SYDNEY: Mahmoud Jamil grew up in Australia. He went to school, then university. His accent is unmistakably Australian. He has a solid job as a law intern as he makes his way through law school. But he is worried, even fearful, after anti-Islam protests were met with white supremacy protests in the country. “I know a number of Muslims here who have been verbally attacked by people because we are brown,” he told Bikyamasr.com on Tuesday morning as he sipped his coffee ahead of the morning rush to the office. For him, following the anti-Muslim film protests that have occurred in the country, he has witnessed a rise in what he calls “white racism” directed at Muslims. “I am Australian and proud to be, but the past few weeks have been difficult because of the anger on both sides. People are very frustrated and the hatred is growing,” he said. He was referring to recent reports that white supremacy groups are bolstering their anti-Muslim and anti-immigrants calls on social media websites. According to ABC News Australia, “provocative messages have begun to appear on Facebook pages, calling on white ‘home-grown' Australians to respond violently to protests.” This has led many Muslims in the country to voice concern that if the government and religious leaders do not take the lead, violence could erupt. For Jamil, he believes this needs to happen sooner rather than later. “Australia has long struggled with immigration and racism. It happens on both sides, but there appears to be a growing violent nature to the white racism that we are seeing and they are taking these events as a pretext to lash out,” he said. Others agree. Fellow Australian Muslim Nora Yussif says she has been threatened while taking the bus recently. “I was sitting on the bus and a couple of men came over after they heard me speaking Arabic and told me, ‘why don't you go back to your real country'. I was shocked,” she told Bikyamasr.com. Yussif is not veiled, and considers herself Australian. Her parents are Lebanese immigrants and she has lived her entire life, like Jamil, in Australia. She feels threatened as a Muslim, and despite her Australian citizenship, is once again beginning to feel alienated in her home country. “I am not a practicing Muslim. I am Australian and do all the things other Australian girls do,” she said, adding that her friends at university have tried to show support, “but it is a struggle to have to deal with this racism on a daily basis.” For her, she admits the responses across the Islamic world probably did not help the situation. “Certainly, the violence that came from the protests against the film and cartoons are not helping Muslims in Western countries, but in my home, it should be different,” she added. Both Yussif and Jamil hope that the government will begin to create a new understanding that will bridge the divide they believe is growing wider as misunderstandings of Islam and Muslims are fomented in the country. Jamil believes that “the country can unite if people are willing. We just have to talk and be honest about the situation. Australia cannot hide from its problems.”
