Islamophobia & Refugees: The Prejudice Behind the Policy
Islamophobia & Refugees
6pm, Wed 19 August – Online forum
Join this online forum next Wednesday, 19 August, looking at how successive Australian governments have both stoked and used Islamophobia as part of its negative narrative against people who have sought asylum in Australia. Speakers, Mehreen Faruqi and Jeff Sparrow will discuss the racism and prejudice behind the cruel policies towards refugees.
Speakers
Mehreen Faruqi – Senator for NSW, Australian Greens
Mehreen Faruqi entered the Senate in August 2018 becoming the first Muslim senator in Australian history.
Mehreen frequently speaks in the Senate about the increasing occurrence of Islamophobia in Australia, particularly towards Muslim women. She has also spoken about the role that politicians have played in demonising particular groups in the community saying, in a speech to parliament in December: “Merchants of hate in parliament inflame divisions between Australians, between the ones they think belong here and the ones that they think don’t.”
Jeff Sparrow – author & journalist
Jeff Sparrow is a regular contributor to The Guardian and other publications and the author of a number of books. In his most recent book, “Fascists Among Us: Online Hate and the Christchurch Massacre” Jeff explores the re-emergence of fascism and the far right and how these ideas have gained ground because of “Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric in the media, particularly with the United States’ war on terror and Australia’s “stop the boats” campaign.”
Jeff won the 2019 Walkley-Pascall Prize for arts criticism for his essay ‘A Place of Punishment: No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani’ published in the Sydney Review of Books.’ You can find Jeff’s essay here.
Zoom Meeting Link
Use this link to join the Islamophobia & Refugees online forum at 6pm on Wednesday 19 August – Islamophobia & Refugees forum.
Please aim to join the forum a few minutes early so we can kick off at 6pm.
If you haven’t joined a Zoom meeting before, it’s easy. Just click on the link above, select ‘allow’ and you’ll be brought into the meeting. Email mail@refugeeaction.org if you are having any difficulty.
