The term Islamophobia is a term often discussed these days. The term was first used in La vie de Mohammed, prophète d'Allah (Biography of the Prophet Muhammad of Islam) by Alphonse Etienne Dinet and Sliman ben Ibrahim in 1918 (in French). At first it meant having negative prejudices against Islam/Muslims, but today that has changed. Now, along with the previous definition, Muslims are also treated as a racial group. If Islamophobia were defined by its component words; Islam refers to the religion itself and phobia means irrational fear; it would mean an irrational fear of Islam/Muslims. However, the current demographic context is contradictory since race means dividing people into groups based on their perceived biological characteristics. The current population of Muslims is 1.6 billion and is found on every continent, all with different appearances and different cultures based on the country in which they live. This article will discuss Islamophobia in Australia. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Afghan Muslims had first migrated to Australia in the 1860s as camel drivers to explore arid areas and later settled in the region. During the 1870s, Malay Muslims were recruited for pearl harvesting. Two mosques were also built in the 19th century; one in 1861 in Marree and the other in 1888 called The Adelaide Grand Mosque. One of the first Muslim celebrations was recorded in 1884 when 70 Muslims gathered for Eid prayers. By the early 20th century, immigration of Muslims had declined due to the White Australia Policy, which meant that only people of European (English-speaking) descent could migrate. This resulted in only Albanian Muslims being able to enter the country. Albanian Muslims, incidentally, also built a mosque in Australia. However, due to the need for population and economic growth after the Second World War, measures had been taken to abolish the White Policy Australia. In 1973 the Racial Discrimination Act was finally passed which politically stopped racial categorization and thus the immigration of Muslims from different areas began; bringing Muslims from all over the world. According to the 2011 census, 2.2% of the Australian population is Muslim, coming from Lebanon, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. However, throughout this time, Muslims have faced a lot of violence in Australia. However, at the beginning the violence against Afghans was not based on religion, but on economic reasons and the racism of whites and blacks. Since the Afghans had brought camels that could survive the journey for a longer time than horses and worked for cheaper wages, this favored them in obtaining more opportunities. The locals already hated the Afghans because they were not white; but the fact of being economically stronger has unleashed more hatred towards them. This led to some attacks on Afghans, such as the three brothers running an ox team in the Bourke-Wanaaring area attempting to fend off competing camel drivers by launching a physical attack. When the case was brought to court, the district court dismissed the case saying there was a lack of evidence. Furthermore, another incident occurred around the same time where an angry carter shot at passing camel drivers, Said Dal. Furthermore, at that time there were Asian populations that were much larger than the Afghans, which led local people to fear that they would lose their whiteness. This therehad subsequently pushed to create the White Australia Policy, due to this policy only Albanian Muslims could enter the region. At this point, Muslims are still allowed to enter the country and building a mosque shows that they still had no prejudice against Islam. Hostilities against Muslims had begun during the Gulf War, but they began more as anti-Arab sentiment. There were many ways in which they were targeted; one significant way was through the media. The radio used offensive comments such as "Arabs and Muslims are "importing their fanatical and irrational beliefs and hatreds into Australia... [advised to] go back and stay there [with Saddam]" and said "If you don't like it, chop up'”. Additionally, a letter was sent to the Committee of Arab Australians requesting that they return to their countries and that the government would gladly meet their expenses in sending them back as they were not wanted. Furthermore, there were open messages to the Arab and Muslim communities to demonstrate their loyalty to the Australian nation, its laws and its values and both to denounce, but somehow accept blame, for Saddam Hussein's evils. It had become a widely known fact that women wearing hijab or men wearing turbans were Muslims and these apparitions belonged to Middle Eastern countries, so anyone who appeared to be from the Middle East was attacked. Hence the equation that Muslims are equivalent to Arabs was born. Therefore, many Muslim women were attacked by strangers who were not Arab, but of Southeast Asian origin, tearing off their headscarves in public spaces. There is also an account in which Sikh men were attacked, mistaken for Muslims because they were wearing turbans. In 1991, evidence was presented by the HREOC (Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission) which demonstrated that Arab Australians were one of the most maligned groups in Australia. In 2001 the World Trade Center was attacked, this event further spiced up the situation for Muslims. in Australia. In that period, an immigrant of Lebanese origin had sexually assaulted 70 girls of white origin. Since it was a Middle Eastern country, the connection was made directly to Muslims and all the blame was placed on Muslims. One of the party's leaders, Pauline Hanson, said that "Many of these people are Muslims and have no respect for the Christian lifestyle on which this country is based." This action taken by the Lebanese had prompted the locals to sexually assault Muslims and Arabs. Anonymous calls have been made to a Western Sydney Islamic school that had threatened to kidnap and rape pupils. In 2001 there was a large influx of asylum seekers into Australia, they too faced much opposition from the government which refrained from helping them. One such event occurred when Afghan refugees were refused entry to Australia. Over the course of the decade there were several moments in which Islamic communities were built that attempted to attack the security of the country; one such event was when a man known as “Ahmed Y” created a small group that supported the idea of making Australia an Islamic state. From 2011 onwards, due to the ISIS insurgency, locals were targeted for hiring that the Australian government feared. So now they have prevented several jihadists from leaving the country. In 2014 there was a protest against Australian food committees who wanted to stop certifying their products as halal; they claimed that the fees charged for certification are used to fund terrorist groups. Here.
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