Extract from ABC News
Opinion
Dear Sonia,
Because of the immediate public backlash following your comments about the Nice attack and Muslim immigration, there hasn't been a chance to have a meaningful discussion about your concerns. The same sort of smack-down happens when other celebrities and politicians express an opinion on Islam. The self-righteous Twitterati gets excited, and the so-called racist rednecks come out of the woodwork, and all we end up with is outrage from both sides.
We need to rise above this.
I will do so from my end by saying this: I sympathise with you. I understand that you're scared.
You're worried for your children. You're probably thinking about the world they will grow up in. And what scares you the most is the notion of maniacal violence waiting to be unleashed on unassuming civilians: men, women, and children.
I know that this is what you're afraid of because it worries my mother too. After the attack in Nice, my mother texted me asking me to be careful and vigilant in public places. When I talk to her about these things, she often asks, "What makes these people commit such atrocities?"
But guess what, Sonia. My mother is Muslim.
So when you said you are afraid, I thought, sure, so is my mum. But then you went on to propose a ban on all Muslim immigration as a solution.
Almost 1.6 billion people in the world are Muslim. Most of them are like you and me. They wake up, go to work, and at the end of the day go home to see their loved ones. These people also want to see their children happy and safe. When they read media reports about Muslims being a violent bloodthirsty mob, they think, "That's not my kind of Islam", and feel disappointed that once again their faith has been hijacked by yet another cult purporting to represent the "real" Islam.
Globally, most of the victims of this extremist cult are actually Muslims. You said that it was the horrific image of a child in a body bag with a doll lying beside her that rocked you to the very core. It's a heartbreaking image and I cannot get it out of my mind. I also cannot get the 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi out of my mind. Remember him? His body, dressed in a little red shirt and jeans, washed up on a Turkish beach? He was Muslim. He died fleeing violence, searching for a safer place. And there are so many more dead Muslim children whose images we do not see. Muslims are worried too because their children are at risk, just like yours, if not more.
So when you come out and say that immigration of Muslims to Australia should be "stopped now", it hurts. It hurts because what you are saying is that you have accepted the definition of Islam that is promoted by a violent cult. And what does that cult want the most? It wants to destroy the cohesion of the society you and I live in. It hopes that over time its scaremongering techniques will influence people like you to alienate and marginalise people like me - people you would otherwise agree with - so that we might reconsider where we stand.
I promise you I will do my part and not let that happen. Will you do your part? I hope so.
Respectfully yours,
Ameer
Ameer Ali is a Lead Business Analyst in Corporate Strategy and Planning at the ABC.
Opinion
Updated
I know the fear you have for your children because it also worries my mother, who is Muslim. An open letter by Ameer Ali.
Because of the immediate public backlash following your comments about the Nice attack and Muslim immigration, there hasn't been a chance to have a meaningful discussion about your concerns. The same sort of smack-down happens when other celebrities and politicians express an opinion on Islam. The self-righteous Twitterati gets excited, and the so-called racist rednecks come out of the woodwork, and all we end up with is outrage from both sides.
We need to rise above this.
I will do so from my end by saying this: I sympathise with you. I understand that you're scared.
You're worried for your children. You're probably thinking about the world they will grow up in. And what scares you the most is the notion of maniacal violence waiting to be unleashed on unassuming civilians: men, women, and children.
I know that this is what you're afraid of because it worries my mother too. After the attack in Nice, my mother texted me asking me to be careful and vigilant in public places. When I talk to her about these things, she often asks, "What makes these people commit such atrocities?"
But guess what, Sonia. My mother is Muslim.
So when you said you are afraid, I thought, sure, so is my mum. But then you went on to propose a ban on all Muslim immigration as a solution.
Almost 1.6 billion people in the world are Muslim. Most of them are like you and me. They wake up, go to work, and at the end of the day go home to see their loved ones. These people also want to see their children happy and safe. When they read media reports about Muslims being a violent bloodthirsty mob, they think, "That's not my kind of Islam", and feel disappointed that once again their faith has been hijacked by yet another cult purporting to represent the "real" Islam.
Globally, most of the victims of this extremist cult are actually Muslims. You said that it was the horrific image of a child in a body bag with a doll lying beside her that rocked you to the very core. It's a heartbreaking image and I cannot get it out of my mind. I also cannot get the 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi out of my mind. Remember him? His body, dressed in a little red shirt and jeans, washed up on a Turkish beach? He was Muslim. He died fleeing violence, searching for a safer place. And there are so many more dead Muslim children whose images we do not see. Muslims are worried too because their children are at risk, just like yours, if not more.
So when you come out and say that immigration of Muslims to Australia should be "stopped now", it hurts. It hurts because what you are saying is that you have accepted the definition of Islam that is promoted by a violent cult. And what does that cult want the most? It wants to destroy the cohesion of the society you and I live in. It hopes that over time its scaremongering techniques will influence people like you to alienate and marginalise people like me - people you would otherwise agree with - so that we might reconsider where we stand.
I promise you I will do my part and not let that happen. Will you do your part? I hope so.
Respectfully yours,
Ameer
Ameer Ali is a Lead Business Analyst in Corporate Strategy and Planning at the ABC.
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