Canberra: Muslims and the non-Muslims, chance to hear all sides of the issue

A SPECIAL opinion poll has found a dramatic drop in concern about Muslims in Australia following detailed discussions about terrorism and other issues.
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Those who believed Muslims coming to Australia had a bad impact on national security nearly halved from 44 per cent to 23 per cent. The 49 per cent who said the incompatibility of Muslim and non-Muslim values was a big contributor to terrorism fell to 22per cent. Just under a third originally thought that Muslims who come to live here made Australia worse but this shrunk to just 7 per cent.
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Before the discussions, those polled consistently exaggerated the Muslim proportion of the population, with under 30 per cent giving the correct answer of 1.5 per cent. At the end of the weekend, this rose to 95 per cent.
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Melbourne sheik Mohammed Omran, who has attracted criticism for his teachings and his radical followers, presented himself as a loyal Australian and "grassroots person" who had been misinterpreted by the media.

He argued that the non-Muslim majority in Australia had the prime responsibility to make the Muslim minority feel welcome.

One of the participants, 30-year-old Perth mother of two Kimberley Marshall said the weekend had convinced her that there was "no huge problem" between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. "We're all Australians, I think," she added.

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Fear of Muslims declines when all sides put their case
AUSTRALIANS' worries about the threat of terrorism posed by Muslims falls dramatically once they have a chance to hear all sides of the issue.
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That figure fell to 22 per cent when the same people were polled yesterday, after spending two days hearing views ranging from hostile to sympathetic about the presence of Islam in Australia.
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Prejudices and preconceptions were challenged, misunderstandings and misapprehensions clarified.
The microcosm of Australia that attended did not emerge with knowledge about every last detail of Muslim attitudes and actions. But they did come to base their views on a much better understanding of the issues.
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It would be a worthwhile government investment in informed decision-making. In the absence of that, the Government could offer leadership in promoting the findings of such research. But the Howard Government, which did not bother to turn up, obviously feels it is easier to pander to perceptions and prejudices.
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PUSHING for more Muslim integration into the Australian mainstream will only promote additional barriers and further isolate the Islamic community, according to a prominent Muslim leader.
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Ms Marshall, 30, from Mullaloo, on Perth's northern coast, said she learned more about Muslims in three days then she had in her lifetime. For her, the confidence in the information she now possessed about the religion was enough for her to debunk some of the myths and misconceptions held by people she knew.

"I'm now more confident to say, 'They are good people'," she said.
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The participants in the deliberative poll in Old Parliament House in Canberra were exposed to a weekend of analysis and arguments from academics and religious leaders. But it was discovering what many Muslims are really like - that they are just as diverse as many other Australians and just as similar as other human beings - that probably was the main factor in Newspoll measuring a shift in opinion less hostile to Muslims.
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"Ninety-nine per cent of Australians have a great responsibility to let this little number (of Muslims) feel they are part of this society," Omran said.
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"The issue that we have is an artificial created problem between the Muslims and the non-Muslims," Sheikh Omran
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Sheik Omran said Australia had a responsibility to make Muslims feel welcome.

"You are the host. When I come to your house as a guest and you welcome me with an open heart, I see your generosity as a human - it doesn't matter what I believe in, I will love you and care for you as much as you care for me," he said.

Muslim countries had been great allies of the West during the fight against "our first enemy", communism, and Australia still had a close alliance with Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, Sheik Omran said.

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