December 10, 2002: From the very beginning of the US led War on Terrorism, Australian Muslims have felt under attack. Although President Bush, echoed somewhat less convincingly by PM Howard, did visit mosques and proclaim that this was not a War against Islam, their close supporters have demonstrated otherwise.

Islam has come under sustained attack in both the US and Australia from right-wing Christian Islamophobes, supported by a Likud-led local chorus.(1)

Extremist Christian groups have been heard to claim that once a majority of a population becomes Muslim, they will kill all those who refuse to convert to Islam. It has been claimed that Muslims can be commanded by God to loot homes and rape women. Also that Islamic leaders can order their followers to attack and fight other members of the Muslim community. It has been stated that Muslims were lying when they said they want peace.(2)

Conservative politicians at various times have made outrageous allegations against Islam. Katsambanis, Liberal Party member of the Legislative Council Victoria, argued that Islam is a warlike and aggressive religion which is a social danger.(3) Nearly a year later Fred Niles, a right-wing Christian fundamentalist in the NSW Legislative Council, issued a press release attacking Islam, using similar material to other fundamentalist vilification, but including angry complaints that Islam did not accept certain basic Christian doctrines.(4) In November he went on to suggest that Muslim traditional dress could be used to hide explosives and is a perfect disguise for terrorists and should not be permitted.(5)

"Cash for comment" commercial radio commentators also incited anti-Muslim feelings. At one stage, just after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, the Race Discrimination Commissioner, felt impelled to state: "During this very testing time for Australian multiculturalism, it is important for political leaders to show strong moral leadership and for commentators - most especially talkback radio hosts - to avoid inflaming sections of the community and fanning racial tension. Community debate should be informed by facts, not derailed by anger and hysteria."(6) Much favoured by John Howard, Liberal Party Prime Minister, it was on one of these programs that he chose to respond to Niles’ Islamophobic attack with the comment that people’s religious beliefs can be overridden in the public interest. He said "I don’t have a clear response to what Fred’s put, I mean I like Fred, I don’t always agree with him, but Fred speaks for the views of a lot of people." (7)

It is from this atmosphere of Islamophobia that the Muslim community views the anti-terror laws proposed by the Liberal Party Government.

The fears of the community were made quite clear in the Islamic Council of Victoria submission to the Review of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002 Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD.

"Anti-Terrorism legislation in other western countries has resulted in feelings of persecution and rejection amongst members of the Muslim community. Edward Said has explained something of the atmosphere for American Arabs and Muslims. He wrote: "I don’t know a single Arab or Muslim American who does not now feel that he or she belongs to the enemy camp, and that being in the United States at this moment provides us with an especially unpleasant experience of alienation and widespread, quite specifically targeted hostility. For despite the occasional official statements saying that Islam and Muslims and Arabs are not enemies of the United States, everything else about the current situation argues the exact opposite." (8)

There is concern in our community that Australian legislation like the USA ‘Patriot Act’ can and will be used against the Muslim community, based on racial and religious profiling, involving harassment and perhaps detention without any evidence of wrongdoing." (9)

In the aftermath of the Bali bombings of 12 October 2002, these fears were increased. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils had to issue a warning to all Islamic societies and schools, stating: "We are now all feeling the repercussions of the attack in Bali. …In Sydney a mosque was attacked and the Imam’s family terrorised. In Melbourne this morning a similar attack this time with a molotov cocktail and luckily the fire was put out before extensive damage could be done." (10)

Everyone was urged to be extremely vigilant and to take precautions around mosques.

Within weeks raids were being conducted against "suspected terrorists", none of whom were apparently arrested. Australians concerned with the protection of civil liberties condemned the tactics. New South Wales Council of Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy said that on the surface the raids looked like a campaign of harassment. "If these people are supposed to be terrorists then they should be charged and brought before a court of law," Mr Murphy said. "The fact that there have been so many raids and that no one has been charged suggests that there is no evidence. It suggests that it is a fishing exercise or a publicity stunt."

Mr Murphy said there had been more than 30 similar raids in the past year, most of them in New South Wales, and they appeared to have been based on flimsy evidence. He said ASIO had relied on speculation, innuendo, rumour and conduct taken out of context.(11)

Indonesia also considered the Australian response excessive. Ibrahim Ambong, chair of the Indonesian House of Representatives commission on defense and foreign affairs, led an Indonesian parliamentary delegation to Australia to investigate these ASIO and police raids on Indonesian nationals. The Jakarta Post reported: "Heavily armed Australian Defense and Intelligence Organization (ASIO) agents recently stormed several Indonesian Muslims’ homes in Perth and Melbourne in search of individuals linked to JI, which the UN has officially labeled a terror organization. According to Ibrahim, the ASIO agents rammed their cars against the front walls of the suspects’ houses and had tapped the phones of some of them. As a result, they became afraid to do even the simplest things in their daily lives."(12)

ASIO is about to be given increased powers, subject to Opposition support in the Senate. The Attorney General is insisting that he will not accept amendments. If the bill is accepted as it stands, then the civil liberties of all Australians will suffer a major blow.

