Moderate, educated, and articulate young Australian-Muslims contradict the generalisations of Australia’s growing Islamophobic current, writes Max Chalmers.
When trying to make sense of the months-long hate campaign against Yassmin Abdel-Magied – an author and engineer in her mid-20s who occasionally appears on talk shows – it’s useful to consider the contrasting fortunes of Kirralie Smith.
A lot has changed for Smith since 2014. At the time, she was running a fringe website about halal certification, positing herself as a consumer advocate and arguing the local halal process was part of a global conspiracy.
“Islam won’t need all out violent jihad to dominate the world,” she said in one her videos. “It is being done by stealth and you and I are funding it every day with our grocery purchases.”
The article I wrote at the time treated Smith as a slight curiosity, but noted some of her arguments were being taken up in mainstream publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald. At the heart of her campaign there was a contradiction.
“Obviously there isn’t going to be jihad in this country and I’m very thankful for that, and I understand that most Muslims wouldn’t want that, I really do get that,” Smith told me. “However, the fact is that Islam is about making non-Muslims submit, and this is a way of submission.”
Read the full article by Max Chalmers at newmatilda.com.