Perth Muslims launch media organisation

(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)

A group of Perth Muslims has launched Roots TV, an online channel aiming to "counter mainstream media narratives" about Islam.
What do you do when the mainstream media isn't telling the stories you're interested in?
There's always social media, of course.
Or you could start your own media organisation and tell the stories your way.
SBS correspondent Ryan Emery visited the set of Roots TV to see how a group of Muslims are doing it for themselves.
"We're about to start. Might want to tell them to close that door. Ok guys, we're about to start, can you turn off your mobile phone?"
On the top level of Perth's state library, Roots TV creator Abdulrahim Elmi is marshalling his troops.
Getting ready for what's about to be a mammoth filming session.
"As salamu alaykum, peace be upon you, and welcome to another Roots TV, my name is Alim and I'll be your host this evening. Roots TV is all about empowering and celebrating the lives of ordinary people doing extraordinary things."
In front of cameras and bright lights with Perth city as the backdrop, host Alim and refugee advocate Sarah Ross are talking about her work helping people to find asylum in Western Australia.
"One that comes to mind is a man I visit from Afghanistan, he's been refused refugee status â¦"
Their chat will be uploaded to Roots TV, which is a growing online TV channel.
It was started a few months ago by former marketing executive Abdulrahim Elmi as an alternative to mainstream media, which he says isn't telling the stories he and his community are interested in.
"We're using the media to dictate our own narratives. To control exactly what we broadcast and we're so proud of that as a community and we've met some amazing people along the way."
Tonight's filming session will take three hours - and included are many guests such as the former director at the WA Office of Multicultural Interests Maria Osman.
She says Roots TV is an important voice to be heard, not just by Muslims, but the wider community.
"I think these notions of being moderate or not, you're just a Muslim. And I think that it's critical that mainstream society look at Roots TV and see some of the great interviews, some of the dynamic people, the comedians, some of the political commentary that's coming out of Roots TV, I think it's really filling a niche and giving people an opportunity to shine as well, which is great."
Abdulrahim Elmi says Roots TV has a wide range of interview subjects, special presentations and even features a female Muslim comedian - who's not shy about voicing her dislike of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
But he says it's a channel for everyone.
"We have a lot of things in common. Whether you're an atheist, whether you're a Muslim, we have a lot of issues that we need to tackle, to address. And it's all about living in harmony and making sure that we are engaging and not being passive about what we do. We have to be more countering of all those issues in a very bold position and hopefully Roots TV is a platform for that."
One of the hosts is Aisha Novakovich who says she wants to stop the labelling of Muslims as either only moderate or radical.
"It's very topical. It's like it's the Muslim Nightly News, and we want to provide a counter narrative to what the dominant media is providing. We want to have a platform where we can voice our own concerns, where we're empowered, where we're setting the terms of our narrative and we're discussing that discourse in a very respectful manner, but it certainly is counter to that dominant narrative being spouted by the media and politicians."
The law student says she hopes Roots TV will reach a wide - and diverse - online audience.
"It's like when you're traveling through life and you meet these amazing people who have these incredible stories and you just want to share it with the world. Those are the kinds of people we want to interview. We call them the ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They're our unsung heroes and sure we have high-profile guests as well, but we like to mix it up."
It's an ambitious agenda for Roots TV as well - sport, technology, travel, a radio show and an online app.
If its creator Abdulrahmi Elmi can get enough funding though.

But Elmi has vowed, that no matter what, he will keep this alternative voice alive in one form or another.
Credit to Ryan Emery

Muslims and Islam in Sports

    The English authorities evidently did not think Moeen had done anything wrong in wearing wristbands that said "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine". They argued that his messages were not political, just "humanitarian."

    Choncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian law graduate, was arrested in June 2014 because she attempted to watch a men's volleyball match at a Tehran stadium, and placed in Iran's infamous Evin prison. Since her arrest, she has apparently been kept much of the time in solitary confinement.

    "You should not develop women's cricket. It is not in Islam or in Afghan culture." — Members of the Afghan Taliban.

    Not only are some of the Muslim players trying to insert their religion into the field of sports, but some wealthy middle eastern sheikhs also seem to be trying to push Islamic ideology into the games.

    It is not known why so many Muslim players seem extremely sensitive when it comes to their religion, yet so extremely insensitive when it comes to embarrassing their people and their religion when it comes to their behavior in international sporting events.

Every religion permits its followers to invite new people to join it. We call it preaching or proselytizing. Traditionally, Muslims and Christians have preached everywhere; in some areas, however, such as international sports, religion, race and politics have historically been considered off-limits.

Now, it seems, Muslim players have begun violating this practice.

Formerly, in 2003, Zimbabwean star cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga were punished for wearing wristbands against Robert Mugabe's brutal acts. And in 2006, former Australian test player Dean Jones was sacked from his job as a commentator when, presumably as a (bad) joke, he remarked about Hashim Amla, a devout South African Muslim cricketer with long beard, that "the terrorist has got another wicket."

