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Just how Aussie do we have to be?

By Salam Zreika - posted Tuesday, 7 March 2006


Some Muslims do talk about jihad as though the ultimate aim is global domination and we have all seen videos of masked men shouting “Allah Akbar” (God is Great) before doing any number of heinous things. Yet, this neither means that they represent mainstream Australian Muslims and nor does it mean they are, in fact, correct in their view of Islam. To limit our understanding of jihad to what these people espouse is doing nothing but pandering to their interests. Most people forget this, but it is ordinary Muslims who suffer at the hands of extremists the most. They are the ones killed every day in Iraq and all over the world: they are the ones stigmatised by over zealous people who seek protection from this “threat”.

No doubt about it Mr Howard, some women are oppressed by the extremists you talk about, in many parts of the world, and it’s disgusting and unfair. Not only that, but it is probably also true that some people from all cultures, including those who belong to the Muslim faith, oppress women. This is why we have organised campaigns such as No Violence Against Women Day. Just because women of the Islamic faith are modestly dressed with veils on their heads does not mean they miss out on freedom. In Australia, especially, the number of Muslim women graduating from universities and working in full-time jobs is astounding.

We are not all oppressed by our fathers and brothers. I remember on one occasion when my mum refused to allow my sister and I to go to the movies because it was too late in the evening. We really wanted to go and, as we have all had our rebellious times at one point or another, we decided we would go anyway. On the way out we bumped into my dad who asked us where we were going. We told him we were sneaking off to watch a movie but that mum didn’t want us to go. His reply was worth a million dollars. He said, “Go, I’ll tell her I didn’t see you”.

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How many teenage girls from any culture around the world can say they have had a similar experience?

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About the Author

Salam Zreika is a freelance journalist. She has written for a community paper called FAIR (Forum on Australian Islamic Relations). Salam graduated from the University of Western Sydney in May 2003, with a Bachelor of Communication - majoring in Journalism. She completed her cadetship with the Northern District Times.

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