Iraqis “are people who want to be freed from dictatorship and freed from oppression,” Downer claimed

SYDNEY, February 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer lashed out Wednesday, February 19, at a group of pacifists, including Australians, who are planning to help Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by acting as human shields in any war on Iraq.

His attack was prompted by the decision of Adelaide mother-of-two Ruth Russell, 55, who was due to leave Australia Wednesday bound for Baghdad, to join other pacifists from humanitarian groups planning the action, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Russell, a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, said she has come to terms with the fact she might not return from Iraq alive.

"We all have to die sometime. I don't want to die needlessly, I have got a lot of wonderful things to keep living for. On the other hand I'm not going to say that I'm not going to stand up for what I believe in," she said.

Downer said in Adelaide he opposed her decision to put her safety at risk and to give support to Saddam.

"Whatever she thinks about her own welfare, she does have family and friends and people who care about her in Australia and no Australian wants to see her come to harm," he said.

"The second thing is she shouldn't give comfort to Saddam Hussein. This is a barbaric regime and she is making a very big mistake if she thinks that the people of Iraq are 100 percent behind their barbaric dictator.

"These are people who want to be freed from dictatorship and freed from oppression, they aren't people who enjoy being subjected to the whims of a bloodthirsty dictator," claimed the Australian foreign minister.

He said many of the westerners going to Iraq were publicity-seekers and they were not acting in the interests of the ordinary Iraqis who want to get rid of Saddam Hussein, reported AFP.

"I think these sorts of protesters and publicity-seekers and other groups of people need to spare a thought for the ordinary people of Iraq who have been subjected to a living hell for the last 30 years."

Russell said she will spend three weeks in Iraq working at orphanages and refugee camps, hoping her presence may help avert war on Iraq.

On February 16, Australia witnessed one of the biggest anti-war protests the country has ever seen with up to a quarter of a million demonstrators jamming the center of Sydney.

The rally, organized by a coalition of left-wing activists, trade unions, church groups and pacifists, filled a city park and stretched for two kilometers (a mile and a half) around, making crowd estimates difficult.

The Sydney protest was the largest seen in the city since the days of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, and there is deep cynicism among the crowds about American intentions in pursuing Saddam Hussein, according to the BBC online news service. 

Islamaphobia on Rise in Australia: Study

In another development, according to a new academic study, Islamaphobia is alive and thriving in Australia.

The study, one of the most extensive ever undertaken, found that 55 percent of Australians would be concerned if a close relative married a Muslim.

It showed that while there is antipathy towards other minorities such as Asians, Jews and Aboriginals, Muslims are the new bogeymen of racist Australia, seen as unable to fit into its western-style society.

"The results clearly indicate an expanding Islamaphobia, no doubt linked to recent geopolitical events, media representations of Muslims, and an accumulating heritage of western antipathy to Islam," said its author, Sydney academic Kevin Dunn.

Stereotypes of Islamic misogyny or sexism are clearly identified as a key factor in the growth and strength of anti-Muslim sentiment.

More than 5,000 residents of New South Wales and Queensland were interviewed for the study in late 2001, after the September 11 attacks in the United States but before the Bali bombings in October last year.

Muslim groups have complained of a sharp rise in anti-Muslim sentiment since the Bali bombings in which more than 190 people, 88 of them Australian, were.

Dunn, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of New South Wales, will detail the conclusions of his study to a conference on immigration and integration at Sydney University on Thursday.

He said 83 percent acknowledged a problem of racism in Australia, and 12 percent admitted to being racist themselves even by the narrowest of definitions.

This hardcore of racism suggests "dramatic scope for inter-communal relations tensions in Australian society."

While almost a quarter of Australians experience everyday racism, such as name-calling, lack of trust and disrespectful treatment in restaurants, 35 percent of non-English speaking migrants experienced it in the workplace and 30 percent in education.

The worst racism was found in working-class pockets of Sydney.

"Racist attitudes are positively associated with age, non-tertiary education, and to a slightly lesser extent with those who do not speak a language other than English," said the study.

However, it found that only seven percent are opposed to cultural diversity in Australia.

Among the questions, the respondents were asked, was whether they believed there were any ethnic or cultural groups that did not fit into Australian society.

At least 1,276 nominated Muslims or people from the Middle East while 746 mentioned Asians and 58 believed indigenous Australians did not fit into Australian society.

But when asked if they would be concerned about a close relative marrying a Muslim, some 54 percent said they would with almost 25 percent saying they would be very/extremely concerned.

"This suggests that Muslims suffer quite dramatically from the stereotypes of Islamic misogyny/sexism."