JESS ROBERTSON
Innovative socialist organisation, Socialist Alternative, spoke of their plans to put an end to Hanson’s bigoted ideologies at an open forum in West End on August 2nd, .
Oula Shihan, Brisbane Student and anti-racist activist, led a discussion about the increased racism towards her culture and the impact it has on her life.
“Racism is administered from the top down, the idea that there is a good Muslim and a bad Muslim is prevalent and constantly repeated, and they are guilty until proven innocent.”
“The policing of Muslim activities has become a pillar of anti-terrorism efforts, there is an obvious physical increase in populating and frequenting where Muslims congregate, it is now common to see a police vehicle outside my local mosque,” she said.
Bj Connolly, University Student, believes Hanson supporters should not be stereotyped as racists, much like Tony Abbot supporters being misrepresented for their stance on marriage equality.
“In my humble opinion, anti-Pauline Hanson protesters are just as dangerous as Hanson herself as their ideologies are only fueling more hatred as opposed to making an effort to seek to understand and to find a solution to preventing terrorism,” he said.
Hanson’s One Nation party claims that ‘Australia is for Australians’ and under the constitution only Australians decide laws and obligations, who will enter and live in the country and ensure the nations safety and economic security.
Tom Bramble, unionist and anti-racist activist, spoke of his participation in the campaign against Hanson in the nineties.
“It’s not about combating Hanson supporters with words, but rather fighting for individuals rights with our feet on the streets, by discrediting Hanson, her supporters will be inclined to hear the truth,’ Tom Bramble said.
Brisbane student Jordan Dean spoke of his view on the normalised negative Western perception of Islam, linking it to the recent surge of terror attacks, in essence blaming reactionary correlation and causation.
“Hanson is merely a mouth piece representing the cultural change and perspective many Western Nations are having towards Islam,” Jordan Dean stated.
Stephanie Lang, member of Socialist Alternative, reiterated that Hanson had, in fact, been given every possible platform in the media to explain herself.
“The mainstream media, over the last 15 years has done everything it can to conflate Islam with terrorism, which just shows how racist and susceptible society has become around the world,” Stephanie Lang said.
Priya Red, Brisbane history student and also a member of Socialist Alternative, spoke of Hanson’s statements as a whole and how racism continues to impact society at large.
“The government and the rich and powerful encourage people to look to Muslim immigrants, refugees and Asians, as the reason why their lives are crap, they can’t find work and why public transport is too expensive.”
“Instead of seeing that all working class people across the world do have a common enemy, the rich and powerful, because in solidarity we do have strength,” Priya Red said.