Tuesday Musing #illridewithyou

Feeling rather sad today. The siege in Sydney has ended with the death of 2 hostages as well as the gun man. How devastating. I was so hoping and praying that the hostages would all get out of it alive. The cafe manager and a customer were both killed. The flags at the Ambulance station in our town was flying at half mast... I wonder if it was in honour of these ordinary Australians, killed so senselessly.

One of the good things to come out of the whole situations is that ordinary Australians are also standing up to be heard to defend the ordinary Muslim Australian's amongst us, who are innocent of this atrocity. Since the emergence of ISIS there has been a growing number of racist attacks on Muslim women and a lot of gossip and fear mongering on social media attacking aspects of their way of life. However this time ordinary Australians are standing up and saying NO to this kind of things.

I am so overwhelmed and proud of the tweet that has trended world wide #illridewithyou - a message to Muslims using public transport who feel frightened by the possibility of being targeted by those in our community who might blame them for what has happened. It has become more than just an invitation for a safe ride. It has become a way of saying I don't blame you for what has happened. Its not your fault. Onya Aussies - I'm proud of you

I tweeted it. I don't use public transport - there isn't much here in our town anyway. But I did it as a way of showing my support for the peoples of our diverse community.

This report on the ABC website shows this gunman didn't have the support of the majority of the Muslim community.

Dozens of Muslim groups have issued a joint statement expressing their sadness at the tragic end to the siege.

It said the Muslim community's thoughts and prayers went out to the families of those who lost loved ones.

"We pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured and traumatised by this incident," the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, said.

The statement gave credit to the police, political leaders and the media for the manner in which they dealt with the siege.

"We are confident that with a continued display of responsibility and restraint, community harmony will be maintained and all Australians will be able to recover from the incident and return to normalcy," the Grand Mufti said.