Indian and Lebanese community meet to break down barriers in Sydney’s west

IN a suburban backyard in Sydney’s west, two communities with a fraught history came together.

It was the Lebanese equivalent of a backyard barbie, only instead of snags and beer, they served falafel, tabouli, flatbreads and dips.

The guests came from the Indian community, which just six years earlier had rioted in Harris Park because they felt they were being targeted by Lebanese youths.

Lebanese organiser Lara Taouk Sleiman said despite the diversity in Sydney’s west, different ethnic communities often remained suspicious of each other.

She met Indian organiser Arunesh Seth during the state election in Granville.

She was campaigning for the Christian Democrats and he was Labor, but they found common ground while sharing food and dancing to Bollywood music.

They became friends, but there was one sticking point.

“You can’t be Lebanese, that’s not possible,” Mr Seth told her.

Over coffee they discussed why each ethnic group had such negative stereotypes about the other.

“He thought I could change the perceptions of people,” Ms Taouk Sleiman said.

“Then we met after the election and he said we really should take this further.

“We really should get a group of Lebanese and Indian people to sit together and enjoy each other’s culture.”

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Ms Taouk Sleiman invited members of the Indian community to come along for dinner at her parents’ Woodpark home last weekend.

For many of the Indian participants, it was the first time they had stepped inside a Lebanese home.

Naresh Aggarwal from West Pennant Hills has been in Australia for 25 years, but his contact with Lebanese people was limited.

“I was apprehensive.” he admitted.

“I knew Lebanese people, but I had never had a conversation at a social occasion. I had thought Lebanese people are very aggressive and stayed away from them.”

By the end of the night, Mr Aggarwal realised the two groups had more in common than he thought.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “I loved it. We’re two cultures that love to eat and dance. We would also invite them to our place.”

Ms Taouk Sleiman’s sister-in-law Ana Taouk said the Lebanese community often battled negative stereotypes, but the silent majority were just going about their daily lives away from the spotlight.

“The stereotypes make us look like we are idiots or thugs,” she said.

“It’s nice just to put it out there that we are just like anyone else.”

The event, named Culture Swap, started with games as everyone learnt each others’ names and was followed by a cooking workshop.

The visitors learnt to stuff vine leaves, grind chickpeas and lemon juice together to make hummus and pinch the edges of dough to make Lebanese spinach pies.

At dinner, people were encouraged to sit next to someone they didn’t know.

Dancing followed on the backyard patio, with guests mixing Lebanese steps with Bollywood moves.

“They can’t live separately,” Mr Seth said.

“At some stage they have to come together — that’s the spirit of Australia.

“Everyone’s on the same level. They’re just enjoying themselves.”

Mr Seth said while the world faced global threats such as terrorism, the majority of people just wanted to live their own lives.

“They want peace, they want a secure future for their families, so that’s what we’re trying — to spread the message of peace, love, harmony and prosperity, living together,” Mr Seth said.

Ms Taouk Sleiman agreed and said she loved her adopted homeland.

“I grew up in war and have witnessed most of the war in Lebanon, and I think that’s what gives you this insight when you migrate to Australia,” she said.

“You come from a country where your utmost ambition was to survive and then you come to a land of opportunities that gives enough oxygen to every culture.

“Australians that come from different cultural backgrounds, they should look at this nation with a lot of gratitude. You would lay down your life so that ISIS can’t get access to this land.

“You get that passionate because you don’t want the Middle East to cross boundaries — because we came here and this is home.”

This Saturday, Culture Swap will continue with an Indian night in Baulkham Hills.

Lebanese guests will get a taste of Indian culture with a traditional dress session and henna, followed by dinner and Bollywood dancing.

Indian community riots in Harris Park

WESTERN Sydney is a melting pot of different cultures, but six years ago tensions between Lebanese and Indian communities reached boiling point in Harris Park.

On June 9, 2009, about 150 Indian protesters took to the streets claiming they had endured years of racial slurs and attacks.

It came after a clash with Middle Eastern men in the same area the night before.

The local consensus was that it started with a petty crime when a group of reportedly Lebanese youths threw eggs and soft drink at a group of Indian students.

The students, who were already feeling nervous after a spate of attacks on their compatriots in Melbourne, thought they were being targeted because of their race and staged a retaliation against another group of Lebanese youth.

Police were forced to close an entire block around Marion and Wigram streets.

At the time, protesters told The Daily Telegraph that they didn’t feel safe.

Harris Park local Kush Ghai, 22, said the local Indian community needed more police protection.

“We want peace, justice and protection,” he said.

Meanwhile Sarabjot Singh, 25, said Indians living in Harris Park had been victimised for years and accused police of doing nothing about it.

“This (the attacks) is the story every day, but now we cant take it anymore,” he said.

 
Source: Daily Telegraph