DUBAI: Women, especially those wearing veils, have been the main targets of Islamophobia in Australia, with more than one in three instances the female victims had their children with them at the time of the attacks, a study has found.
A staggering 98 percent of those reported Islamophobic cases were committed by ethnically Anglo-Celtic perpetrators, usually lone males.
The research, considered the first study of its kind anywhere in the world, covered 243 cases of verified Islamophobic incidents reported to the Islamophobia Register of Australia between September 2014 and December 2015.
The paper’s authors described Islamophobia as a special form of racism that reveals “indiscriminate negative attitudes or emotions directed at Islam and Muslims.” An Islamophobic incident is any act comprising of abusive hatred, vilification and violence inflicted on Muslims going about their daily lives.
Of the Islamophobic attacks, almost half occurred in crowded public spaces that were frequented daily, with shopping centers and train stations were the most common. However, bystanders intervened in only a quarter of the cases.
New South Wales had 60 percent of the reported cases being committed there, while over a quarter of cases where from Victoria.
Queensland was notably high considering the relative small population of Muslims in that state, according to the Islamophobia in Australia study, which involved several universities, the Islamic Sciences and Research Academy of Australia and the Diversity Council Australia.
Study co-author Dr. Mehmet Ozalp, from Charles Sturt University, said Islamophobia was often a reaction to anti-Islamic rhetoric and media coverage of terrorism.
“Over time people associate Islam and Muslims with terrorism and violence – and they lash out in anger at that,” said Dr. Ozalp.
“But it is these innocent Muslims – mainly women – that are visible in public.”
Dr. Ozalp enumerated three possible responses to the report: explain Islamophobia as the unfortunate outcome of international conflicts, threat of terrorism, and radicalization; ignore it; or take the findings seriously and invest in further research and policy development.
“The reality is that victims have nothing to do with international conflicts, terrorism or radicalization. They are simply at the receiving end of the anger and rage caused by the Islamophobic generalization that something is inherently wrong with Muslims and Islam,” he said.
Furthermore, Dr. Ozalp said recognizing Islamophobia “does not diminish the achievements of Australian society and the success of its multiculturalism.
It will merely highlight a social problem that cannot be ignored or downplayed any longer.”
He added that the study is an opportunity for Australia to openly discuss the issue to that strategies can be implemented to counter it.
“Ignoring Islamophobia will only entrench the problem more deeply,” Dr. Ozalp said.
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Women bear brunt of Islamophobia in Australia, study finds
Women bear brunt of Islamophobia in Australia, study finds
Hillary Clinton tells congressional panel she has no information on Epstein
- Former US Secretary of State says she did not recall ever meeting the late sex offender
- She accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from Trump’s ties to Epstein
WASHINGTON: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a congressional committee on Thursday that she did not recall ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had no information to share about his criminal activities. “I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that,” Clinton said in a statement to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
Clinton’s statement came as she was due to deliver a closed-door deposition to the committee in Chappaqua, New York. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from Trump’s ties to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. She said Trump’s administration has “gutted” a State Department office focused on international sex trafficking. She and her husband, Democratic former President Bill Clinton, initially refused to testify before the committee, but relented when lawmakers moved to hold them in contempt of Congress. Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify to the committee on Friday.
Before the hearing, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, denied that the probe was a partisan effort targeting Trump’s 2016 presidential rival, noting that several Democrats had pushed for the Clintons to testify.
“No one is accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Comer said.
He said the committee would seek to find out about any interactions she might have had with Epstein, his involvement with the Clintons’ charitable work, and any relationship she may have had with jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should also testify. Lutnick has admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island years after he says he broke off ties.
A spokesperson for the Clintons did not respond to a request for comment. Comer said transcripts of the Clintons’ interviews will be made public.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office. He has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association.
According to Comer, Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Clinton was in office. Trump also socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said evidence gathered by the panel does not implicate Trump.
Trump’s Justice Department has released more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents over the past several months to comply with a law passed by Congress. The Justice Department sought to draw attention to photos of Bill Clinton, but the documents also have revealed Epstein’s ties to a long list of business and political leaders, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Overseas, they have prompted criminal investigations of Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, and other prominent figures.
Clinton’s statement came as she was due to deliver a closed-door deposition to the committee in Chappaqua, New York. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also accused the Republican-led panel of trying to shift focus away from Trump’s ties to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. She said Trump’s administration has “gutted” a State Department office focused on international sex trafficking. She and her husband, Democratic former President Bill Clinton, initially refused to testify before the committee, but relented when lawmakers moved to hold them in contempt of Congress. Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify to the committee on Friday.
Before the hearing, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, denied that the probe was a partisan effort targeting Trump’s 2016 presidential rival, noting that several Democrats had pushed for the Clintons to testify.
“No one is accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing,” Comer said.
He said the committee would seek to find out about any interactions she might have had with Epstein, his involvement with the Clintons’ charitable work, and any relationship she may have had with jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should also testify. Lutnick has admitted to visiting Epstein’s private island years after he says he broke off ties.
A spokesperson for the Clintons did not respond to a request for comment. Comer said transcripts of the Clintons’ interviews will be made public.
Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office. He has denied wrongdoing and expressed regret for his association.
According to Comer, Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Clinton was in office. Trump also socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said evidence gathered by the panel does not implicate Trump.
Trump’s Justice Department has released more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents over the past several months to comply with a law passed by Congress. The Justice Department sought to draw attention to photos of Bill Clinton, but the documents also have revealed Epstein’s ties to a long list of business and political leaders, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Overseas, they have prompted criminal investigations of Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, and other prominent figures.
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