MEMBERS of Deer Park Mosque are hoping for a little cultural tolerance when they open their doors to the community over the weekend.
The mosque is hosting its annual open day on Sunday and is calling on the public to gain a better understanding of the Muslim culture by coming along. Mosque president Harry Gec said the mosque had been vandalised several times over the years, with windows being smashed and doors broken.
“In the last year, it’s happened about four times,” he said. “Someone’s thrown a bottle or tried to crack the door early in the morning when no-one was there.”
Mr Gec said while there had been many advances made, there were still misconceptions about the Muslim community, particularly after the terrorist attacks in New York and Bali.
But far from being bitter about these negative stereotypes, Mr Gec said members of the Deer Park Mosque were committed to changing them. Mr Gec said he would even be prepared to meet with the vandals who had attacked the mosque in the past.
“Anyone is welcome on the day. It doesn’t matter what they think or believe. They can still come along,” he said. “We’re aiming for as many people as possible. We just want to inform other people about us. We want to show them that we’re not weird people, we’re just ordinary people like everyone else.”
The St Albans resident said he had been running the open days for the past four years and had received an overwhelming response from the community.
“Last year we had about 100 people come to see us, so it was fantastic,” Mr Gec said. For more information on the open day visit the website www.intercultural.org.au.
