When we see the barrage of cartoons depicting politicians, sports people, celebrities and just about anyone who acts like a twit (irrelevant to their belief) in this country, this article is just another infantile monotheist dummy spit.

The problem with the religious is they're so far up themselves, they see nothing but the self inflicted agony of their belief. Not realising, normal people don't care and get joy out of the ridiculous actions and statements of prehistoric ideologies. In this country, if you act like a dill, you cop the flack and laugh with everyone else. Otherwise, your in the wrong country.

Just because a belief in god takes away joy, harmony and freedoms, so you can't even laugh at your own foolishness, doesn't give anyone the right to take away others ability to laugh at themselves. During my life I've seen every race, creed, belief, local, food, drink, sex, you name it and Australians have drawn a cartoon about it. Its our sense of humour and we enjoy it.

Real Australians are secure in themselves and their country, so having a go at each other is a form of endearment. It's what we are, that depicts us, not what a group of despotic barbaric beliefs want us to bow down to. Leave Abe, don't come back and take all the other wowsers with you.

I can see the cartoon now. A small group of people with a big black cloud hovering above them rowing away in a boat, with their bibles and koran's as oars and sails. On the top of the mast, a big neon sign flashing, WE ARE LOVE AND WE BRING PEACE, as their guns in the bow blaze a path forward. A christian says to a muslim, as a jew counts the money and nods in approval. 'What right do those yobbo Australians have telling us we can't come here and take them over by destroying their way of life, as we've done with every other society on earth'.

Hi Coach,

Thank you indeed for informing me that *stereotyping* is "a way of life" of people of the West. I was not aware of the fact.

Stereotyping means judging on the basis of accumulated experience with members of the same group or the same type. You would be absolutely mad if you repeatedly refused to take into account earlier, similar experiences. Even the author speaks in stereotypes, starting in his openiong semtence, becasuse there is no way but to sort into groups and categories the mass of our previous individual experiences.
Now, you have to ask yourself: is my group and my type in any way responsible for how we are seen by others? And is my own personal behaviour conforming to that type'of behaviour, manner, speech, temperament (things within my own control)?
We judge other by their deeds and are judged in turn by our deeds. That's where the perennial difficulty lies - if I don't like how other people see me I have to change myself. And that is often too hard. It is easier to call for a change in other people. The author glimpses this but seems to think that he'd try the easy option of 'change the other people' first. By so doing, he inadvertently reinforces the sterotype which he had set out to combat.

Abe Ata “Australian, and other Western ignorance about the Arab world”

I find offensive, that “ignorance” is assumed because political cartoonists tend to be as indifferent to "Arab sensitivities" as they do to "Caucasian sensitivities”.

I recall Harold McMillan, Conservative Prime Minister of Britain who was lampooned by the TV program TW3. When asked by the head of BBC if such rudeness (in early 1960’s) should be edited out from TV programs said “most certainly not”.

Such is the standard of political and social “hands-off” which we should all aspire to.

As for

“Conscious or unconscious racism should not be a component of our politics, nor should it be disguised as freedom of speech.”
As for one of two evils, “racism” is a far less insidious and predatory force than censorship and the institutional repression of free speech.
I guess most Iranians and other Arabs do not get to criticise their political / religious masters as freely as we expect to lampoon and send up ours.
Too bad, I bet the average Ali Baba in Tehran does seriously envy what we accept as “free speech”.

“And while any cartoonist, Australian or others, must perforce deal in stereotypes, there are some which are outdated, insensitive and threaten community harmony.”

The only threat to “community harmony” is the one which Abe Ata implies from Arab retaliation.

The threat is not the cartoons but (if the burning and rioting as seen in some Arab states – re “western cartoons” is anything to go by) the from inability of those of Arab extract to accept the historic practices of Western society (basically – if you cannot accept our western standards, move back to where the standards are more to your liking – probably the 17th century).

Cartoons are a form of social entertainment and something to enliven the everyday.

In Riyadh public beheadings pass as a form of social entertainment and something to enliven the everyday.

Go figure, I bet the bloke who lost his head would be far have preferred to be the butt of the cartoonists art – should we ask him?

Speaking of 'stereotyping'... I was the recipient of some last week.

This week I managed to clear it up with the security personell at the County Court.

I dressed in all black attire, combat boots, with the legs of my trousers tucked in to the socks, and attended the Terrorism trial.

I became the conspicuous object of attention and double take. It was an experiment in stereotyping and an act of street theatre to see what the impact was.

This week, clothed normally, and speaking to the same security guys, I asked them cordially how they 'perceived' me last time. The consensus was 'Neo Nazi/White supremacist/Militia/Vigilante'. Perhaps thats why I was subjected to such intense searches.

This type of experience must be that of many Arabs simply because of their attire.

I hope that we can learn to differentiate between say Christian Lebanese and Muslim Lebanese, because they are as different as the East is from the West.

Today, standing outside RMIT holding a poster exposing PLO involvement in Genocide, I encountered 2 interesting passers by, both complemented my stand and one was a white Aussie, the other was a black Somalian student named Mohamed ! who shook my hand and wished me well.

I had one eye looking out for someone maybe wanting to give me a king hit, but I only experienced politeness.

I'm sure I would have been perceived much differently if I'd used the same getup as last week.... 'stereotypes' :)

Stereotyping of a large established group in a society and cartoons are acceptable. Irish jokes were accepted even though they annoyed a lot of people of Irish background because they were a large secure group and everyone agrees that these people were not in any way inferior.

Stereotyping of a small or less established group can be a problem. For example Jews came to Australia initially with the First Fleet and they became quickly embedded within our society yet anti Jewish jokes can be harmful to such a small group. Similarly the Chinese can be adversely affected by this.

Generally Muslims are a new group, and cartooning can be very damaging to them.