Consultations Homepage || Meeting Notes: 26 June 2003
Consultation with Muslim women in northern Sydney, 26 June 2003
The meeting was organised with the assistance of staff from a non-government organisation and attended by 9 invited participants who are members of a NESB women’s support group which meets regularly. Most members are Australian Muslim women of Indonesian background. The meeting was facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh and Susanna Iuliano (notes) from HREOC.
1. What are your experiences of discrimination and vilification?
“Everyone has experienced discrimination and prejudice in one way.”
Most women felt there had been an increase in discrimination or vilification against them after September 11, 2001 and again after the Bali bombing in October 2002. The women shared personal and second-hand experiences of discrimination in a range of settings.
In the street or public transport
The women were most keen to discuss incidents of abuse which took place on the street or in public places. One participant observed that racist abuse took different forms depending on the age of the perpetrator.
“Younger people say things to you from the car. Older people are more likely to say something to your face.”
Participants reported numerous incidents of abuse from fellow passengers on public transport or waiting for public transport. While waiting at a bus-stop with her three year old daughter, a person stamped on her daughter’s foot. Another woman reported that her teenage daughter is routinely made fun of on the bus with taunts such as, “Why do you wear that tablecloth on your head?” Many women felt that other passengers were reluctant to give up their seats to Muslims, even if they were pregnant or had small children. Another believed, “people are too scared to sit beside me on the bus”.
Participants generally felt safer on familiar streets in their own neighbourhoods. One participant explained that she also felt quite comfortable travelling into the city but was not at ease in the Western suburbs.
“In this area, there were not too many problems after September 11…This area is ok because there are more Indonesians in Dee Why – there is more safety here than in the western suburbs.”
In shopping centres, banks, government offices, etc
One woman recalled an incident in a toyshop with her six year old son who was playing with a toy gun when another woman in the store said to her, “You’re starting him early”.
Another participant reported an incident which took place at the Warringah Mall shortly after September 11 2001, before the US invasion of Afghanistan. The woman, who was eight months pregnant at the time, accidentally brushed against a man in the shopping centre. “When he noticed I was veiled he looked at me fiercely and said, ‘what are you doing here Muslim? We don’t want you here. What you’ve done to America is terrible and we will get rid of you all…’” This man then followed her outside the mall all the while abusing her and trying to touch her. Although she threatened to call the police, he continued to follow her for five to ten minutes until she reached her bus-stop. He continued taunting her at the bus-stop until a Filipino woman came to her aid and stood with her until the bus arrived and she was able to get away from the abusive man.
“Afterwards I felt angry, very angry. My husband said, ‘You don’t deserve to be treated like that’. But I blamed myself. I know I have to be strong living in a different country ... If I go to the authorities, what can they do? Can they catch this man?”
Following this incident, the woman bought a personal alarm and avoided catching public transport by having her husband drop her off and pick her up from the shopping centre. Even though she was clearly still shaken by the incident almost two years later, she wanted to point out that the majority of people she encounters are not abusive and that only some are ignorant.
At work
“Most Muslims have a good education and experience. Why aren’t they working? How many Muslims work in Government? In some government departments they don’t accept Muslims…”
There was a clear perception that Muslims face discrimination in gaining employment, as well as in carrying out their jobs if they are already employed. One participant’s husband is an engineer with ten years work experience in Egypt. His qualifications are not accepted in Australia and he opened his own business instead. Given her husband’s experience, the woman was pessimistic about her son’s employment future in Australia. “I know my son will have problems in finding work too…”
Another woman described an incident which happened recently to her teenage daughter, who had an after-school job distributing leaflets in letterboxes. One day, a home-owner said to her daughter, “I don’t want anything from you Muslim!” and threw the leaflets back at her.
At school
One participant, whose daughter attends Manly High (a selective school), felt her daughter was well supported by fellow students and teachers at the school who had encouraged her to stand up for herself and not take abuse from strangers outside the school. “My daughter feels safe in school. The problems are not in school but outside the school.”
Another participant felt less trust in the public school system. Her six year old son who attends the local state primary school is being bullied at school, making him angry, withdrawn and wanting to return to his country of birth and change his name. “It makes me worry about his future. Last week he stayed home for three days. The teachers don’t know what is happening…” According to the mother, the problem is that “the public school is not a good enough education – he needs more education…” She is endeavouring to enrol her son and another child in a private Catholic school. However, she has been on a waiting list for seven months and believes that the principal of the Catholic school will not enrol her children because they are Muslim.
