Trashing trash, not critics
While protestors in
Sydney were raging against an anti-Islam You Tube video clip, 60 Indonesians in
the New Zealand capital were roving Wellington beaches.
Members of the local
Indonesian Muslim community spent Sunday morning cleaning bays around
Wellington harbor, stuffing broken bottles, torn plastic, dented beer cans,
skimpy underwear and even a discarded condom into black bags.
“We are not going to
protest the video,” said a surgically-gloved Ruliyati Dewi (below) who coordinated the
voluntary garbage gather. “We are different kinds of Muslims who love this
country.
“We want to show that
Indonesians are peaceful people who care for the environment.” Although NZ has
anti-litter laws, trash is still dumped in beauty spots.
“There’s a story about
the Prophet being regularly abused by the same man as he went to pray,” said
Ruliyati’s husband Nino Triono (right). “He didn’t retaliate.
“One day the abuser
was absent. The Prophet inquired and found the man sick, so he visited him and
prayed for his recovery. This is an
example we must follow and teach our children.”
(For a sophisticated analysis of reaction to the video read ABC broadcaster Waleed Aly's articuate commentary here:
FOLLOW UP
This letter was published in The Wellingtonian on 20 September:
FOLLOW UP
This letter was published in The Wellingtonian on 20 September:
The Editor:
While
Sydney was suffering from violent street protests against the grossly offensive You
Tube video, in Wellington 60 Indonesian Muslims were cleaning up the bays
around Point Jerningham
Organiser
Ruliyati Dewi told me there would be no protests because “we are different
kinds of Muslims who love this country”.
As a
Christian I congratulate my fellow expats on their fine example of tolerance and service.
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