Last year, however, despite an International Cricket Council ban on displaying political messages, the English national team cricketer, Moeen Munir Ali, a British-born Muslim of Pakistani descent, wore wristbands with the slogans "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" during the third test match between England and India, July 27-31, 2014. Instead of being fined, however, Ali was praised by Muslim players representing England. Cricketer Ajmal Shahzad of the Nottinghamshire cricket team tweeted, "Absolutely love this! Well done Moeen bro! Keep showing your support! #prayforGaza." The English authorities evidently did not think Ali had done anything wrong. They argued that his messages were not political, just "humanitarian." Ali was softly warned not to wear the bands again during international matches.

While Western sports authorities are highly respectful of other cultures, such as the Muslims', it often seems that Muslim players are not.

As Muslims are not allowed to drink alcohol, Hashim Amla was permitted not to wear the logo of Castle Beer, which sponsors South African cricket. Also, Pakistan-born Australian cricketer Fawad Ahmed did not wear a beer logo on his shirt during his debut international match against England.

"Cricket Australia and Carlton United Breweries are respectful of Fawad's personal beliefs," Cricket Australia's executive general manager for operations, Mike McKenna, said, "and have agreed with his request to wear an unbranded shirt."

Muslim players are also being privileged in cricket, soccer and many other sports.

In September 2014, Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad was caught on camera during a game telling Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, "If you are a non-Muslim and you turn Muslim, no matter whatever you do in your life, straight to heaven." Dilshan's reply was not audible; Shehzad went on to say, "Then be ready for the fire." Shehzad was found to have breached Article 2.1.4 of the International Cricket Council [ICC] code of conduct for players. The charge was made by on-field umpires. Yet the ICC took no significant action against Shehzad and he has not been condemned -- at least not the same way as Dean Jones, Henry Olonga or Andy Flower. Shehzad was rewarded a minimum penalty of 50% of his applicable match fee.

Bilal Franck Ribéry, a well-known midfielder on the Bayern Munich soccer team, asked the club for a small prayer room for Muslim players. In response, the most popular German club decided to build a mosque at Allianz Arena stadium to serve its Muslim players and fans.

Not only are some Muslim players trying to insert their religion into the field of sports, but some wealthy middle eastern sheikhs also seem to be trying to push Islamic ideology into the games. Real Madrid, a leading Spanish soccer team, removed the Christian Cross from atop its official emblem to appease its new sponsor, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The Daily Mail wrote, "It is believed that the change is to pacify Muslim supporters in the UAE."

At the time of the first acquisition of a European club by a middle eastern interest in 2008, fans of Manchester City -- which was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Ltd -- greeted the players by wearing Arab headdresses and waving British Pound notes, but with the picture of the Queen replaced by a Gulf sheikh. The club also has a £400-millio sponsorship deal with Etihad, an Abu Dhabi airline.

In the United States, Dion Waiters, a Muslim basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, avoided singing the national anthem before a game against the Utah Jazz last November, claiming as a reason, "It's because of my religion... That is why I stayed in the locker room." There is, however, no religious wording in America's national anthem, so it would be interesting to hear what Waiters meant.

Islamic countries strongly discourage women's participation in most games. Members of the Afghan Taliban threatened the Afghan National Cricket Board by phone : "You should not develop women's cricket. It is not in Islam or in Afghan culture," the caller said. The Afghan national women's team, founded in 2010 by Diana Barakzai, is now defunct. "[The] Afghan cricket board," she said, "does not support cricket for women."

Some Muslim countries punish women for even watching a men's soccer match. In Iran, for example, women are not allowed to attend men's sporting events.

Choncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian law graduate, was arrested in June 2014 because she attempted to watch a men's volleyball match at a Tehran stadium. According to Amnesty International, she has been placed in Tehran's infamous Evin prison. Since her arrest, she has apparently been kept much of the time in solitary confinement.

Recently, Iranian soccer players have even been warned by the Iranian authorities that they could be punished if they take "selfie" pictures with female fans, after women posed for photos with the players at Iran's January Asian Cup match in Australia.

Saudi Arabia also practices systematic discrimination against women's sports. It does not allow women in international women's soccer, cricket, hockey, tennis, swimming and other popular sports. Soccer stadiums are strictly prohibited to women. In December, a young woman was arrested after reportedly disguising herself in male clothes to attend a game.

Some ultra-conservative Muslim countries, however, do allow women to participate in a few sports, like Judo and Track and field, if the woman is wearing a hijab [head-covering].

It is not known why so many Muslim players seem extremely sensitive when it comes to their religion, yet so extremely insensitive about embarrassing their people and their religion when it comes to their behavior in international sporting events.

Credit to Monir Hussain is a journalist based in Pakistan.

 

Dehumanization of Muslims

The murder of three American Muslims at a University of North Carolina condominium on Feb.10, was no ordinary murder, nor is the criminal who killed them an ordinary thug. The context of the killings, the murder itself and the media and official responses to the horrific event is a testimony to everything that went wrong since the United States unleashed it’s long-drawn-out “war on terror,” with its undeclared, but sometimes declared enemy, namely Islam and Muslims.

