Is it safe in australia/new zealand after the incident with muslim clerics and lebanese youth?

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Alan B

I don't see many middle eastern people around here, they all look Australian, but some of them do dress a bit differently, like the Sikhs or the Buddhist monks. We do get some news about a muslim mufti who makes some ill-considered remarks, but he travels overseas a lot, and noone I know pays him much attention, except to snigger when he says he is more Australian than John Howard.

Thirty years ago I had Indian, Pakistani and Scottish high school teachers, and the biggest problem they had was that they were all really short - it didn't help that one of them was actually named "Low". They never seemed to have any "hate" problems even then.

I reckon you won't have any trouble here, there are lots of people from all over the place, and most of them are going to think you're just like them.

fanta

my god some people are so narrow minded i am an Aussie don't insult us please we have a song in our country it says
" we are one but we are many and from all the lands on earth we come " what makes your country safe we are no different to you or your country we have crime we have hate we have love just like your country if you think it is not safe well dont come here go some where else. you will find each and every clountry on this earth has there good and bad

Faith DL

i juz went to nz last year & i found out it's safe there. a new zelandar friend staying there did mentioned to me to juz becareful to a group of people wearing blacks (i mean black shirt w black pants) coz these people hate the asians..e.g. indians..muslims....u will juz hv to move to other places if u c these groups & avoid eye contacts with them. but u can only rarely c them..so dun worry !!!

webby

Shelley, this is a funny question.
I'm of lebanese origin myself and "look middle eastern" so do around 300 000 other Lebanese-australians here.
and there is probably as many indians here too.

Most australians understand that a few thugs hijacked the word Lebanese to do some stupid things last year.

I lead a perfectly normal life, my husband and I work, my kids go to school and uni, we're christian so we worship in our local church, we have friends of all races and colours and not once have we experienced any form of discrimination.

what hate crime? the only time we are reminded that not everyone likes us is when we listen to talk back shows, I would hardly call these people criminals.

The_Mouse

Yes you are safe.
"people say hate crimes are big there"? Who are these "people"? Are they Australians? Do they have real knowledge of what it is like living in Australia?

It is a big country. What was reported was ONE incident that happened at a small locality fuelled by too much alcohol. But the media made out to be the attitude of ALL Australians - which is NOT TRUE.

We are a multi-cultural society and we have people from all over the world living here. Australians generally don't care where you are from or what you look like. As long as you have a sense of humour, respect the law, and treat other people the same way you want to be treated, then you will be fine.

Racial prejudice happens everywhere in the world, so it will happen here too. Just remember that it is the minority that causes the problem and NOT the general population.

Suzieq

Of course its safe here. Im quite happy to walk down bourke street by myself at night.

The "hate" crimes you are referring to are extremely isolated.

Ken E

Strewth! There are ravening hordes of Aussie racists screaming up and down the streets just waiting to pounce on anyone who sticks their head out a door. Yeah, right.

Of course it is safe. What, do you think Australians are all like the pig-ignorant hyper-racist lunatics and no-nothing super-patriot ratbags that seem to populate so much of the USA? Most of us could not give a hoot whether you are Catholic or Callithumpian, Malay or Ethiopian, or whether you are black, brown or brindle.

Hate crimes? People do not know what they are talking about. Media blather at best, straight lies at worst. There was a brawl in a beachside suburb of Sydney more than a year ago, fuelled mostly by too much beer. There was considerable fault on both sides, I will not go into it, but let me just say that some of the "Lebanese" had been making a nuisance of themselves for quite a while. That incident has not been repeated.

Incidentally the suburb has been the site of the occasional large brawl going back to the 1960s when it was white surfers against white rock-and-rollers.

There are many Indian and Sri Lanka people in this town and come in all colours and sizes, some are Sikhs and wear turbans. Unlike Americans, most Australians have heard of Sikhs.

I work with two Indian women and I have never heard them say anything about being the victim of hate crimes.

I see Muslim women in head scarves almost every day. Sometimes I see a veil, sometimes a burqua. These women do not seem to be afraid to walk about the place.

If you think Australia got into the Iraq war because of some built-in dislike of middle easterners, think again. We got in because of our dirty lying prime minister who ignored the majority of the population and sent troops. With a bit of luck he and his filthy Liberal Party will be kicked out at the next election and the PM will lose his seat.

valcroix

Have a friend who is 19 and Muslim, she's from Iraq but now calls Australia home. I don't think she's really received any actual incident - she's met a few people who have been discriminatory but that was in high school - where any idiot in any high school will take any factor of you to tease you.

In our city (Adelaide) it's remarkably tolerant of pretty much any ethnic or cultural group - we have a fair few mosques, synagogues and temples for various faiths. There is a sizeable Buddhist population as well. Middle Eastern people (or those who look Middle Eastern) are pretty common, as well as Indians. You wouldn't be any more risk than anyone else and our crime rate is low. It's pretty much the same in most other Australian cities, although with a higher population there's of course more of a risk of crime. Come on down, you'll enjoy it!

I can't speak for New Zealand but from what I've heard, they are of a similar culture to us and are just as welcoming.

barb m

Australia is a huge country and i'm sure you will be welcomed here .Its only a few idiots in small parts that cause trouble now and then.Dont be nervous...come on over and enjoy the beautiful place

mareeclara

I personally think New Zealand is more tolerant of people than Australia. Yes there are some narrow minded people, but on the whole its fine. We have lots of people from lots of countries here. We also have a reasonable indian community which has been here for a while (via mainly Fiji).
There has been occasional incidence here, but I don't think they are that common.

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