Posing questions for the AFL and narratives of suffering

I’d thought that the Australian Football League’s attempts to bring together Israeli and Palestinian young people was a good thing, though, I like many others had been puzzled by the lukewarm response from local Palestinians. As far as I know, the mainstream press has offered no opportunity to give them space for their reluctance to get involved.
This piece by Taimor Hazou in New Matilda (http://tiny.cc/O6tyu) puts the other side, in the context of a broader discussion of the alienation of many Muslim young people & the potential for terrorism in Australia. The general discussion about the degree of alientation is disturbing caused by institutional insensitivity.
The AFL’s lack of ability to give Palestinians a fair go in presenting their storyis a good example of institutional failure at effective community engagement. It is even more disappointing that there has been no response from the AFL about this.
As Taimor says, “while this situation continues, it will be no surprise if our “efforts” to fight home-grown terrorism continue to fail. ‘

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