UMMAH 29 - 31
AMUST
EDUCATION 32 - 35
TRAVEL 36 - 37
SOCIAL 38 - 39
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
www.amust.com.au ISSUE # 169
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Multicultural News & Views
DECEMBER 2019; RABI’UL THANVI 1441
Rana is every Australian Muslim woman BOOMERANG PAGE 7
Hijabi Muslimah attacked in the wake of report and conference on Islamophobia
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Muslim Toastmasters in Canberra
COMMUNITY PAGE 18
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Weaving Hope mural in New Zealand
Spices of India come alive
AUSTRALIA PAGE 20
LIFESTYLE PAGE 23
Bachar Houli bags two awards at AMAA Professor Munjed Al Muderis. Photo by Salty Dingo.
Former Iraqi refugee is NSW Australian of the Year Zia Ahmad Zia Ahmad A 38-weeks pregnant Muslim hijabi woman, 31 was brutally punched and stomped in an unprovoked Islamophobic attack by Stipe Lozina, 43 on Wednesday night 20 November in a cafe in Parramatta, Western Sydney. This comes in the wake of an alarming second report on Islamophobia in Australia released last Sunday followed by its launch yesterday on Thursday 21 November 2019 during a timely day-long conference in the same suburb, Parramatta titled “Collaborative Approaches to Counter Extremist Right-Wing and Islamophobia Threats”. The attack was clearly recorded by two cameras at the location showing in detail how the incident took place at a cafe in Church Street in Parramatta on Wednesday 20 November at 10.30 pm. The attack seem to be a random Islamophobic attack on the woman who was sitting on a table with two other woman identifiable as Muslims due to their hijabs and none of them was known to the attacker. continued on page 2
Bachar Houli (left) with Hazem El Masri. Photo by Zia Ahmad. Mehar Ahmad AFL Footballer Bachar Houli won two awards in “Man of the Year” as well as “Sportsperson of the Year” categories at the 13th Australian Muslim Achievement Awards held on Saturday 30 November 2019 in Sydney at Westella Renaissance in Lidcombe. The annual event founded and hosted by Mission of Hope led by Ms Hanan Dover and its current President Ms Nasreen Hanifi recognises the outstanding contributions made by Australian Muslim men, women, organisations and businesses and celebrating their performance, achievements and success. The 2019 gala dinner event attracted some
of Australia’s most creative members of the community, their families, community leaders and supporters from all over Australia. The diverse range of nominees, finalists and winners were selected through a strict criterion in each category by panels of judges from across Australia making the 2019 nominations most competitive in the 13year history of the awards. Amongst the most notable winners were Dr Zuleyha Keskin, lecturer at ISRA, Charles Sturt University in the category “People’s Choice of the Year” while veteran Muslim leader from Queensland Mr Sultan Deen, a fifth generation Australian won the Lifetime Achiever Award. continued on page 11
Arriving on a leaking boat and having been detained at Christmas Island, and now a pioneering orthopedic surgeon and human rights advocate, Professor Munjed Al Muderis has been announced as The 2020 NSW Australian of the Year by Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The 2020 NSW Australians of the Year were announced at a ceremony at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on Tuesday 5 November 2019. Premier Gladys Berejiklian congratulated Professor Al Muderis, the 2020 NSW Australian of the Year, and NSW’s three other recipients. “Each year our nation comes together to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Australia’s amazing citizens through the Australian of the Year Awards,” Ms Berejiklian said. “This year is the sixtieth anniversary of the awards, providing us with a special opportunity to recognise those who make a real and lasting difference in NSW. Every year I’m inspired by the stories of the recipients, and this year is no exception,” she said. continued on page 3
Landmark conference on countering Islamophobia Zia Ahmad A high powered day-long conference was held on Thursday 21 November at the Novotel Hotel in Parramatta, Western Sydney highlighting the urgency to take proactive action against Far-Right Extremism and Islamophobia in Australia. The conference titled “Collaborative Approaches to Counter the Extremist Right-Wing and Islamophobia Threats” brought together academics, researchers, community leaders and victims including a survivor of Christchurch attack with presentations and panel discussions to find solution and commitment for action. The conference on the sidelines also included the Sydney launch of the Islamophobia in Australia Report II by the Race
Photo: ISRA Australia.
Discrimination Commissioner, Mr Chin Tan and a talk on “Social Impact and Responsibility” by Fr Chris Riley, Founding Director
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of Youth Off The Streets. There were a number of panels and presentations dealing with the impact of violent
extremism, the extremist right-wing and Islamophobia on society and communities; short rapid-fire presentations on latest research related to right-wing extremism; outcomes and potential solutions to the problems and commitment for action. The conference was organised by Charles Sturt University, NSW Government, All Together Now and ISRA. Extremist right-wing is a collective term that encompasses ‘both (democratic) radicals and (anti-democratic) extremists’, who advocate for and will enact violence to enforce notions of ‘social inequality, authoritarianism, and nativism’. Islamophobia is generally considered to be “anti-Muslim racism targeting expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” continued on page 9
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