At home
There were mixed reports about relations between neighbours. Generally, participants noted that initial hostility or indifference between Muslim and non-Muslim neighbours eventually gave way to grudging acceptance and in some cases friendship if people were willing to go out of their way to initiate contact.
“I used to have a particular neighbour who never smiled at me but she smiled at everyone else. One day I brought her flowers and cookies and things improved. You have to extend the hand of friendship – they don’t know any better.”
Another woman persisted in her attempts to make peace
with her neighbour, despite being told, ‘don’t bother us’
the first time she invited them around to a family barbeque.
Her persistence paid off and eventually relations improved.
One participant felt that neighbourhood relations deteriorated after release of the federal government’s national security campaign booklet ‘Let’s Look Out for Australia’ which was delivered to all household mailboxes in Australia in February 2003. The woman described the pamphlet as a “book of fire” after being reported to her real estate agent by a neighbour for washing her balcony with soapy water. “My neighbour called the agent and said, ‘She is putting chemicals on the property!’ The agent came immediately – it was the first time he had ever come.” Other participants also alluded to problems with real estate agents but were reluctant to discuss specific instances of discrimination.
In the media
“Muslims are seen as terrorists. They think we hide bombs.”
All participants strongly agreed that the media portray Muslims in a negative light as ‘terrorists’ or potential terrorists. Participants noticed they were more likely to get “weird stares” from passers-by or people on public transport after stories about Muslims appeared in the media. For example, participants reported feeling more targeted after the ABC’s 4 Corners program broadcast a report alleging connections between members of Dee Why Mosque and Jemaah Islamiah, the Indonesian organisation linked to the Bali bombing of October 2002.
Impacts
Aside from describing specific instances of discrimination and vilification, participants were keen to discuss how these incidents had impacted on their day to day lives. The women’s reactions to discrimination varied significantly. Some were angry: “How can you stop feeling angry? You always walk around feeling guilty…” Others were more circumspect: “Maybe it’s not prejudice – but when everyone is looking at you it’s hard not to think of it.”
The urge to retreat was another common reaction. One woman was contemplating leaving Australia altogether while another simply retreated into her home after any incident of abuse on the street.
“My experience is if something happens to me on the street, I stay in for one week.”
Despite having experienced discrimination, many women were hopeful that things would get better in the future and that most Australians were not racist.
“We all understand that it’s not all Australians. There are some good people – it’s not all bad…”
“People that already know you face to face are nice – it’s the others who are ignorant.”
Impact of ASIO Raids
The investigations by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) into the Indonesian community affiliated with the Dee Why Mosque was a source of anxiety for many participants, one which they preferred not to discuss. However, one participant, whose husband was picked up by immigration officials and detained in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre following ASIO investigations, was facing significant hardship. Without access to health or community services, she was having difficulties supporting herself and her son while her husband was detained awaiting the outcome of a class action suit against the Department of Immigration.
2. What is being done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?
Community organisation strategies and projects
Participants were aware of Mosque open days and interfaith gatherings between members of the Dee Why Mosque and the local Uniting Church Ministry. While fostering such ties was seen as a positive initiative, one participant argued that one small positive step is shadowed by the broader negative media portrayal of Muslims.
“Personal ties are one thing, but it’s hard to counter what the media says about Muslims.”
Government strategies and projects
While participants expressed a general reluctance to go to the police with their problems, the women were familiar with the local ethnic community liaison officer (ECLO) who made herself available to the women encouraging them to meet in a group and discuss their problems with her. In New South Wales, ECLO’s are civilians who work for the NSW Police to facilitate better police/community relations. The meetings with the ECLO had stopped temporarily but the women expected them to resume when they felt more secure and less under scrutiny by the media and federal police.
3. What more could be done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?
The meeting proposed the following strategies for achieving some of the objectives identified by the Isma project.
Promoting positive public awareness
Education was of prime importance to participants for future change.
“We need to talk to children when they are young – before their heads are filled with bad stuff (about Muslims). They need better education.”
Challenging stereotypes
Participants felt it is important for community representatives to counter negative media stereotypes about Muslims and play more of a role in educating people more broadly about Islam. Although they acknowledged that this will be no easy task, many women felt that this was done effectively during the protests against war in Iraq.
Improving public safety
One participant argued that cross-cultural training should be compulsory for bus drivers and that there should be signs on buses encouraging people not to be abusive (and also to give up their seats for women with children).
