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Conclusion
The problem of Muslims, in terms of being both victims and victimizers,
is complex. The Australian experience has shown a diverse and multi-
ethnic Muslim community that has rapidly increased since 1972 from 0.2
percent of the population to 1.6 percent in 2006. In the same period, the
Jewish community has remained relatively static, as it is only replacing
itself through immigration, not natural increase. The Muslims in Aus-
tralia have experienced discrimination, stereotyping, and both verbal
and physical attacks, which have increased during the first Gulf War of
1990–91, the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the Bali bomb-
ings in 2002, and the second Gulf War. The height of these interracial ten-
sions occurred during the Cronulla riots of 2006 in Sydney. In this same
period, Jews have experienced a significant increase of anti-Semitism that
appears to be sponsored by members of the radical right-wing fascist
groups and radical Muslim groups. The influence of Saudi Wahhabism,
radical preachers in mosques, and prejudices learned at home have meant
that a number of Muslim children in schools in the southern and western
suburbs of Sydney, where the highest proportion of Muslims preside, are
growing up with strong prejudice and stereotypical views toward Jews
and Israel, which have contributed to verbal and physical attacks on Jews
in Australia. While some Jewish children have expressed anti-Muslim
feelings, there is no evidence that this has expressed itself in physical vio-
lence, and Jewish leaders have strongly criticized anti-Muslim prejudice.
This study demonstrates that Australia is experiencing a growing
problem of racial and religious tension with its Muslim population,
which also affects its Jewish population negatively. Education and spon-
soring dialogue as well as dealing with the socioeconomic divide through
specially designed support programs are approaches that the Australian
government could foster. However, to date, the government has failed
to introduce a comprehensive policy, and the initiatives that have been
introduced, such as the Living in Harmony projects, are piecemeal, mini-
malist, and thus represent only tokenism.
Notes
This study is an offshoot of a broader research project on “The Political Sociol-
ogy of Australian Jewry,” undertaken with Professor Emeritus Sol Encel and
funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Executive Council of
118 · Suzanne D. Rutland
Australian Jewry, the NSW Jewish Communal Appeal, and Leibler Investments.
I would like to thank Professor Encel for his assistance.
1. Suzanne D. Rutland, The Jews in Australia (Melbourne: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2005), 58.
2. Janis Wilton and Richard Bosworth, Old Worlds and New Australia: The
Postwar Migrant Experience (Melbourne: Penguin Australia, 1984), 34.
3. Andrew Markus, “Multiculturalism and the Jews,” in New under the Sun:
Jewish Australians on Religion, Politics, and Culture, ed. Michael Fagenblat, Mela-
nie Landau, and Nathan Wolski (Melbourne: Black, 2006), 94–95.
4. Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Multicultural
Affairs, “Australian Multicultural Policy” http://www.immi.gov.au/multicul-
tural/ australian/index.htm.
5. Nahid Kabir, Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations, and Cultural
History (London: Kegan Paul, 2004).
6. Australian Census, 2006. Cited at http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/muslims_in_
australia.html.
7. Rutland, Jews in Australia, 148–49.
8. Australian Census, 2006.
9. “Nahid Kabir on Muslims in Australia,” Religion Report with David Rut-
ledge, March 30, 2005, ABC Radio, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/rel-
rpt/stories/s1339989.htm.
10. For example, in Turkey before 1930, the printing of books and general
literacy were quite low. The traditional ῾ulemās in Turkey did not feel a need to
explain their decisions and did not try to develop an understanding of Islam.
See M. Hakan Yavuz, Islamic Political Identity in Turkey (New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2003), 165.
11. Christine Asmar, “The Arab-Australian Experience,” in Australia’s Gulf
War, ed. Murray Goot and Rod Tiffen (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press,
1992), 57–81.
12. Jim McKiernan, John Cleary, John Laws, Khaldoun Hajaj, David Rut-
ledge, interviewed by Lyn Gallacher, September 5, 2001, “Anti-Muslim Feelings
Running High,” Radio National, email transcript.
13. Abdullah Saeed, “Muslim-Christian Relations and Australian Muslims
Post–September 11: Some Reflections,” in A Fair Go in an Age of Terror, ed. Patty
Fawkner (Ringwood, VIC: David Lovell/Uniya, 2004), 22.
14. Scott Poynting, “‘Bin Laden in the Suburbs’: Attacks on Arab and Muslim
Australians before and after September 11,” Current Issues in Criminal Justice 14,
no. 1 (July 2002): 44–45.
15. See the Sydney Morning Herald, September 13, 2001, Australian, September
15, 2001, Daily Telegraph, September 26, 2001, Sydney Morning Herald, October
20–21, 2001, and Canberra Times, November 26, 2001.
16. Australian, September 15 and 24, 2001; Sydney Morning Herald. According
to Jewish leader Jeremy Jones, in one case “a mentally ill firebug” carried out
the attack. Email correspondence, January 24, 2008.
Jews and Muslims “Downunder”: Emerging Dialogue and Challenges · 119
17. Canberra Times, September 14, 2001, 2.
18. Peter Breen, “Arab and Muslim Australians Vilification,” NSW Legisla-
tive Council, September 13, 2005, http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/
parment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20050913100, accessed on May 17, 2006.
19. Mohammad Abdallah, “A Fair Go: A Muslim’s Perspective,” in A Fair Go
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