NSW and Victorian governments had issued a response to Muslim leaders intending to decline government Iftars during the fasting month of Ramadan, incorrectly citing a nonsensical assertion that the reason is to “allow the Muslim community to grieve”.
This however has been seen as a deceptive tactic by these governments to divert attention from the real issues, ultimately resulting in deepening distrust by Australian Muslims of their respective Australian governments. It’s a reminder that if our Federal and State governments ignore their concerns, Australian Muslims will express their discontent at the polls.
Muslim peak groups had rejected invitations by NSW and Victorian state governments to official Iftar events, given the Australian government’s withdrawal of UNRWA funding and against the Australian government’s stubborn support of ‘Israel’s right to defend itself’, amidst genocidal actions by the Zionist regime, most recently being the 112 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops near aid trucks on Thursday 29 February.
It’s crucial to understand however that the boycott initiated by Muslim organisations is not merely about grief; it’s a firm stand against the Australian government’s complicity in the violence and oppression faced by Palestinians.
It’s therefore disappointing that the reason given by the NSW and Victorian Premiers to cancel their Ramadan events – supposedly out of respect for grieving Muslim communities – is not addressing the real issue at hand: that Australian Muslims are objecting to being accomplices to the tyranny that Australian Federal and State governments are supporting.
It’s an indicator that the governments have not understood the point; that Muslims are not grieving, but rather seething with anger over government’s complicity in the killing of Palestinians by supplying military hardware to Israel, and in obstructing legitimate funding to UNRWA, despite the lack of evidence supporting the accusations made against it.
Rather than acknowledging this, the cancellation because of “grief” appears to deflect attention away from these critical concerns. This action, ill-framed as a gesture of respect by the governments, overlooks the need for action to address the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
By ignoring the real concerns of Australian Muslim community, the governments are essentially gaslighting the community, invalidating their legitimate grievances and perpetuating a cycle of marginalisation by the government towards the Muslim community at large.
Australian Federal and State governments are seeking to manipulate the situation to make it seem as though the governments are acting in the best interests of the Muslim community while actually dismissing their concerns.
Australian Muslims need nothing more that what is promised by the Constitution, that is, to be represented by the Parliaments, and for Australia to be represented in the world as per the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Parliaments must not sacrifice conventions by being subservient to a pro-Zionist lobby.
Any sidestepping of the real issue of Australian government complicity in Gaza only serves to intensify the resentment and distrust within the Muslim community towards our Australian Federal and State governments.
If the Labor governments refuse to heed the real concerns of the Muslim community, they will certainly heed their votes at the next polls.
(With Azzam Siddiqui, Dr Daud Batchelor, and Bilal Cleland).
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