American Students Harassed in Australia

Australians have a reputation as very friendly people, a reputation confirmed to me on numerous occasions, for although I've never been to Australia, I've met many on my travels in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. (Australians seem to have an unusual appetite for travel, which is understandable given their location at the Antipodes. I imagine in the age of the internet and satellite TV their appetite may have lessened.) They seem to be the nearest equivalent to Americans, maybe even more so than Canadians.

So it is sad to read that American students in Australia are quitting because of anti-American harassment. As usual, a bunch of bigoted, intolerant leftists are to blame:

AMERICAN students are quitting Queensland universities in the face of hate attacks by Australians angry at US President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

One university has launched an investigation into claims an American student returned to the US after suffering six months of abuse at a residential college in Brisbane.
American students have told The Sunday Mail the verbal attacks are unbearable and threatening to escalate into physical violence.

Griffith University student Ian Wanner, 19, from Oregon, said abusive Australian students had repeatedly called him a "sepo" – short for septic tank. "It is so disrespectful. It's not exactly the most welcoming atmosphere here," he said. [...]

The abuse problem is so prevalent that US students are being given formal briefings before leaving home on how to cope with abusive Australians.
Mr Wanner said even female Australian students were verbally abusive. He warned the problem could "escalate into a very large brawl".

"There has already been confrontations between people," he said.

A female American student from Griffith, who wished to remain unnamed, said she had met some "exceptional" people in Australia – but was leaving this month in shock over her treatment.

She said she was desperate to go home after the slurs, which also spilled over at pubs in central Brisbane.

"They basically picked on me," she said. "At first, I thought it was a joke. Then I just had it out with them and told them I came here to be treated respectfully.

Bigoted and intolerant Australians: who would have thought? The article makes it sound that it's extremely prevalent. How sad. One hopes that the Australian people will snap out of their hateful and narrow-minded views pronto, or at least make it clear that the harassment is being done by a minority. Whether it is done by a minority, or not, is another question.

Update: Maybe those bigoted Australians got their ideas
here:

LITERATURE filled with hatred of Christians, Jews and non-Muslims is being sold at a mosque near a Melbourne home raided by ASIO.

Books sold at the store attached to the Brunswick mosque tell Muslims they should "hate and take as enemies" non-Muslims, reject Jews and Christians, and learn to hate in order to properly love Allah.

The texts say Muslims should learn military tactics and suggest that if a person speaks ill of Islam it is acceptable to kill them.

They urge Muslims to strike back against "the barbaric onslaught from their enemies -- the Jews, Christians, atheists, secularists and others".

Pages are devoted to legitimising episodes of violence against Jews who insult Islam.

"A Jewish woman used to abuse the Prophet and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah declared that no recompense was payable for her blood," one book recounts.

A similar example is given of a man killing the mother of his two children because she "disparaged the Prophet"; he also was declared clear of any crime.