments by other students was also an issue.
"Some students write things about what happened in September 11 that's not nice and the teacher doesn't say anything about that."
The point was made, though, that not all teachers cause concern.
"At PE, they try to be more sympathetic to us when we are fasting. So it's not all teachers, just some of them. After what they have seen of what's happening in the world, they just change their opinion and react to you differently, and they think it's Muslims' fault and it's not."
Comments by other students were described but generally treated with more tolerance.
"I'm worried about this person who told me that I had a tea towel on my head. He was joking around basically, and he goes to me 'You got a tea towel on your head'. Then this Muslim girl heard and took it personally and went and punched him and broke his teeth. Basically he didn't mean to discriminate when he did it. You know a lot of people don't understand our religion. They don't understand the hijab and they just go and say stuff like 'Is it a tea towel?'."
"I haven't really experienced much but my friends have. Like last year there was this Iraqi kid who was in my class. Everybody used to pick on him because he used to say stupid things and he never knew what they meant because he didn't speak English like everyone else. And he wouldn't pronounce words properly and people took offence and they started doing stuff to him, like bashing him up. I don't think he was picked on because he was Iraqi but I think he was discriminated against because of his accent."
Discrimination between Muslim students themselves was also mentioned.
"They don't just discriminate against Muslims, but some Muslims discriminate against girls who do wear the hijab, if they aren't. Like a few Muslims at my school. E.g. they treat them with no respect and pull their hijab at school; even the girls try and pull them off."
"If people who do wear the hijab discriminate against people who don't wear the hijab I think it would be because they get discriminated against. They are discriminated against by a lot of other people. If they do it's because they suffer that themselves and they feel that the other person is a bully to them. But they wouldn't do it without a cause."
We asked how discrimination impacts on the students and their parents and how they react to it. We also asked whether they talk about these experiences with anyone.
"I just act normal even though sometimes it makes me feel bad, well all the time it makes me feel bad. It makes me feel bad because I know that they are discriminating against me. I don't like getting the teachers involved in this. It's just between us [when it's between Muslims]. I just ignore them anyway. Sometimes when it gets really serious, like once I did something I regret ...she discriminated against me so bad, I used violence against her and I regret that."
"My mum knows everything and I tell my dad sometimes, and if it's really severe he will tell me to complain about it or he will do it, but if it's not he tells me to deal with it my own way. Like in a way that I won't hurt anybody or be rude."
"Sometimes I feel like I want to cry but I try to speak back but it is hard sometimes with your English. After things happen you try to get things back to normal but that's hard because it keeps happening."
2. What is being done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?
One participant mentioned that she had participated in a leader support group, the Leading the Way Forum, done by the Premier's Department. One of the topics covered there was anti-discrimination. The Leading the Way - Canterbury-Bankstown Youth Leadership Forum was held in April 2003 with a number of aims, including encouraging an active role for young people as community builders, giving young people a voice on issues in Canterbury-Bankstown and providing young people with positive leadership training. It featured a series of practical workshops that develop young people's leadership skills, and encourage positive leadership by young people. These workshops included using the media to promote positive images of young people, presentation skills and creative ways communicate with young people, building community harmony, mentoring other young people, using arts for community building, 'Racism No Way', and 'Anti-discrimination'.
3. What more could be done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?
In education
"It's very important [for people to learn more about what Islam is] because we do live in a society of multiculturalism. What we don't know about other people's culture and their religion is going to cause problems. Kids, they don't know what they're saying and say 'Is that a towel on your head?' That is discrimination, because it obviously isn't a towel. It doesn't look anything like a towel, alright. The thing is it isn't right; I don't want little kids going around thinking is that a towel on your head. Not because I'm Muslim or because I took offence ... but it's not nice."
"The teachers should think of everyone as human beings, not just as these people are Muslim, these people Christians, these people are Jews, these people are Hindus or whatever. They should think that we are all students and we are all here to learn. And what are we here to learn about? We are here to learn about maths, science, physics, history, everything. But we are not here to learn about what these people are doing wrong, or these people are doing right, that kind of thing. We are here to learn what we need to get us a job in life. We are not here to learn that Muslims are bad, that Christians are bad, that Jews are bad; we don't go to school to learn that. They should think of us as students learning their subjects, not students that they want to teach that these people are bad. Principals should go on the assembly and tell us things. Like if they want to say that there's a war going on or something, they should just tell it and not take sides and say that it's going on because these people have done bad things and it is because of these people; it's their fault. Just say that there's war going on and that's it. Just say it without blame."
"I think they should educate people more about other people's culture and religions and what they believe in, including teachers. I think people when they are young should be educated about other people and that people believe in different things and they should just appreciate the different cultures and respect them as human beings."
We asked whether it would be helpful to learn about other religions at school, for example during scripture classes.
"Scripture is a waste of time. We don't learn about other religions. I want to learn about other religions. Kids don't want to learn about other religions, especially about Islam. I want to learn a little bit only about other religions, [but] not that much. I want to learn about my religion more and what's the difference between the religions."
"We don't have scripture in our year but I would like to learn about other religions. I want to learn more than about their differences, like I want to learn about all their beliefs and everything and I will respect their beliefs too. And I want them to learn more about Islam so they can respect my beliefs also."
In the media
"The media could have done a lot; they still can do a lot. For one thing they can talk about us as humans not as bad Muslims, but the worst thing the media does when they want youth to talk about Islam they get dumb people to go speak on TV. They talk to someone who says 'oh, I don't care, I might be born in Australia but I'm Lebanese 100%'. They don't get somebody who knows, they get someone who doesn't know what he's talking about; people who take it as a joke, and that is completely unfair. They should go and seek people who are educated and know what they are talking about."
