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Sydney Morning Herald, 25 Noverber 2005. Hijab meets kippa as faiths say hello By Linda Morris, Religious Affairs Reporter
Speech given by one of November 2005 Youth Encounters Muslim youth paricipant Nisanur

Kippa Crosses Hijab
AND
The Emergence of a “Multi-faith” Australian Identity

The soccer ball was up in the air, but it was not the Socceroos who were taking the shots for the world cup, rather it was the 120 Jewish, Christian and Muslim youth who were taking on a different type of an encounter. The colourful face of Australia’s emerging multi-faith identity was actively on display in the scenic playgrounds of Kincoppal College in Rosebay, whilst the school children from each of the respective monotheistic faiths were united in the soccer game- as the youth encounters took its second wave.
This year, the theme of the Youth Encounters was “My Identity & Place in Australia”, where the 120 students participated in two workshops. Each of the workshops enabled the students to explore issues with Faith, Community and Nationality being the foundational constituent of one’s identity. Affinity Intercultural Foundation and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies conceptualised an idea to bring interfaith gatherings to the youth level. The aim of this program is for students from the Abrahamic traditions to meet and discuss what their faith means to them in the context of the Australian ethos. It initially started in 2004 with the students from Sule College, Kincoppal Rose Bay and Masada College. This year the list grew to include Noor Ul-Houda, Shore High School and Emmanuel College. Next year it is hoped the program will grow by another three schools adding up to 180 students.

The students spent six weeks learning about each other's faiths, as well as their own before meeting each other at Kincoppal Rose Bay’s picturesque premises. The students were also trained on how to communicate and present, conflict resolution, as well as personal leadership skills. The workshops enabled the youth to not only form, recognise and appreciate their own identities, but also to acknowledge and recognise the broader ethnically diverse and multi-faith Australian identity.

A Jewish boy coming out of a morning workshop explained that “it was the first time he had met Muslims” and when asked of her experience of the whole encounter Deniz Ozdil claimed “it was just wonderful”.

According to Vic Aldaheff, the CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the Youth Encounters came at an opportune time, when there was so much tension and mistrust, "what this program does is dispel racial and ethnic stereotypes", he said. "The students see each other as people and get to know each other as people.

The program was also recognised by the NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who made a personal attendance for the main address in the official ceremony. The Premier congratulated the organisers of the day for initiating such a project and he acknowledged it’s importance by stating “it allows us to celebrate our Australian multiculturalism and multi-faith society”. The Premier also promised that he will continue to invest in interfaith dialogue in the future as well.

Mehmet Ozalp, the President of the Affinity Intercultural Foundation (co-organiser), explained that dialogue between the faiths needed to be an integral part of state education policies, he further stated that;

"The world is moving from a multicultural to a multifaith society where faith is becoming a more of factor in how we identity ourselves.

"We hope we are planting the seeds of something that will grow in influence in society."

Deniz Ozdel stated in an interview with ABC radio that “this golden generation of youths could teach a thing or two to the adults”.

Ms Bedrieh Kheir, a teacher from the Noor-Al Houda College also commented about the immediate results she saw “All of a sudden, I could see they had grown up and seem a whole lot more mature. The 20 students that went have gone to their family, friends and teachers at school and told them of how much they enjoyed and learnt from the event”.

The Second Wave of Youth Encounters has shown the growing positive results of such a project, that was not only instrumental in the instilling in the students an understanding of their respective fellow Australians of other faiths but also at a community level where, the dissimilar and often segmented sections of our multi-faith communities came together to celebrate the newly emerging phenomenon of a “multi-faith” Australian society.

Linda Morris, “Hijab meets kippa as faiths say hello” Religious Affairs Reporter
Sydney Morning Herald, November 25, 2005.