Dear Foxy,

«I can only be responsible for what I post.»

That goes without saying.

«Not for what you understand and interpret.»

Has anyone suggested otherwise?

«I did not give options as you claim and to which you objected.»

Have you not introduced the topic of "White Australia" versus "multiculturalism"?

Yes, I object to both.
And for the very same reason -
I object to states and their governments making policies as to who may/should or may/should not live in a given country or continent.

«We've been fortunate thus far that our governments have
succeeded»

Please do not include me in your "we": It is none of my fortune that YOUR government succeeds or even exists.

«"I am, You are, We are - Australian."»

«"Australians feel proud to be Australian and
proud of the values that characterise Australia
today."»

I could expect better than such infantile slogans from someone whose family survived and escaped the U.S.S.R.

«"It means that if you love something and you believe
it, you can make it happen."»

If she believes what she says then it means that she is living in a dream, or on hallucinogenic drugs.

Yuyutsu,

I shall give your comments the attention that they deserve.

Cheers.

Now back to the topic:

Here is a link on the advent of Australia's
Multicultural Society from Britannica, for
any one interested in more history:

http://www.britannica.com/place/Australia/The-advent-of-multicultural-society

I think for a country to be truly multicultural there must be shared values at some point ... or at least a respect for "the other" ...

I lived in Malaysia for over ten years and can attest that it is a truly multicultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-racial success. I loved waking to the sound of the call to prayer at dawn. We all shared our feast/holy days.

Unfortunately, I can't call Australia a multicultural success.

A few years ago, Sheik Halali of Lakemba Mosque defended a group of men of his congregation for raping Australian women because they wore no head scarf. He referred to these women as "uncovered meat".

Recently Sheik Abdul Zoud of the Western Sydney congregation gave a series of hate-filled antisemitic speeches, saying that jihad was the only solution for Allah. Indeed, he stated that none of the caliphs conquered the world by peaceful means. They conquered it through jihad for the sake of Allah; that jihad is the only solution when it comes to infidels (we nonbelievers).

There are a number of Muslim men who have been arrested for attempted terrorist attacks .... one being on the MCG during a match, another at Holdsworthy Baracks.

How do we bring this Islamic group to be part of a truly multicultural Australia?

Good Morning WhiteMouse,

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for contributing to this discussion.

Australia has certainly had some challenges.

What with extremists within groups, and people making
controversial statements and behaving badly, including
criminal behaviour. Yet we need to take things within
their context and we can't blame entire groups for
the actions of some within their group be they Muslim
Clerics, White Supremacists, or even politicians -
like Pauline Hanson.

The Sydney experience that you're talking about caused
quite a controversy. Sheik Taj Alhilali
was the Islamic cleric who compared women who did not wear
scarves to "uncovered meat." This happened in the early
2000s - decades ago. He said that they were provoking men
and if they got raped -- they were "asking for it."

The Board of the Lakemba Mosque Association decided to ban
him from making sermons and he apologised for his
comments. The cleric died in Egypt last year at the age of 82.

This cleric was considered one of the most controversial
figures in Australia at the time after making contentious
remarks.

We need to keep in mind however that there is cultural
diversity within the religion of Islam . Of course Islam
challenges the mind-set of our society - but Muslims have
lived peacefully in this country for over a century.

The oldest mosque on the east coast was built in Brisbane
in 1908 by early Muslim Australians who settled in the late
1800s. Today 42% live in Greater Sydney, 31% in Greater
Melbourne and 8% in Greater Perth.

The peak Islamic authority is the Federation of Islamic Councils
and they're the ones that deal with issues of religious
significance.

Apart from extremists within groups we have Muslims, Jews,
Christians, and others, who work together in our communities
Inter-faith organizations that try to bridge
the gap of misunderstanding and they are doing a good job at it.
The organization - "Together For Humanity," is just one
example which was founded by Rabbi Zalman Kastel. Rabbi
David Freilich is another name worth mentioning, from the WA
Jewish community.

There's many more.

"but Muslims have lived peacefully in this country for over a century."

Yeah well Curtis Cheung might disagree - if he was still alive....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Parramatta_shooting

Mohammedans live relatively peacefully in most countries or locations where they are in small minority. But things change dramatically when they become a larger minority at around 10% of the population. At that point they begin to agitate, peacefully and not so peacefully, for the implementation, in part or whole, of their religion.

Australia doesn't currently have that problem largely thanks to the efforts of Howard ("We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances under which they come" ) and Abbott ("Stop The Boats"). These two so changed the conversation in Australia that even those who favour large immigrant programmes (like the current government and opposition) run for cover when they're identified as being soft of restricting immigration from the alien cultures.