| Dr. Jneid added: "Australian Muslims are not being tested. We are not required to prove our loyalty, or to dilute our religion to please politicians ,..." |
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AFIC: Government’s Failure to Confront Islamophobic Political Rhetoric Is a Moral and Political Failure
29/01/2026
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney-Middle East Times Int'l: The
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) condemns the federal
government’s failure to categorically and publicly reject the recent
Islam targeting remarks made by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and
Senator Andrew Bragg.
At the time of writing, the only official
response from within government has been remarks attributed to the
Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Dr Anne Aly, reported in today’s
media. While those comments acknowledge the damage such rhetoric can
cause, they fall well short of the clear, unequivocal condemnation that
this moment demands.
This is manifestly inadequate.
What Mr
Morrison and others have advanced is an ideologically driven narrative
that singles out Islam and Muslim institutions as objects of suspicion,
regulation, and control. The effect of this rhetoric is to collectively
problematise an entire faith community and to legitimise public
hostility toward Muslims.
“When senior political figures frame Islam
itself as a threat, the consequence is predictable, fear is normalised,
prejudice is emboldened, and Muslims are made less safe,” said Dr Rateb
Jneid, President of AFIC. “ The government’s reluctance to step forward
decisively raises deeply troubling questions. In recent years, political
leaders have rightly and swiftly defended other communities when they
were targeted by racist or dehumanising rhetoric. Why, when Muslims are
targeted, does that clarity disappear?
“After the world has stood by
and watched a genocide unfold before our eyes for more than two years,
to then turn around and lay collective blame on Muslim communities for
society’s ills is nothing but racism dressed up as policy,” Dr Jneid
said. “And when the government fails to confront it, that silence speaks
volumes.”
AFIC rejects any attempt to divide Muslims into categories
of acceptability, to subject Islamic institutions to special scrutiny,
or to portray Muslim civic engagement as a problem to be managed. These
are not measures aimed at cohesion, they are tools of exclusion.
“Muslim
Australians are not on probation,” Dr Jneid added. “We do not need to
prove our loyalty, moderate our faith to satisfy politicians, or stay
silent in the face of injustice to earn protection under the law.”
All
the rhetoric about social cohesion is exposed as hollow when the
government will not act at precisely the moment cohesion is under
attack. Leadership is not measured by speeches about unity, but by
whether leaders are willing to defend communities when it is politically
uncomfortable to do so.
AFIC calls on the Prime Minister and senior
ministers to immediately and unequivocally reject Islamophobic political
rhetoric, to affirm that Muslim Australians are entitled to the same
dignity and protection as every other community, and to demonstrate,
through action, not platitudes, that racism against Muslims will not be
tolerated in Australian public life.
Dr Rateb Jneid
President - AFIC
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