Horrific as it was, the killing of a husband and wife, Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, by homegrown terrorist, Craig Stephen Hicks, is the kind of violence that can only fit into a greater media and official narrative, which designates millions of innocent Muslims, in the US or across the world as enemies or potential terrorists.

Countless television hours and endless space in numerous media has been dedicated to vilify and demonize Muslims throughout recent years. Muslims’ attempts to distance themselves from every militant grouping, ideology and tendency have done them no good. A Muslim is a terrorism suspect until proven innocent, especially if a bearded, brown man, or a headscarf-clad woman.

The end result of that dehumanization has been racism, racial profiling, extrajudicial killings and war. It was only a matter of time before that violence reached the nominally safe Muslim communities in the US itself. The episode of dehumanization is long, complex and The ongoing enthusiasm for more military interventions means that supposed “moral awakening” inspired by the advent of President Barack Obama rarely registered in the collective psyche of the nation. While there is ample evidence that Americans are “tired” of war, that very war fatigue should not be conflated with a departure of the type of dialectics that rationalized war in the first place.

In fact, while the cheerleaders for war might change political camps, ideology or even religious philosophy, ultimately, they are the same breed of people: A mostly white, male dominated and chauvinistic tribe of well-funded politicians and media pundits, with an unquenchable thirst for “intervention.”

Hicks, the terrorist who killed the three young Muslims, subscribes to a school of thought known as New Atheism, what religious scholar Reza Aslan refers to as the school of “anti-theism.” It is, in part, another hate-filled platform, and despite its supposed disdain for all religions, their malicious energy mostly targets Muslims.

They, of course, are different from the majority of atheists, who don’t use that designation to foment hate against a specific religious group. The anti-theist idols include the likes of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, who, according to Aslan, respond “to religion with the same venomous ire with which religious fundamentalists respond to atheism.”

In one of his Facebook posts, Hicks, a lover of guns, quoted Dawkins:

“The last vestige of respect for the taboo disappeared as I watched the ‘Day of Prayer’ in Washington Cathedral, where people of mutually incompatible faiths united in homage to the very force that caused the problem in the first place: Religion.” But of course, not any religion, but Islam. Let alone that such ignorant breed pays no heed to any relevant political context, they so foolishly blame a whole religion for what is essentially a political conflict. Did they ever pause to wonder if it might be possible that invading countries, killing, raping, pillaging, destroying mosques and churches, and urinating on the dead, have something to do with why many Muslims hate US foreign policy and are willing to use violence in response?

Hicks too hated the three Muslim kids based on that same foolish, murderous logic. But hating Muslims is not your everyday racism and prejudice, which has been “as American as apple pie and Napalm” (a funny, sad line from the American comedy, M.A.S.H). It is a readily available fodder for the ongoing war and future war in Muslim countries. It is the required amount of dehumanization needed to wage war. This is why Islam and Muslims are equated with terrorism, and why terrorism is used almost exclusively to describe violent acts committed or allegedly committed by Muslims. The same champions of this invalid logic are those who constantly push the line: “All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” The assumption might be inane, but the intention is anything but. It absolves those war criminals, who planned, executed and justified the war; the soldiers who did the fighting, and those who ensured that there can be no legal accountability for its numerous awful deeds.

Instead, it puts the onus on ordinary Muslims who are set up to prove their innocence to no avail, to absolve themselves from a crime they never committed, in fact, to answer for someone else’s crimes. But Hicks, who walked into the flat of three students in Chapel Hill, NC and shot them, execution style, was not a Muslim. He comes from Christian heritage. He is not black or brown, but white. His name is not Ahmed, but Craig. That changes everything.

Neither the police nor the media would describe his crime as a hate crime, let alone terrorism, although his terrorism is unique in a way. His type resides on the top of the food chain in terms of race, gender and other criteria. Yet, somehow he is politically frustrated. Go figure. He is not a member of a radicalized generation born into oppression, foreign invasion, poverty and other untold humiliation. If that was the case, one can, at least to a degree fathom the hate, deconstruct the anger, or even rationalize that violence is a natural outcome of a certain reality.

Hicks is of the Fox News demographic, gun touting unreasonably and immeasurably angry, white American. Self-proclaimed atheist or otherwise, it matters little. So Hicks, we are told, killed the students “execution style” because of a dispute over parking spaces.

The same way that Chris Kyle — “The American Sniper” — made 164 confirmed “kills” in Iraq, targeting “savages” because that’s what national heroes do. And US wars and sanctions on Iraq killed, starved and wounded millions to bring democracy to the Arabs.

This selectively insane logic will persist, however, because there are millions of unrepentant politicians, extremist media pundits and well-armed men and women who refuse to see the recklessness of their “logic.”

They will continue to feed violence — which unlike what Hicks is led to believe — didn’t start on 9/11 — and spit out the most dangerous of militant phenomena: Al-Qaeda, IS and all the rest. It is time for Muslims to demand that Obama issue more than a statement, but call the US government and hate-filled media to account. These outrageous double standards must end, before more innocent lives are taken.

Credit to Ramzy Baroud