The Australian government has appointed Pakistani immigrant Aftab Malik as Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, just a day before a deadline set by powerful Muslim clerics upset that an anti-Semitism envoy had been selected months earlier.
Jewish lawyer and pro-Israel advocate Jillian Segal was appointed in July and earlier this month the Australian National Imams Council said if a Muslim equivalent was not named by the end of September it would expose the whole exercise as “farcical”.
Immigration minister Tony Burke said the appointment of Mr Malik was part of the $90 million spent by the federal government to prevent conflict between the Muslim and Jewish communities in Australia over the war in Gaza.
“Bigotry is always wrong. You should be able to live safely and freely in Australia, regardless of who you are or what you believe,” he said in a statement.
Mr Malik was born in Britain to Pakistani parents, moved to Australia in 2012 to mentor young Muslims for the Lebanese Muslim Association, and has been recognised as a “Global Expert on Muslim Affairs” by the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations.
He has also worked on countering violent extremism for the NSW Department of the Premier and Cabinet, was a senior advisor to the Abu Dhabi Forum for Promoting Peace, and a board advisor to The British Council’s Washington DC-based Our Shared Future project.
“Promoting social cohesion and fighting against hate in Australia is more important today than it’s ever been,” Mr Malik said in a statement.
“I look forward to working with Muslim leaders and the broader community to promote peace, understanding and inclusivity.”
Mr Malik also spoke out about anti-Semitism and hoped to bring both communities together.
“Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are not mutually exclusive: where there is one, you most likely will find the other, lurking,” he said.
“I don’t intend to use this role to advocate that one form of hatred is more important than another: both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are unacceptable.”
The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) immediately criticised Mr Malik’s appointment, and said both special envoys should be abolished.
“[The appointments], which single out particular experience of racism for special government investment and attention, failed to address the increasingly frequent and severe forms of racism experienced by Palestinians – not all of whom are Muslims – First Nations peoples and other marginalised communities,” APAN said.
“APAN calls on the federal government to dissolve both special envoy roles and instead engage in evidence-based, systemic anti-racism efforts that support the entire Australian community in eliminating racism and bigotry.”
After Ms Segal’s appointment in July Australia’s largest Anglo-Celtic advocacy group slammed the creation of the new roles, saying it ignored institutional racism against White people.
British Australian Community President Harry Richardson told Noticer News that the appointments showed the government was not interested in tackling Anglophobia.
“The truth of the matter is, that neither Muslims nor Jews face institutional racism in Australia. The only group that does, is the White British and European descendants who built the nation,” he said.
“Anglo-Celtic Australians are under attack from governments, in the form of replacement-level immigration, affirmative action, and indoctrination of schoolkids against their ancestors.
“Once again we see clearly that there is an ethnic hierarchy in Australia and traditional Australians are at the bottom.”
