Commentary by Scott Albert.
*The following is an editorial and represents the opinions of the author only.
On November 19, 2020, the Australian Department of Defense issued a report that officially recognized the killing of 39 civilians by Australian elite forces in Afghanistan. The 300-page report caused an uproar in the international arena. Killing civilians was given the word “blooding” by the Australian military, but under the disguise of such words, killing innocent people has become a soldier’s “coming-of-age ceremony” or a “sacrifice” to a certain ritual. However, the “macho” culture under the catalytic action of war is constantly moving towards the extinction of humanity. Such atrocity and brutality against the unarmed and weak also reflect the vulnerability and ignorance of the Australian special forces in the pursuit of their “boyhood”.
Regardless of the “blooding” or “warrior culture”, it is a process of sugaring up the killing culture, of which the logic behind needs to be uncovered from the Australian culture and history. Australia has always advertised itself as a multicultural country, but undeniably its society operates with its inherent “biological chain”. Those who stand at the top of the biological chain are naturally the British immigrants with Anglo-Saxon culture, while lying at the bottom are the Middle Eastern ethnicity labeled “Muslims” and “terrorists.” Racial discrimination has always been an unavoidable social phenomenon in Australia.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, repeat undisguised discrimination against ethnic Chinese has also put the multiculturalism of Australia to the test. The ultra-right wing has been occupying a place on the Australian political landscape since the 1990s. For example, the One Nation Party represented by Pauline Hanson, who as a member of parliament made public speeches against Asian immigrants in the mid-1990s. She established the One Nation Party after being expelled from the Liberal Party. The One Nation is now a representative of populist political parties in Australia. This party believes that multiculturalism will impair the cultural foundation of Australia and now it exaggerates the difficulty of integrating Muslims into mainstream culture. Pauline Hanson once clearly called for banning the burqa throughout Australia (Editor’s note: refers to the robes worn by Muslim women), believing that Muslim women should not wear headscarves as well.
Reflecting on racism requires Australia to face up to its own history. In the mid to late 19th century, the “White Australia Policy” came into being. Such policy was to restrict colored races from ports to Australia. The “White Australia Policy” had been implemented in Australia for 100 years and was not abolished until the 1970s, of the 20th century.
Here again, after the Department of Defence’s report was made public, the local Australian media focused their attention on the impact that the report might have on the morale of the Australian army, but the pains to the victims of the Afghan civilians were selectively ignored. Especially the feelings of the Afghans living in Australia; it is impossible not to say that this is another replay of Australian racial crisis. Such a solution is regrettable to many parties.
Author: Scott Albert
Email: tigercbj@163.com
Scott Albert has been working as an editor of Expert feature news. His work covers economic, social, political and legal affairs. He has been recognized for his professionalism and awarded several times. More recently as an independent or working together with researchers he has delivered a number of public and internal reference reports, known as a representative and senior specialist in internet communications.