Canberra Muslims are very disappointed that ACT Senator Gary Humphries has tabled a petition in Parliament put forward by three Sydney residents asking for a 10-year moratorium on Muslim migration to Australia.
President of Australian Muslim Voice Inc, a Canberra-based organisation dedicated to Islamic arts and culture, Diana Abdel-Rahman said: “I am concerned that we are seeing the start of another round of Muslim bashing in Australia where politicians start pandering to the extreme elements in our society in what it seems to be a bid to garner support for the next elections”.
All free peoples support the concept of free speech, however, Ms Abdel-Rahman said: “free speech comes with responsibility; outrageous and radical views do not have a place in Parliament no matter how well it is veiled as a right or a freedom”.
She said political parties of all persuasion had shown a propensity to tap into the bigoted and narrow-minded elements in society, using it as wedge politics to claim popularity.
“Australian Muslim Voice is concerned that the dark clouds of Islamophobia are starting to gather over our society again and that popularism is back on the agenda of some politicians, either as an issue of refugees or immigration,” Ms Abdel-Rahman said
“We plead with Mr Humphries and others who are contemplating doing such acts to think about their constituents who are also Australian and profess the Muslim faith.
“It would be sad if as Wikileaks has apparently revealed, that politicians openly say one thing and say something different behind the scenes.”
[ED – if Wikileaks revealed that to you, well, you weren’t paying attention.]