Muslim leaders gather for anti-terrorism summit

Muslim leaders gather for anti-terrorism summit
About 300 members of the Muslim community are attending an anti-terrorism summit in Sydney today.

The summit is looking at multiculturalism, anti-terrorism laws and civil liberties.

The president of the Affinity Intercultural Foundation, Mehmet Saral, says a number of groups are involved in the talks.

"We have invited community leaders, the Islamic Council of New South Wales and mosques, including the Auburn Gallipolli Mosque, Penshurst Mosque, Punchbowl Mosque and other community organisations," he said.

Mr Saral says the summit is a chance for the Muslim community to publicly denounce terrorism of all forms.

"The purpose of the summit is to provide a platform to the community and religious leaders of the Muslim community to denounce terrorism clearly and to declare commitment to the shared values of Australia," he said.

As well as observing a minute of silence, summit delegates have been invited to sign a declaration stating that by the laws of Islam, a terrorist cannot be deemed a Muslim.

Mr Saral says Islam is a religion of peace and trust.

"We hope the general society and governments will display understanding toward the issues Muslims are experiencing," he said.

Speaker Keysar Trad received the loudest applause from delegates when he said deaths resulting from state-sponsored violence were just as tragic as those caused by terrorists.

"But we're not allowed to talk about state-sponsored violence because the state is too powerful," he said.

"If John Howard has his way with his diversionary laws, we will not be allowed to talk about it."

Hate crimes

The summit coincides with the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

A report released today suggests New South Wales's Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities have been unfairly blamed in the wake of the attacks and are still feeling the impact.

A hotline set up immediately after the attacks recorded 248 complaints of racially-motivated violence and abuse.

University of Technology academics have analysed those complaints in a report on the impact of the incident on ethnic and religious minorities in Australia.

One of the report's authors, Dr Tanja Dreher, says all levels of government need to work on relations with the affected communities.

"All the evidence in our community consultations and in all the other research that's around indicates that the impact of September 11, 2001, in terms of increased racism, those impacts are ongoing," she said.

"[There is a] climate of increased fear and insecurity, a feeling of not belonging, a feeling of not being welcome in Australia ... particularly for Arab and Muslim communities in Australia."