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| Issue No 116 |  |
19 October 2001 |
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NewsRacism Rocks WorkplacesBy Veronica Apap
At least 300 incidents of racially motivated harassment have occurred in Sydney in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on America. These incidents have been reported to the Community Relations Commission through the hotline set up on the 12th of September. "I feel there are people who are un-Australian who are trying to exploit this situation by harassing people in the community," said Stepan Kerkyasharian, chairman of the Commission. Few incidents have been directed at the Afghan community in Sydney. Kerkyasharian says this is because he is "not sure that bigots can tell the difference between those of Arab appearance." The incidents include crimes of a violent nature, verbal insults and veil pulling. "Essentially these are un-Australian things to do, there is no excuse for them," Kerkyasharian said. Those calling the hotline are referred onto police or community service officers for further help. The Premier has said that the hotline will remain open for as long as it is necessary. The commission is working to educate people about Islam in an Australian context. "The people who are being harassed have been members of the community for a long time. We shouldn't forget that some of these people have been our neighbours for ten and fifteen years, there is no reason to turn on them," Kerkyasharian said. Dr Kabir Hiahimid, chairman of the Afghan Community Support Association of NSW, says that on the whole, the Afghan community has received little harassment in the last month. However they have condemned the air strikes on Afghanistan. "We are very sad that the United States, Britain and their allies have launched these attacks. Each Afghan family in Australia has family and friends in Afghanistan, they fear for their safety," he said. "We strongly condemn the United States because this attack is like the attack on the American people in New York and Washington. We see these strikes as a terrorist attack because innocent people are killed," Hiahimid said. He disagrees with the figures that state approximately 170 Afghan civilians have been killed so far. "I think 700 800 people have been killed by these strikes," he said. Hiahimid is unhappy with both major political parties, not only for supporting the attack on Afghanistan, but for the handling of the boat people crisis. "I have requested several times that the government accept Afghan refugees, they live in misery in their homeland," he said.
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   Interview: The Green MachineNick Bolkus outlines Labor's environmental stance and lays down the gauntlet to Bob Brown's Greens. Industrial: Regaining Control France�s 35 hour week stems from the program of the Left coalition government which went to the polls in June 1997 with the policy of �worksharing�. Unions: Home Of The Longest DayAustralia has a dubious new prize to put in its cluttered national trophy cabinet. We are increasingly the most over-worked nation in the world. Campaign Diary: Week Two: FightbackLabor's doing everything to win a normal campaign - but this is no normal campaign. Economics: Who Will Notice When You Die?Johann Christoph Arnold asks whether the anti-globalisation movement is the answer to an epidemic of loneliness. History: American TerrorIncredible revelations about the work of the US National Security Agency through the Cold War years help put the current War of Terror into perspective. International: Global Day of Action In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US last week, the ICFTU has announced that preparations for the Global Unions Day of Action on November 9 will go ahead. Satire: World Gripped by Fear as Howard Third Term LoomsThe global community has uniformly condemned the recent terrorist attacks, which horrifically helped revive the re-election prospects of John Howard. Review: FlashbacksCultural theortician Neale Towart consults his record collection in a bid to understand the chaos gripping the earth.
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