"As a social movement motivated by religious values and the ideals of selfless service, engaged in philanthropic endeavour and active in the civil sphere," argues Greg Barton, a professor at Monash University, Melbourne, "the Gülen hizmet deserves comparison with other such movements around the globe." It challenges "some of the 'us and them' barriers that divide ... east and west, by allowing us to recognise common concerns, values and shared experiences." 

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Nisa Terzi is 21. She is a fourth year Journalism and Law student studying at Latrobe University. She is an Australian-born Muslim with a Turkish background, and has many interests, which include reading philosophical and classical English, Turkish, Afghan and Spanish literature. She has also worked as a freelance writer for various international newspapers and magazines such as Todays Zaman in Turkey and The Fountain Magazine in the US. Her hobbies include SLR photography and classical Turkish water marbling art (called Ebru). Her short term goal is to finish university and her long term goal is to be a successful journalist and report on issues which will have a positive effect on people and thus be a good contribution to her country, Australia.

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Tuncay Terzi’s involvement with Gülen inspired schools began in 1997 in Sydney as a geography/history teacher. Since then he has worked as a deputy principal of a high school, a principal of a primary school, and is now the head-principal of seven Victorian schools. He is in his thirteenth year of academic service and wishes to continue on in the years to come. 

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Last night Islamic Information & Services Network of Australia (IISNA) held a fundraiser for a multicultural youth centre at Dallas Brooks Centre, East Melbourne. The attendance was relatively low but all expectations were met when the charity dragged past $480,000! [This was when I left because it's true what they say about late public transport in Melbourne]. Guests included sports stars Anthony Mundine, Tarik Solak, Bachar Houli and Burak Hasan. It must have been a little strange for the women sitting up in the balcony because of the absence of any female personality on stage. Nevertheless, this was a very significant function because it addressed the number one problem facing the Australian Muslim community: disaffected youth.

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The word ‘museum’ usually shores up the image of a large, quaint building housing exhibits of things either dead or very curious; if you’re lucky, a mummy or a dinosaur. My favourite, of course, are railway museums. But these you can easily read about in books. Where do you get information about something that has the quality of being something else entirely?

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It may be that those who are deemed the furthest from us culturally, scripturally or imaginatively are not at all so. I learned this lesson in school, not from the blackboard or the pulpit but rather adding one and two and coming up with me and you. It's not that simple and I don't remember the exact time or place, but it was winter and I was fifteen. Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. Everybody was looking at me.

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"Hate kills the man who hates" warns the Gandhian quote headlining the January issue of South Asia Times and below lies the casketed corpse of Nitin Garg over which his mother grieves. A collage of advertisements and Bollywood gossip are regular features of the free monthlies aimed at the Australian Indian diaspora, but what now sticks out, like the frozen hand of Lenin, is the word 'racism'.

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Hi, my name is Aiman and I am a summer intern at Cultural Diversity News.

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