Submitted by Mark (United Arab Emirates), Mar 13, 2006 at 10:49
I am an Australian holding 2 passports. The other passport is Canadian. I am proud to hold the Australian passport and would certainly not consider exercising my other citizenship. I am an immigrant to Australia.
One of the things I have always liked about Australia is the no-nonsense attitude to public debate. Peter Costello is on the money here. When I was last in Australia I was shocked to hear a young Australian Muslim, well educated, Australian accent professing his allegiance to Allah above Australian law and waxing whimsical over the idea of Australia eventually becoming an Islamic state and all on National TV.
Well I guess the cards are on the table. The interview I saw featured as I mentioned a young man who had abviously been in Australia for a long time who simply didn't get it. He hadn't figured out what being Australian meant. Not for want of intellect or education, both of which he seemed to be well endowed with. He just saw things a different way. The islamist way.
I work in Dubai with colleagues who hold Australian passports but who originate from Palestine and who openly support Hamas. I guess that might not be so suprising since a popular vote in Palestine has elevated Hamas to public office, by a landslide. But it is illustrative of the new and potent influence of Islam amoungst Arabs in and out of the middle east..
Personally I find Arabic people to be charming, generous, honest and just great people to be around, including my colleague I have mentioned above. It is just the religion thing that seems to get we 'westerners' going and bent out of shape.. I wish I knew the answer, but I think a renewed emphasis and insistance on secular government and society ala Costello may be the right direction.
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