The problems with Arabs arise not because they are Arabs, but because they are Muslims. Until all Muslims, irrespective of race, take an honest, critical look at the outdated dogma of their religion - as have Christians with theirs - there will be no improvement in relations. Blaming race, appearance and other peripherals, which have been present in Austalia for two centuries, is humbug.

Mirko,
How do we explain all the muslims of other races, who do not participate in violence. I must be spoiled living in North Qld, because we have muslims here, and have never had any trouble, they go about their business in the same way we Christians go about ours. Perhaps you are correct it is the enviroment in which these people live.

the bleeding heart brigade.

The sweeping generalisations are coming from the author of this, and he is just as bad as the rest.

They get given equal opportunity. They have a natural urge to congregate together and this is what is creating the segregation, incoreect attitudes from both sides and tension.

It is a government responsibility to ensure they place new migrants in areas of employment shortage or population need, not let them be drawn like magnets to the ghettos with other people who have been locked up in detention centres, or disenchanted with Australian society.

The fair go comes from not transplanting a way of life here. i bet in NQ due to the proportion of population of muslims they live in harmony, and interact well with others. Simple realy, but too simple it seems for those that want to be bleeding hearts.

They get a fair go, We Aussies dont have Aussie Activists or community networks like these (which is a further example of segregation) so look at reality and see the government needs to manage a community with planning, not allow them to congregate and segregate themselves. its the same for Aborigines and other minority groups

I note that the very first post on this topic by Leigh went straight on the attack blaming Arabs for being Muslim. Though Arab and Muslim are not necessarily synonymous.

Is it so morally repugnant to stigmatise certain groups or are we to rise above our humanity and only consider the ideas repugnant not the person who holds them? Mirko might like to also consider his views say in relation to those who consider paedophilia to be acceptable and or those who consider suicide bombing as a very commendable and worthwhile exercise. Surely our human instincts to revile such groups is an evolved trait which serves humanity well and is not to be lightly dismissed.

The problem is that humans quite naturally stigmatise and alienate various groups; it is how to manage our basic humanity that is the problem. Religion used to be a very useful tool in this regards but when one has competing religions one has a problem. Again it is the otherness that is the problem and of course if one does belong to a religion that forbids women from marrying outside the religion, which Islam does, then surely in a society such as Australia it is morally correct to stigmatise those who hold the view that a religion has the right to restrict a women from marrying whom-so-ever she pleases. Surely those who would restrict the freedom of others must be stigmatised and alienated from mainstream society. It is not the fact that we as humans stigmatise and alienate, that is a given, but as members of a multi-cultural society, it is what we stigmatise and alienate people for that is important. Paedophiles should be alienated so should those who would restrict the freedom of others—they should not be welcome in Australia.

Another vague/ soft approach to a critical issue

>>...we should not allow these superficial differences to divert us from the fact we have the same basic needs and our wellbeing is promoted by the same type of things.<<

It’s not the ‘superficial’ differences but the deep insincere ones that the average Australian does not recognise that is my concern.

Yes Arabs are not all muslims – (some Lebanese will also argue that Lebanese are not Arabs) – but the underlying problem is islam unfortunately; islam does not have the same ‘basic needs’ that we and the rest of the free world enjoy.

At the risk of being inflammatory and suspended again for speaking the truth I make it my business to defend my country from the ‘Fatwah’ that is set by corporate islam to invade, occupy and overrun us; and be given an equal opportunity to flourish by our duped governments.

The goal of islam is to conquer, take over, re-posses, re-claim humanity back to Allah. This in itself is the huge difference with all other ethnicity and race.

We (non-muslim Australians) are allowing this to happen through our head-in-the-sand attitude, PC stupidity, and insufficient knowledge of our own religious foundation.

Eminently sensible Mirko. A good article.

Racial tensions have manifest themselves around the world throughout the history of humanity, not least in Australia before multiculturalism. So that begs the question; why did successive governments think that Australia could have multiculturalism without racial strife ensuing sooner or later? Even if problems with European – Aboriginal relations weren’t enough to make them think twice, problems with the early Chinese immigrants or later, Vietnamese refugees should certainly have made them very wary.

Multiculturalism is a nice ideal, and for as long as a society remains prosperous and we vigorously promote tolerance and equality, things might just hold together.

The trouble is, in Australia inequality is increasing all the time, and is in our faces more and more blatantly, not least in terms of big business making ridiculously huge profits and paying obscene amounts to CEOs and top execs while at the same time continuously cutting jobs, or in our tax system within which the rich and powerful simply don’t pay a proportionate share, let alone the larger share that they are supposed to pay according to skew towards higher income brackets, or in the decline in basic services, not least health and tertiary education, while the tax burden remains as high as ever, on in the massive decline in the quality of our environment and all the forever increasing restrictions implemented as a result.

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