Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"If you wanted to be a top class European jurist, you had to study Arabic. You would then study the great works of Muslim jurists, philosophers and doctors. Much of what you studied had little to do with Islamic theology, but it was certainly studied through Spanish Muslim-coloured glasses." Irfan Yusuf

"With Howard, Abbott and their ilk convincingly defeated on the future regulation of RU486 today, it’s worth taking a minute to reflect on the disgusting racial and religious bigotry implicit in Danna Vale’s comments this week, particularly given that they are indicative of an increasingly common mindset in our country, consistently encouraged by the Howard government." John Richardson

"Claims that the fossil fuel industry had unprecedented access to confidential Commonwealth government processes and the silencing of senior climate change scientists require an independent investigation." Greens Senator Christine Milne, in response to last night's 4-Corners program, "The Greenhouse Mafia."

"I seriously hope reading Van’s story doesn’t spoil your Valentines Day. Most of us find love in more conventional ways. But as Van’s story and Brokeback Mountain powerfully illustrate, unconventional love can be just as real even if the pressures of society and circumstance don’t allow it to be fully requited." Irfan Yusuf

"When I was last in Israel, I stayed in a Jewish village in the north of the country. The children from the nearby Arab town attended the village kindy and the Jewish farmers sold produce to shopkeepers in the town. Security was always a consideration – the village was surrounded by a fence which the men of the village patrolled every and all night – but generally there was no problem." Sue Hoffman

"When you fight with the rels, it tends to be nasty. What makes it worse is that you often can’t help ending up feeling the pain you joyously inflict on them. It’s a bit like scratching your face to squash a mosquito sucking the blood from your cheek." Irfan Yusuf

"For political history buffs, I believe this is the first Private Senators Bill in the names of 4 Senators from four different parties (all of whom also happen to be women)." Senator Andrew Bartlett on the RU486 legislation being debated in the Senate today.

"That’s it. I’ve decided once and for all. In a show of Islamic solidarity, I will not drink at the Slip Inn. After all, a Danish newspaper published 12 nasty and offensive cartoons. As a result, I refuse to drink at a pub which has anything to do with Denmark." Irfan Yusuf

"I’ve been on some forums with Muslim “leaders” before. I remember a forum on Channel 9’s Today Show which took place some 20 days after the London bombing. I was on there with Sheik Fehmi, one of the few imams who can speak English. There was also a lady from the Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia (MWNNA) who sadly didn’t get much of a chance to speak. The rest of the crowd were an embarrassment." Irfan Yusuf

"A close-circuit video camera in every bank, on every shop front, every shopping mall, every train station, every local government camera, any private business with a camera – from David Jones to the corner shop - centrally linked with live feeds to police command – not science fiction or a left-wing paranoia, but a reality in New South Wales." Dale Mills

"The fall out from the riots on Sydney’s beaches continues amid accusations that the State government and police have ‘gone soft’ on Australians from Lebanese backgrounds." Dale Mills

"News footage of the swarming White militants in Cronulla has provided some of the most disturbing scenes of racism on our streets. What we saw was racist slogans daubed on placards, bodies and tee shirts. One tee shirt proclaimed “ethnic cleansing unit”. Mind-blowing. Yet one lesson we learn from this is that many actions were pre-meditated and not simply the result of a drunken mob out of control." Stephen Smith

"Last week I set sail on this journey of a lifetime, an adventure into the sea of Australian humanity. My sights are set on discovering its true colours.  I see our island nation, Australia, my country of birth and that of my family lines running back near two hundred years, now culturally and linguistically diverse. At minimum one in five of the people on our island today were born overseas, and another had at least one parent born overseas. You can see it and you can hear it. Between us we speak nearly 200 different languages. It's a treasure, the wealth of opportunity that comes with diversity and you don't even need to search hard to find how enriched we all could be. You just have to open your eyes, your ears, your mind." Craig Rowley

"Australian society takes its benign secularism for granted, but it didn't occur by accident. It's an end result of centuries of political and social struggle and while Australians blithely go about their daily business in this safe and unified nation, few thoughts are spared for the sequence of events that have brought us to this fortunate situation." Phil Uebergang

"Let’s look at our community for a moment. Let's observe what goes on. On the street we might come to the same intersection. To connect we must first acknowledge each other’s presence. A glance, a relaxed and open stance, a smile. Then we can communicate with positive body language at a level deeper than we generally understand. We begin to comprehend what could unfold if we create the opportunity. We find confidence, and trust. We start connecting, we start to communicate." Craig Rowley.

"An end to the hard line on asylum seekers is not yet to take them into our hearts and out of the arena of political point scoring. Like racing on a tight stretch of desert road we have seen the PM playing ‘chicken’ with the Georgiou gang of rebels. He dared them to blink and swerve to avoid a collision. But outside of this drama he is running from a debate in Parliament. He may swerve but we must not let him escape the need for a Royal Commission into the whole immigration mess." Stephen Smith