Aussie Non-Muslims Support Hijab

In solidarity with Australian Muslims against media campaigns, a group of non-Muslim women have organized a hijab event, putting on Islamic headscarves and offering flowers to Muslims celebrating `Eid Al-Adha .

"We told them we were sorry you've been treated so badly in the media and we wanted to say we stand with you in solidarity and we want to share love instead of hate," Annabelle Lee, a 26-year-old who helped organize the event, told The Canberra Times on Wednesday, October 8 .

The event was organized earlier this week to send a "message of love and solidarity" to Muslim women .

The organizers said that they wanted their "fellow Canberran Muslims" not to feel left out amid an anti-Islamic rhetoric that has recently surfaced in the country .

Attending an Islamic festival in the Australian capital, 10 women gave away flowers to feasting Muslim women, children and men participating in the `Eid morning prayers at the AIS Stadium in Bruce .

"And when they heard that, many of them wanted to give us a hug, many smiled and some were brought to tears," she added .

The gesture was welcomed by Muslims .

"They had people coming forward and putting a [hand] on their shoulder, saying 'Look, we're here with you. We know you guys are good people like us and we are all in a community, caring and sharing and it should be an exception," Islamic Society of Belconnen vice-president Hassan Warsi said members of Canberra's Muslim community said .

"It was obviously a very good feeling and people were touched by that", he added .

Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population .