The legislation will give ASIO greatly enhanced powers, approximating those of a secret police force. Muslims are concerned that an unaccountable and secretive organisation such as ASIO might abuse these powers. The proposed power of detention without charge is also a threat to basic liberties, especially the power to hold an individual incommunicado for a period of up to 7 days. That such a person need not even be suspected of a crime is also an assault upon liberty. Similar laws have been extended to include political dissent in several neighboring countries and there is not protection against such abuse in the proposed laws. There is no sunset clause for the legislation and the definition of terrorism which underpins it is so loose that it can be used in a myriad of ways, which may or may not have been originally intended. The right to silence and the right against self-incrimination, fundamental rights that are an inherent part of our system of justice, will be abandoned, the penalty for refusal to answer being five years imprisonment.(13)

One Muslim writer expressed the views of most Australian Muslims when she stated, in reference to the War on Terrorism, "Instead of restoring our faith in the unity of Australians, and giving us the courage to resist turning against each other, those with the power to influence have conjured up Apocalypse Now visions of Islam versus the West."(14) Reports began to be received by many Islamic bodies that some Muslims were leaving the country for a safer situation in their countries of origin.

Despite these negative shock waves, there have been many positive developments as well. Christian churches, particularly the Uniting Church and the Catholic Church, have emerged as defenders of civil liberties and opponents to the rise of racism. All the major religions have joined in opposition to terrorism. A joint statement was issued by the Victorian Council of Churches and the Islamic Council of Victoria on terrorism and the Bali bombing.(15) Muslims, Christians and Jews also issued a joint statement nationally on the Bali terrorist attack.(16)

While there were numerous attacks upon Islam in the media, Muslim spokespeople were given the opportunity to explain the position of Islam on this and other matters. The Islamic national organisation AFIC and State Councils issued a statement "To all the extremists of the world (from Australian Muslims)." It opened with the words; "Together, we send this message to the extremists of the world who come from all backgrounds, religions and ideologies. We speak out with two aims - first: in the hope that these extremists will re-consider their actions, and second: to make our stance clear to the world."(17) This received good coverage in the media and from several political leaders, but was ignored by the Prime Minister.

Progressive political forces, from genuine liberals in the Liberal Party, to members of the ALP, the Greens and the Democrats, became more outspoken in defence of civil liberties and in opposition to the use of race hatred as a political tool. Part of the response to attempts to widen the War on Terror to war against Iraq was the inclusion of Muslim organisations in broad based anti-war networks like that of the Victorian Peace Network, embracing churches, political organisations, trade unions, legal groups, humanists, Buddhists and medical practitioners.(18) Individuals have spoken out and initiated action, like that of the National Headscarf Day 29 November 2002, which mobilised considerable numbers of people.(19)

Public interest in Islam grew greatly in response to the media coverage of the Muslim world and matters of Islam. Even "cash for comment" radio programs appear to have fuelled this interest. It became apparent from the stocks of books available in the large bookshops that there was increased demand for books dealing with Islam. Many high quality works from the United States by authors such as Yahya Emerick, gained an Australian market. The Federation of Australian Muslim Student and Youth Organisations (FAMSY) began a library book campaign, endeavouring to supply some well chosen works on Islam to public libraries around Australia. In NSW a booklet "Appreciating Islam" was launched by a State Minister in response to this growing demand for information. In Victoria an Islamic Council publication on the history of Muslims in Australia was also launched by the Minister responsible for Multicultural Affairs, to serve the need for more knowledge about Islam in this community.

Although the War on Terrorism has fuelled anti-Muslim sentiments, and has stimulated the spread of racism, it has also served to awaken the whole Australian community to the need to defend multiculturalism from its enemies and to defend civil liberties. The use of racially and religiously divisive policies by a section of the conservatives has not created an intolerant society. In fact these political forces may have sown the seeds of their own demise by trying to return to the 1960s, a period in Australia of intolerance, both racial and religious, and total subservience to foreign powers.

2. Unholy War: Christians Accused of Hate By: Danny Buttler, The Herald Sun 28 May 2002

3. Hon. Peter Katsambanis in his statement to the Legislative Council of 4 December 2001

4. Christian Democratic Party MEDIA RELEASE 4th October 2002

5. ABC News Fri, Nov 22 2002

6. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Melbourne. Backlash against Muslims in Australia.Statement by Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr William Jonas 17 September 2001

7 Transcript of PM’s interview with John Laws Radio 2UE Subjects: Terrorist threat; troops returning from Afghanistan; Iraq; North Korea; Israel; Fred Nile 21 November 2002

8 Edward Said http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/575/op2.htm

9 Islamic Council of Victoria submission to Review of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002 Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD April 2002

10 AFIC Urgent Announcement to all Muslims especially Mosques and schools 17 October 2002

11 Muslims condemn ‘heavy-handed’ tactics. Age. November 1 2002 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/31/1036026979308.html

12 Australia violates Indonesians’ human rights, legislator says Jakarta Post18 Nov 2002

13 Submission of the Islamic Council of Victoria to the Senate Inquiry into the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002. 6 November 2002

14 Our leaders should mind their tongues. Randa Abdel-Fattah Age 21 October 2002

15 Media release; Christian - Muslim Dialogue Islamic Council of Victoria and the Victorian Council of Churches, 16 October 2002

16 Three Faiths decry vicious bomb blast in Bali. Statement by the Australian National Dialogue of Christians Muslims and Jews (ANDCMJ) 17th October 2002

17 Message to all the extremists of the world (From Australian Muslims) Joint Media release. Wednesday, AFIC November 06, 2002

18 Victorian Peace Network http://www.vicpeace.org/

19 Avigail Arbanel http://www.netspace.net.au/~avigail