For the new and “enhanced” anti-terrorism laws to be accepted by the Australian public, the government and the police have to always show that their actions are impartial and without prejudice. Further, their actions need to be based on evidence.

However as with any actions that target a sub-group within a minority, the minority group itself would perceive that their entire group is being targetted specifically. This is inevitable. It has taken quite a few years for us Chinese in Australia to not be alarmed or take offense when we see the police target “Asian crime gangs”. We know that the gangs do not represent who we are truthfully but at the same time, it took greater interactivity and education among the Asians and the general majority for the initial fear and prejudice to subside.

So it is with “Islamic extremists” and “terrorists” - they do not represent the Muslim and Arab community in this country. They are the bad seeds in that bunch. Good people should not be maligned by the bad. But because the police actions are recent, and of being under the current global climate I think it is necessary for the powers to be to make the extra effort to reassure Muslims and Arabs that they are not being singled out, much like Tony Blair had done in the UK after the London bombings and what our PM had done today.

From this article :

Mr Howard told Muslims in Australia they were part of the Australian community.

“Nothing that this Government has done or will do is directed against you as a group,” he said.

Mr Howard said Australians of Islamic faith had as much interest as he did in fighting terrorism. “Terrorism is an enemy of decent Muslims, as it is an enemy of decent Christians and decent Jews, and Buddhists, or indeed decent atheists,” he said.

“Terrorism is everybody’s enemy and we should see it that way.”

But he also added:

… the common thread of the contemporary terrorist threat was perverted fanatical Islam.

“That is a common thread and it’s not being prejudiced to say that,” he said.

Therefore it is also imperative for the majority of the Muslim/Arab community who are law-abiding and moderate to continually speak out against terrorism. In another article, the principal of Noor Al Houda Islamic College in Strathfield, NSW, Silma Ihram had this to say:

“… the community needed to do more about those on the fringe.”

“From my point of view I feel we only get respect when we earn it.

“The Australian government has every right to be concerned, that there are extreme elements that must be monitored.

“Unless we deal ourselves with the extreme elements we can’t blame someone else for pulling them in.

“We know the community better but we’re not doing enough.”

Common sense will prevail with the help of education and the seeking out of mutual understanding.