Islamophobia in Australia Issues 2022

Running Head: ISLAMOPHOBIA IN AUSTRALIA
Islamophobia in Australia
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ISLAMOPHOBIA IN AUSTRALIA1
Introduction
The issue of Islamophobia has been widely discussed based on the Australian context,
especially in the wake of the terror attack that took place in New Zealand. The discussion has
taken many forms, ranging from extensive debates to international discussion regarding the
role of the subculture that exists on right and represents the far right in these events. The
White Supremacy in the internet-mediated age consists of many aspects such as codes,
memes, as well as signals. In this particular situation, it is not very surprising to see the extent
of Xenophobia and hostility towards Muslims reach its peak. White nationalism has always
been the founding doctrine of Australia. Hence the country’s enthusiastic participation in the
war that was seemingly targeted against terror turned into a war against Islam, and thereby,
Muslims. Thus, hate speech was also considered to be part of the norm. One of the biggest
medium to transport that news to the world has been newspaper articles.
Discussion
According to the recent reports from the Charles Sturt University, Australia, the
current state of Islamophobia in Australia is not just a threat to the Muslim population
residing in the country- it is the concern of the entire nation if it wants to hold on to its
multicultural legacy and a sense of cohesion in the society (BOLGER, 2019). In the 2019
Islamophobia in Australia reports that had been led by the chief investigator Dr. Derya Iner
who is a part of Charles Sturt University and its department Centre for Islamic Studies and
Civilization (BOLGER, 2019). They are capable of offering an analysis that is highly multi-
faceted and consists of incidents that have been verified. This has been made possible
because of the reports that have been gathered in the Islamophobia Register Australia, which
contains the name of victims, proxies, as well as witnesses for any such incident that took
place in the span between 2016-17 (BOLGER, 2019). However, it is significant to mention

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN AUSTRALIA2
here that amongst the entire Muslim community, the women and young girls are considered
the most vulnerable population. They have been targeted with abuse that is verbal and
profanities, along with instances of physical intimidation and death threats. These incidents
took place mainly during various shopping experiences, whereas the perpetrator has mostly
been Anglo-Celtic male (BOLGER, 2019). Insults have been hurled at Muslims that are
based on their appearance as well as religion. They have added up be the highest in number
when both online and online abuse have taken place. Again the target has been the Muslim
women by the male for making the women wearing a hijab. Since there are various
backgrounds and foregrounds to the abuse, the places of attack have remained variable. For
example, it can take place in the public when there has been an overwhelming increase in the
number of security officers as well as surveillance. However, the public, because of the attack
and hostility, had deterred no perpetrators. An overwhelming number of 57% of victims have
been recorded to be females who did not have any company at the time of abuse (BOLGER,
2019). This situation also leaves the children of the Muslim community extremely vulnerable
and needs the intervention of the school authorities for applying strategies in schools. It is
shocking to find out that the seeds of Xenophobia are usually rooted preschool period when
kids were out in the neighborhood. The report shows the alarming intensity of hate rhetoric
that groomed the Christchurch terrorist who carried out terrorist attacks in New Zealand
earlier this year, as active in Australia three to five years ago (BOLGER, 2019).
In an open letter to all Australians in the year 1988, four of the former Australian
Prime Ministers wrote in the wake of ever-rising racism in the country- “Racism is an
unmitigated evil, it is immoral, it does Australia significant harm...it destroys our self-esteem
and self-respect...there can be no place for racism in Australia (McLaughlin, 2019).” At the
present time, Australians have claimed that they are committed to fighting the ever-growing
menace of racism irrespective of their political and ideological beliefs. According to The