AUSSIE MUSLIM THANK ANTI-BIGOTRY SKATERS
Sydney, 20 Dzulhijjah 1435/14 October 1435 (MINA) – Newcastle skaters, who rushed to help a Muslim mother and her daughter after being attacked in the streets, have been officially thanked by the city’s Muslim association for standing up to bigotry.
“It took a lot of courage to do what they did,” Newcastle Muslim Association vice-president, Diana Rah, Onislam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Tuesday.
While driving thorough Newcastle, a Muslim woman and her mother were verbally abused and left shaken after a bigot approached their car and threatened them.
Then, the man followed the Muslim family and continued the abuse, provoking intervention from Patrick Burgess and Justin Lanz who were skating with four other friends.
The assailant punched one of the skaters who tried to help the women and stole mobile phones from two others, before being arrested by police.
On Saturday a man was charged for allegedly shouting offensive comments and throwing cement bags at a mosque in Sydney’s south-west.
Appreciating the group’s “quick response”, the association invited the group to an open day next Wednesday to which the six members were invited.
“We will be giving them a certificate on Wednesday when all six of them can visit us,” Rah said.
The open day would also welcome all visitors from Newcastle community.
“For the open day we’re having a sausage sizzle, we’ve got an exhibition on Islam and Muslims and we’ve got a lot of different fun things planned,” she noted.
“Everyone is invited; it’s about people getting to know us and us them.”
Appreciated
In reaction to this token appreciation shwon by the whole community, Burgess said defending those in need was the correct thing to do.
“We were just doing what any normal person would do,” he said of the group’s role in helping stop the attack.
He added that he really enjoyed meeting everyone at the mosque, which is on Metcalfe Street.
Along with grateful Muslims, Burgess said the support they got from people after the incident reflects the tolerant nature of the society.
“I think it shows the majority of people in the community are good and that the extremists who are doing these attacks are in the minority,” he said.
Tolerant Australian appeared in a video called The Social Experiment, which was posted on Youtube by the Macquarie University Muslim Students Association, based in Sydney.
Using hidden cameras, the video showed the response of Australians to anti-Muslims abuse in Sydney streets.
The video shows an actor abusing Muslim people in public and in every scene a passerby steps in to defend against the bigoted attacks.
The director of the video, Kamal Saleh, described the results as “amazing” and “inspirational”.
Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population.
In post 9/11-era, Australian Muslims have been haunted with suspicion and have had their patriotism questioned.
The anti-Muslim sentiments further increased following last month’s anti-terror raids, deemed the biggest in Australian history, in which 15 people were arrested from north-western Sydney.
The raids were followed by a huge number of anti-Muslim attacks, including a mosque being defaced in Queensland and direct threats issued against the Grand Mufti of Australia.
Earlier this month, hundreds of Queensland Muslim groups and individuals have urged stricter penalties for people convicted of hate crimes that can be linked to the introduction of national security legislation.(T/P008/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
