Muslim children walk out when national anthem is sung

[Risto the Great]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/muslim-children-walk-out-when-national-anthem-is-sung/story-fni0fit3-1227582881588

A VICTORIAN primary school has been criticised for allowing Muslim children to walk out of assembly while the national anthem was sung.

Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School says a religious month of mourning is the reason Islamic children are able to opt out of singing or listening to the anthem.

Lorraine McCurdy, who has two grandchildren at the school, told 3AW she was furious when school officials invited students to leave during Advance Australia Fair.

“Two children got up and said `welcome to our assembly’ with that a teacher came forward and said all those who feel it’s against their culture may leave the room,” Ms McCurdy said.

“With that about 30 or 40 children got up and left the room.


“We sang the national anthem and they all came back in.

“I saw red, I’m Australian and I felt ‘you don’t walk out on my national anthem, that’s showing respect to my country.”

Independent Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie also hit out at the school, which promotes the ethos of ‘Many Cultures, One Community.’

“I find that absolutely devastating, we should all be singing the Australian national anthem and we should be doing that with pride,” Senator Lambie said.

“That’s part of us.

“I find these schools that are allowing this to happen disgusting.

“I don’t think religion needs to be brought into the national anthem.

“We should all be proud to be Australians and proud to sing the national anthem”

Principal Cheryl Irving said during the month of Muharram Shi’a Muslims do not take part in joyous events, such as listening to music or singing, as it was a period of mourning.

“Muharram is a Shi’a cultural observation marking the death of Imam Hussein,” Ms Irving said. “This year it falls between Tuesday October 13 and Thursday November 12.

“Prior to last week’s Years 2-6 assembly, in respect of this religious observance, students were given the opportunity to leave the hall before music was played.

“The students then rejoined the assembly at the conclusion of the music.”

Kuranda Seyit, secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said he understood the school’s sentiments but called on more flexibility.

“I’m a Sunni Muslim myself but I understand Shi’a sensitivities and for them this is a very holy time,” Mr Seyit said.

“It’s a time when they are encouraged to reflect on the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and abstain from all forms of celebrations.

“However for young children I think things like these should be assessed on their merits and a balance found.

“People need to remember that these Muslim children are not against the Australian national anthem but are not allowed to be deemed to be celebrating.

“Maybe there could be a bit more flexibility.”

In a statement, the Department of Education said it supported the school.

“The Department supports our schools to be inclusive for all students, this includes understanding or respecting religious cultural observances.

“From 2016, the new Victorian curriculum will include new subjects such as respectful relationships, world views and ethical understanding, helping to build more inclusive schools and communities.”

If you did that as a wog 20-40 years ago, Australia would be a very different place right now. Australia will be very different 20-40 years from now. But it is justified with religion, so everybody must shut up.

[George S.]

What that is a total disrespect for the place you call home .Thats similar to macedonia where there is total disrespect.How about secession rights.??
What a joke .

[makedonche]

Walked out on the National Anthem did they?........should have kept right on walking all the way to Mecca, get a healthy dose of Muslimism!

[Amphipolis]

I will surprise you, by advicing that you SHOULD tolerate that and show some balance IF necessary. The correct measure will come if you ask the following question:

Let's take a Shia country (Iran, Iraq etc). Are they allowed to sing their National Hymn during this "Imam Hussein mourning" period?

I don't have the answer, but you in Australia should look at it.

[George S.]

I was jumping the gun there its not the chidrens fault its actually the teacher they are to blame for allowing it.Parents got on the radio and were upset that their kids weren't allowed and told to go by that teacher/principal to go home.

[Soldier of Macedon]

“Two children got up and said `welcome to our assembly’ with that a teacher came forward and said all those who feel it’s against their culture may leave the room,” Ms McCurdy said.

Poor choice of words on the part of that teacher and inappropriate venue in which to announce something like that, as it could easily be misconstrued by others.

Principal Cheryl Irving said during the month of Muharram Shi’a Muslims do not take part in joyous events, such as listening to music or singing, as it was a period of mourning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_of_Muharram

How the event is mourned differs between different branches of Shia and different ethnic groups........In the Twelver three traditional schools (Usooli, Akhbari, and Shaykhi), mourners, both male and female, congregate (in separate sections) for sorrowful, poetic recitations performed in memory of the death of Husayn, lamenting and grieving to the tune of beating drums and chants of "Ya Husayn."...........Bektashis and Alevis also mourn, and they keep themselves from eating and drinking ("fasting") the first 10–12 days of Muharram. In this period, the Alevis wear black clothes, do not shave themselves and avoid any type of entertainment and pleasure......Nizari Ismaili commemorate Muharram through the tradition of not celebrating marriages, birthdays, and other religious celebrations during this time to show respect to there other Muslim brothers who are mourning.............In South Asia, a number of literary and musical genres, produced by both Shias and Sunnis, that have been inspired by the Battle of Karbala are performed during the month, such as marsiya, noha and soaz........

