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Australian Court Rules that Muslim Is Not A Race

posted by martyb on Saturday February 16 2019, @08:56AM   
from the Better-than-a-rat-race dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Is a religious group a 'race' or isn't it? Is someone 'racist' if they publicly state their dislike of a religious group? An Australian tribunal has answered this question by ruling that Muslim is not a race, and as such, a person who vilifies them in public, an act which is currently illegal in Australia, would not have broken the law.

In 2016 Sonia Kruger 'called for an end to migration from Islamic countries' saying that she wanted people to feel safe when going out to celebrate Australia day. Sam Ekermawi, a Muslim, filed a complaint to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal claiming the comments were racial vilification.

The tribunal was unable to conclude Muslims living in Australia "are a 'race' by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin" and dismissed the application. This is an important milestone in the legal and cultural development of the ocean-bound nation which is still attempting to balance the melting pot of cultures and people who have migrated to the country from all over the world. This ruling may be a key threshold for defining what the word 'race' actually means in the legal and social and cultural context and how laws will be interpreted in the future.

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Original Submission

• Re:How would a Religion be a Race Re:How would a Religion be a Race (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:14PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:14PM (#802025)

  Not really sure why people view it as a slur. A male pole is a polak, a female one is polka. It's like calling a jew, a jew, and people getting offended. I think it would be more offensive calling someone jewish. Like you're not really a jew, you're just jewish. Like calling someone christianish.

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  Starting Score:	0		points
  Moderation		+3
  Funny=3, Total=3
  Extra 'Funny' Modifier		0
  Total Score:		3

• Re:How would a Religion be a Race Re:How would a Religion be a Race (Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:40PM (1 child)

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:40PM (#802028) Journal

  FFS, a polka is a god-damned DANCE, and a style of MUSIC. But you knew that, right, Ari?

  For those who are not familiar with polka, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka [wikipedia.org]

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u_Fg6BzPsU [youtube.com]
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIfHTXVNoDU [youtube.com]

  Parent

  • Re:How would a Religion be a Race (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @10:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @10:35PM (#802212)

    Rubbish links Have this [youtube.com]

    Parent