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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/bendigo-mosque-minaret-milestone-first-completed-building>
"On a bush block on the industrial outskirts of Bendigo, a minaret rises from
the facade of a mosque. There are no fences, making the site of the central
Victorian city’s first mosque visible from adjacent roads.
This is no accident. Sameer Syed, who has been involved in the Bendigo Islamic
Community Centre’s inception from its start, says the vision was an “open
mosque”.
“We wanted something very welcoming … very open, very visible,” he says. “We
want people to feel the same way. Just drop in, have a coffee.”
The centre’s spokesperson, Aisha Neelam, chimes in and jokes: “People can come
meet a Muslim.”
More than a decade ago, fierce pushback against the vision to create a place of
worship for Bendigo’s Muslim community made international headlines after the
project became a rallying point for rightwing extremists, many of them from out
of town.
A mock beheading staged by the United Patriots Front leader and far-right
extremist, Blair Cottrell, and two supporters outside the council chambers led
to Victoria’s first racial vilification conviction. In 2016 a high court
challenge to stop the mosque failed.
Syed credits the combination of a grassroots campaign – Believe in Bendigo –
and outreach work by Muslim leaders for changing community sentiment, although
a handful of protesters still demonstrate.
Ten years later, the centre is preparing to begin using its first completed
building in coming weeks. The mosque is still under construction."
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*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
