Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer recently gave the keynote address in the opening ceremony of the Peace and Harmony Interfaith Conference in Sydney. His speech ended with a plea to Australia’s Muslim leaders and community members to take the lead in eradicating the community’s extremist fringe. "Of course this all of our problem," Downer assured. "But you are uniquely placed to counter their narrative."
Mr Downer’s comment, no matter how well intentioned, is part of the greater narrative advocated by the current government: "Muslim extremists are a Muslim issue - not ours." The fault with this view is that it transfers ownership of this challenge from the elected leaders to a minority group who simply don’t have the resources to deal with such a global crisis.
Contrary to popular perceptions, it is the vast majority of Australian Muslims who suffer most from the views of Muslim extremists. The latter have taken a leaf out of the current government’s book, for they also specialise in driving wedges between Muslim communities to suit their own agendas. Further similarities can be found in their use of the media, which also promotes the adversarial ‘us versus them’ approach relished by most politicians and newsrooms. Hence it is always the same ‘Muslim spokesmen’, the same political reactions and the same newspaper stories.
With this narrative so entrenched within the political and media climate, it is extremely difficult for any fresh perspectives to emerge – unless you are the odd Muslim AFL player or hijab-wearing police officer.
Recently, Mustapha Karra Ali, member of the now-defunct Muslim Reference Group, continued this pervasive narrative. Ali claimed that up to 3,000 young Muslims are at risk of becoming radicalised by hardliners, a figure that even Australian Federal Police chief Mick Kelty was cautious in supporting. The ill effect of Ali’s claims is that it casts suspicion on all young Australian Muslims and undermines their continuous efforts to build bridges with the mainstream.
While the media and politicians predictably feed on this news, they neglected to cover the many powerful stories of how Australia’s young Muslims are breaking stereotypes and contributing to Australian society. Recently, the 65th annual International Council of Christians and Jews took the brave step of inviting a delegation of Australian Muslim youth to attend the conference in Sydney. These young Muslims played an important role in laying down the framework for a dialogue which has long been branded as