SEVERED head ranks high on the list of images to avoid while eating your cornflakes.
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Yet on Monday there it was, a young boy–allegedly the son of Australian jihadist Khaled Sharrouf – gripping the hair of a soldier’s decapitated skull for a photo in northern Syria.
The picture, published on the front page of The Australian, was a gut-wrenching example of the cruelty that seems to happen far too often on this planet.
Barring the severed head, it could have been a holiday snap, with the grinning child dressed more for a trip to the beach than a war zone.
While undoubtedly horrifying, it is sad that the picture and the actions of jihadists could be used as an opportunity to spread further hate and fear for the peaceful majority of Australia’s 476,000 Muslims.
Subtle and overt Islamophobia was rife in the news and social media this week, fuelled by headlines such as ‘‘we’ll fight Islam 100 years’’ – words effectively tying a whole belief system to dangerous extremists.
While many acknowledged that most Australian Muslims would be horrified by the actions of a few radicals, some still seemed to assert that a small number of jihadists were enough for us to be sceptical of Islam as a whole.
"If we in Australia are going to have a robust conversation about Islam and extremism, it must be done with compassion, and an understanding of historical and social contexts."
One columnist even claimed that the danger posed to Australia was not only from jihadist terrorists, but from the ‘‘intellectual cowardice’’ of those who claim Islam poses no real threat.
That is incredibly unfair.
It’s like lumping all Christians in the same basket as the Westboro Baptist Church.
That mob (who incidentally have a sister site called God Hates Australia) are regularly criticised for extreme bigotry.
They have picketed the funerals of gay murder victims, celebrated the death of soldiers serving overseas, and cried out triumphantly when an environmental disaster wreaks deadly havoc.
But we have the sense of mind to realise that they are not representative of wider Christianity. It was heartening to see this week that many empathised with Australia’s Muslim community after the Khaled Sharrouf image surfaced.
Defence Minister David Johnston, calling the picture ‘‘a shocking misrepresentation of Islam’’, while Muslim community leaders Keysar Trad and Dr Jamal Rifi, and Samier Dandan, condemned those fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, of Deakin University’s Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, went one further, writing this week that the 150 Australians fighting with the ISIS ‘‘threatened the very social fabric that has fostered Australian Muslim communities’’.
‘‘They put Australia’s tradition of multiculturalism at risk and offer fodder to Islamophobic commentators who see all Muslims as terrorists at heart,’’ he said.
There is no doubt that dangerous people live in this world–among them a few Australian Muslims who have embraced jihadist principles.
But tarring all who follow Islam with the same suspicion? Nope.
If we in Australia are going to have a robust conversation about Islam and extremism, it must be done with compassion, and an understanding of historical and social contexts.
Fear has no place in this debate.
@AlexDruce1987