Anyway....I understand they come from a culture different from mainstream Australia and so did most of us here, but I don't ever recall school absence being permitted for Orthodox Christian children during Orthodox Easter, or the prohibition of certain foods being sold at schools during Orthodox Easter so as not to offend Orthodox Christian children. I support Australia being sensitive towards other cultures (within reason), but in doing so it also needs to be sensitive to its own culture. This incident with the children walking out before the national anthem should have been handled in a better way. But that aside, there are some situations in Australia where political correctness is being stretched.

[Tomche Makedonche]

My personal opinions aside, many schools have permitted Jehovah's Witnesses to abstain from standing and singing the national anthem in Australia since the 70's on the basis of their religious beliefs. I think it would be promoting double standards (and discrimination to a degree) to allow one group to abstain, whilst denying another legitimate group to abstain on the same basis (particularly when taking into account the latter group only wishes to abstain for a brief specific period once a year concerning religious mourning as opposed to the former group who consistently abstains throughout the year all the time)

[makedonche]

My personal opinions aside, many schools have permitted Jehovah's Witnesses to abstain from standing and singing the national anthem in Australia since the 70's on the basis of their religious beliefs. I think it would be promoting double standards (and discrimination to a degree) to allow one group to abstain, whilst denying another legitimate group to abstain on the same basis (particularly when taking into account the latter group only wishes to abstain for a brief specific period once a year concerning religious mourning as opposed to the former group who consistently abstains throughout the year all the time)

Tomche
I agree, the whole fuckin lot of them can stay there while the anthem is on and nobody gets to abstain.......don't like it?...exercise that democratic right that allows you to leave the country!

[Gocka]

Personally I find national anthems silly and hollow. National anthems have always been a mechanism used to impose nationalism, especially as it relates to little kids, who most of the time have no idea what any of it means.

[Risto the Great]

National anthems have always been a mechanism used to impose nationalism, especially as it relates to little kids, who most of the time have no idea what any of it means.

As adults, if you think about it too much, it might not get any easier to explain nationalism. Better to just sing the song and encourage some kind of cohesion.

[George S.]

The teacher should be sacked for lack of foresight.WE all have to respect the anthem regardless of race or religion.

[George S.]

Muslim children should not be forced to sing national anthem, says Hizb ut-Tahrir

Canberra Times

Saffron Howden
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Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar delvivers a speech during the conference "A Community Criminalised: Innocent Until Proven Muslim" in Sydney.© Daniel Munoz/Fairfax Media Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar delvivers a speech during the conference "A Community Criminalised: Innocent Until Proven Muslim" in Sydney.
Muslim children should not be forced to sing the Australian anthem and "de-radicalisation" is an agenda of forced assimilation, hundreds of Islamic men, women and children were told this morning.

More than 500 people flocked to a forum in south-western Sydney addressing the "criminalisation" of the Islamic community in Australia.

Organised by the controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) - the organisation that former prime minister Tony Abbott wanted banned - the conference includes eight speakers.

Among them is Ismail al-Wahwah, the Sydney-based leader of HuT, who was filmed in two sermons last year describing Jews as the "hidden evil" and calling for a "jihad against the Jews".



Hizb ut-Tahrir conference in Sydney on Sunday: "A Community Criminalised: Innocent Until Proven Muslim".© Daniel Munoz/Fairfax Media Hizb ut-Tahrir conference in Sydney on Sunday: "A Community Criminalised: Innocent Until Proven Muslim".

The conference hall, at The Bellevue function centre in Bankstown, was packed out.

It began on Sunday morning with a recitation from the Koran and the screening of a short video depicting the fictional path of a young Muslim from skipping an Anzac Day ceremony to their home being raided by police.

The first speaker, Uthman Badar, asked why Muslim children should be "forced" to sing the Australian anthem, which presents a "disputed view of history".

Deradicalisation, the HuT spokesman said, was an "agenda of forced assimilation ... justified by exaggerated fears of a security threat".

It was a "myth" that terrorism was a Muslim phenomenon, Mr Badar said.



A Hizb-ut Tahrir conference poster in Blacktown.© Fairfax Media A Hizb-ut Tahrir conference poster in Blacktown.

Inside a glossy, 36-page booklet, distributed at the forum, one section tutors the community in how to respond when ASIO comes knocking.

Titled Don't be Spooked: How to Deal with Spies, it cautions against befriending people with unexplained pasts.

"They appear out of the abyss, with pasts that either cannot be explained or do not make sense," the article reads.

"Keep your guard up in such cases."

It also warns against interacting with unknown people online - these, too, could be spooks.

And it reminds Muslims that they are under no obligation to meet anyone from ASIO unless they have a warrant.

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to hide! Why the need to meet with an agency that treats the entire community as possessors of knowledge of criminal activities or similar?" it states.

"Even if the spooks turn up on your door step (again, not an uncommon occurrence), politely decline their request to talk and insist on your legal right not to."




Crazy radical views these people ought to be banned.