Page 233 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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One cannot speak about the inception of the library without mentioning Ahmed Youssef who, as I have already noted, is here today and has maintained a steady campaign to establish this wonderful resource for Canberra. I would also like to acknowledge the tireless work by CIC founding members. Ahmed Youssef is a foundation member and former president of the CIC. Ahmed moved from Egypt to Australia in 1969 and resided in Melbourne for 14 years before moving to Canberra. Ahmed taught Arabic and Islamic studies at the then Canberra College of Advanced Education.
When Ahmed came to Australia it was clear to him that there was not enough information on Islamic religion and culture. For more than 40 years Ahmed has been collecting literature on Islamic art, women’s rights, law and a variety of other subjects. In fact, Ahmed has so many books he has had to store them in his home. His garage is so full with books he cannot actually park his car in it. His wife, Jamila, originally from Switzerland, has also worked hard to get the library established. People describe Ahmed and Jamila as working as a team. Jamila has been a great support for Ahmed. She has assisted in collecting books, volunteered at the CIC, and for the least part she has been extremely patient while books have invaded her home.
Ahmed has not only volunteered as an imam, running regular Islamic classes, marriages and funerals; he also visits prisoners in Canberra and Cooma. I think anyone who meets Ahmed would agree that he is an extremely graceful, compassionate and friendly person. Ahmed Youssef was named the Australian Muslim Volunteer of the Year last December. It has been his dream to see the library through to its conclusion and I hope Jamila and Ahmed will have an opportunity to see the library functioning in Canberra.
Before going on, I would like to talk a little about multiculturalism, our interpretation of it and efforts to promote and live it.
According to Geoffrey Levey from the Australian Financial Review, multiculturalism is “a set of practical policies aimed variously at improving the absorption of migrants and harmoniously integrating a culturally diverse society around liberal democratic values”. A similar interpretation can be found in the recently released ACT multicultural policy for 2010-13. Its vision is to “create a community where multicultural traditions and heritage are celebrated as a part of a safe, cohesive and harmonious society which upholds the human rights of the people who live here”. Many in this place would agree with these aims and surely that these aims are achievable with some hard work and perseverance from our political leaders and community.
The ACT Greens believe that the diversity of cultures in the ACT community greatly enriches our society and should be celebrated and that all ACT residents, whatever their background, have the right to live free of discrimination and to engage in and share their culture within universally recognised human rights. The ACT Greens believe that Canberra is a place for everyone.
Of course, there are many schools of thought on how best to achieve this. I would argue multiculturalism is about the interaction of people from different ethnicities,
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