The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the
Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, November 27th, 2002.
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1. HOWARD'S RACIST DIVIDE & RULE
The Howard Government's support for a proposal to outlaw the wearing of
traditional Muslim clothing is an incitement to racial and religious
hatred. Racism has been a central plank of the Howard Government's
political platform from the time of its election in 1996, be it racist
slurs against Indigenous Australians, the demonising and dehumanising of
asylum seekers or its paternalistic arrogance toward Australia's
Asia-Pacific neighbours.
by Marcus Browning
It was the Reverend Fred Nile, the Christian Democrat NSW MP, who fanned
the flames of hatred, calling for traditional Islamic dress to be banned
by law.
Nile, better known for his Christian fundamentalist homophobia, speaking
in the state Parliament said: "Is it a fact that the Islamic female
terrorists in Hamburg, Germany, and in the recent Muslim attack in
Moscow, Russia, wore the black chador body covering of Iran and Saudi
Arabia?"
His diatribe - at one and the same instance racist, sexist and full of
the bile of religious hatred - was intended to make all Australian
Muslim women subjects of public fear and suspicion and a target for
violence. It bore its bitter fruit the next day with an assault on two
women wearing the chador in Sydney.
The objective of vilifying the faith of Islam itself was also clear as
Nile continued: "Is it a fact that such total body covering completely
conceals a person's identity, even whether the wearer is male of female
- which is a perfect disguise for terrorists as it conceals both weapons
and explosives ."
He concluded with a call to his fellow Christian fundamentalist, John
Howard: "In view of the new terrorist threat and as part of our new
Australian security precautions, will the Government consider a
prohibition on the wearing of the chador?"
Howard was accommodating. In a radio interview his sham ambiguity did
not veil his obvious support. "I don't have a clear response to what
Fred has put. I mean, I like Fred and I don't always agree with him, but
you know Fred speaks for a lot of people." And: "Sometimes you don't
have a flat yes or no on something like this. Different people of
goodwill will have a different view."
Clearly, Nile and Howard have their lines of communications open. Nile
also wants a ban of the wearing of the hijab Muslim scarf by students in
state schools in the name of "unity and tolerance".
The agenda of the extreme right, including the Christian right, has emerged.
Specifically, it is for the imposition of dictatorial rule by the means
of rabid anti-democratic laws enforced by police, the military and spy
agencies.
It involves the censorship and the silencing of views that differ to
those of the Government. This includes an attack on multiculturalism,
diversity of values and beliefs, and the right to dissent, to organise
and to protest.
The intent is to maintain an atmosphere heavy with suspicion and fear
with such tactics as the call for public vigilance and last week's vague
warning of a terrorist attack; that someone, somewhere in Australia
between now and next year will use undefined weapons of mass destruction.
Stoking the fires of racial and religious hatred is an essential part of
divide-and-rule tactics.
But the insistent war propaganda, now coupled with the threat of
terrorism against Australia, is evidence that not everything is going to
plan for Howard and his cronies.
There is strong community opposition to war. There have been revelations
about the essentially conspiratorial and underhand nature of the Howard
Government, such as the recent exposure of their secret, lethal
treatment of asylum seekers, and their lax response to the victims of
the Bali bombing.
Pandering to the US is also putting some off-side.
Voices speak out
Among those speaking out against and condemning the vicious Howard/Nile
racist double act, were the acting Race Discrimination Commissioner,
William Jonus, who called Nile's statements "offensive and an abuse of
the institution of Parliament".
Maha Krayem Abdo, from the United Muslim Women's Association, said she
was stunned that such comments could come from an Australian parliament.
The Lebanese Muslim Association's Keysar Trad called Nile's statement
racist. "Muslim women have been through enough.
"Now we have a Member [of Parliament] attacking modesty and making
statements that will escalate tensions. It's not the thing you expect to
hear in a civilised country like Australia."
The Islamic Council of Victoria asked if there was going to be a ban on
brief cases as weapons can easily be hidden in them.
Greens Senator Bob Brown noted that Howard's refusal to condemn Fred
Nile's statement shows he is stilling running with the political line of
One Nation 's Pauline Hanson. "For months he wouldn't take on Pauline
Hanson when she started her attack on multiculturalism", said Senator Brown.
"Now his first up accommodating comments in relation to Fred Nile's call
for a ban on the chador shows the Prime Minister is again willing to
foster anti-Muslim sentiment by default.
"Fred Nile's comments are unacceptable in multicultural Australia. The
Prime Minister's flirtation with those comments is dangerous." J
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