Sada-e-Watan Sydney

Foreign Minister of Australia meets Islamic Community Leaders

Report by: Syed Zafar Hussain, Editor-in-Chief Sada-e-Watan

Australian Federation of Islamic Councils organised a Peace and Harmony Conference at Novotel Hotel at Darling Harbour Sydney. Mr. Alexander Downer Minister of Foreign Affairs was the chief guest at the official opening ceremony. In this conference, Australia's peak Islamic body has met with representatives of the Jewish and Christian communities for a multi-faith conference in Sydney. Muslims from Europe, Canada and the Asia Pacific region have addressed delegates.

The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Dr Ameer Ali, says the Peace and Harmony Conference is an opportunity for the Muslim community to forge stronger ties with other faiths.

"Let's talk with each other, and understand our differences and let's take our commonalities and go forward," he said.

Dr Ameer Ali says the Muslim community, like many other faiths, is striving towards peace and justice, but he says that will not happen without better communication and transparency between religions.

Earlier, Professor Jamal Badawi from St Mary's University in Canada said the view of Muslim people as violent terrorists is a common misconception of Islamic people around the world. He hopes the conference will create more tolerance and understanding between faiths. "Engagement and dialogue might help moderate their understanding and the pursuit of the reality and ideal that all of us are seeking," he said.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) arranged a dinner at National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour Sydney. Australian Foreign Minister Mr. Alexander Downer was the chief guest of the evening. Mr. Shujat Mantoo was the MC of programme. Dr. Ameer Ali, President of the AFIC welcome all dignities and then Foreign Minister Mr. Alexander Downer Keynote address to the audience. He thanks Muslim community for their positive efforts. He explain the background of the terrorists and said that what the terrorists want, their ultimate goal if you like, is to create a new Caliphate in the Muslim world. They want to drive out Western interests and influence from Muslim countries and they want to destroy moderate Muslim governments And they want to establish in their place an extremist Islamic regime that would be brutal, tyrannical and intolerant. Such a regime would plunge these countries into a pre-modern world, where women and minorities would have no rights, where technology would be shunned and where personal choice and economic freedom would not be tolerated. To picture the sort of regime I am talking about you only have to cast your mind back a few years to the Taliban regime that existed in Afghanistan until the end of 2001.

This is the reality that the extremists seek to impose on the Islamic world. In the Mosques, in the Islamic schools and more broadly in the Muslim community, it is moderate Muslims who can spread and give life to the great values of peace and tolerance which are at the heart of the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of Muslims. We must support each other, as people who respect the rights of others, as people who value tolerance. We must support moderate Muslims to ensure that they successfully defeat the divisive message of hate, tyranny and intolerance propagated by the extremists

New cooperation between Federal and State authorities and new counter-terrorism laws will bolster our domestic defence. It would be of enormous concern, by the way, if these laws were portrayed as somehow targeting Muslims in Australia. That is clearly not the case. The laws will apply equally to all Australians and they are a crucial initiative to support the security of all Australians – regardless of their faith or ethnic background. So let us all be clear. We are in this together. This is not a battle between Muslims and non-Muslims. This is a battle between tolerance and intolerance.