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www.amust.com.au Australasian Muslim Times 11August 2015

On behalf of the Greens NSW, I wish you and your family a safe and happy Eid celebration

In our multicultural so-ciety, festivals like the Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair create an opportu-

nity for everyone to come together and build cross-cultural understandings and harmony.

Eid Mubarak!

Message fromDr Mehreen Faruqi Greens NSW MP

I have been attending Fair-field’s Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair for many, many years. This has giv-en me an awareness of the dedication of the founders, their family and support-ers.

It was the pathfinder and is the pacemaker of Eid celebrations. Importantly it does not have narrowness – The displays, the per-formers, the food and the attendees cover the breadth of the Islamic World. I can also say from my experience that it is also in-creasingly successful in attracting interested non-Muslims.

In an era of subjugation of religious mi-norities around the globe and increased ill-informed bigotry here, its message of peace, unity and harmony is crucial.

Message fromLaurie FergusonFederal Member for Werriwa

The Multicultural Eid Fes-tival and Fair was the first festival to celebrate Eid in Australia and I am thrilled that it has again returned to Western Sydney.

I want to thank MEFF for encouraging this festi-

val as a time where Islamic and non-Islamic communities can come together, promoting harmony and friendship.

Thank you for demonstrating to our wider community the beauty and strength of your faith and culture.

I would also like to extend my very best wishes to you all this Eid for a life of peace, health and blessings.

Eid is an auspicious occasion and I wish you all happiness and joy through this time.

Eid Mubarak.

Message fromJulie OwensFederal Member for Parramatta

It gives me great pleas-ure to join with you and provide this message for the annual Multicultur-al Eid Festival & Fair (MEFF) 2015.

I would like to acknowl-edge the commitment and

dedication of the organising committee and volunteers, who put on this major event every year in our local community, for all of us to enjoy.

MEFF continues to grow and spread the word of peace and social harmony, whilst at the same time combining fun and family entertainment. The Festival also provides an opportunity for all Australians to join with those of the Islamic faith to celebrate the diversity and vibrance of our culture and traditions; and in doing so, showcasing the benefits of our multiculturalism.

The Australian MEFF Consortium is to be congratulated on its excellent community reputation, which comes from the great work of a dedicated team, who work tirelessly to encourage social inclusion throughout our local community.

As the Federal Member for Fowler, I am honoured to represent such a vibrant and diverse community, and the Festival is an event that my wife, Bernadette, and I al-ways look forward to attending. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Eid. Eid Mubarak!

Message fromChris HayesFederal Member for Fowler

As-Salamu alaykum dear friends,

Following the holy month of Ramadan, we now enter a special time of peace and unity, with fam-ily, friends and the wider community joining to sup-

port those in need and to promote goodwill and harmony across the world.

The Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair (MEFF) has become a major focal point and terrific unifying occasion.

I would like recognise and commend the Australian Multicultural Community on their continued success in making the MEFF such a special community event, raising awareness and building community harmony.

Wishing you and your family a heartfelt Eid Mubarak.

Message fromEd HusicFederal Member for Chifley

Assalamu Alaikum and Eid Mubarak

Distinguished guests and valued festival goers

Welcome to 32nd Mul-ticultural Eid Festival and Fair. MEFF, as it is known, has been celebrating Eid with the Muslim and wider

communities since the 1980’s.It started and continues as a self-sufficient

and self-reliant non-for-profit grass roots volunteer organisation.

It is an open organisation and anyone in the community can be a member and con-tribute to its success. Visit the information stall or contact us through the MEFF web-site.

And MEFF performs its role successfully without local, state or federal government funding or support.

When MEFF was founded in 1986 most of those attending today and in fact most of the MEFF volunteers were not even alive and probably not even thought of!

Lets look back and compare where we were and where we are now.

Back then there were no Muslim festivals in Australia, no mobile phones, no internet, no death cult on our front door, no axis of evil, no issues with halal food, and no Re-claim Australia.

Back then Jimmy Barnes was a hero. Now apparently to some he’s a disgrace for dis-tancing himself and his songs from racism and bigotry.

But in the 80’s the founders of MEFF saw a need.

Firstly to bring all Muslims together to celebrate their most holy days as they were used to in the countries from which they came and give the community their identity.

Secondly, and as important, to share this celebration with fellow Australian friends, neighbours and co-workers.

When MEFF started, it was a first, not only for Australia but for most of the west-ern world.

We now have many, many festivals throughout Sydney and indeed throughout Australia. And we are not just happy with that, we are proud of it. In fact we gave sup-port to some of the festivals that are now flourishing. We are happy because our ob-jectives are being replicated and the rewards multiplied.

Since then this particular festival has grown and developed. It consistently offers the best value to attendees and stall holders. It has a sustainable future with financial se-curity, efficient event management practices and an entrenched continuous improvement ethic and process.

But as MEFF has developed our two ob-jectives have always remained and have consistently been met. And that, at its heart, is to bring all Australians together so that we better understand and appreciate each other.

We all - Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hin-dus, Buddhists, in fact those of all religious or non-religious backgrounds and beliefs, Australians from all walks of lives and val-ues - all have a stake in a peaceful, accepting and respectful Australia.

That’s what all Australians should reclaim and hold.

Warmest wishes for Eid,This is a time for cele-

bration, coming together in peace, unity and harmo-ny.

Australia’s greatest as-sets are our diversity, mul-ticulturalism, and our re-

spect for each other.The Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair is a

shining example of that togetherness and a reminder of what makes multicultural Aus-tralia such an amazing place.

I wish you a blessed and joyous celebra-tion. Eid Mubarak.

Message fromMatt Thistlethwaite Federal Member for Kingsford Smith

Message fromManar AhmadPresident of MEFF

It gives me great pleasure to send my best wishes to everyone attending the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair.

As Ramadan comes to an end, the Multicultur-al Eid Festival and Fair

brings the community together to celebrate and honour the blessings of a renewed faith through acts of charity and kindness.

In celebrating this auspicious event we also acknowledge the outstanding contribu-tion of the Australian Muslim community.

As with all our national citizenry, the Aus-tralian Muslim community is one of extraor-dinary vitality and diversity, with ancestries that stretch back generations, with roots stemming from every country on earth; and with a history that forms an integral part of our national narrative.

It is this diversity that enriches our multi-culturalism and it is this diversity which we celebrate today.

May the new moon usher in a spirit of har-mony, respect and cooperation which serves to lift up the values we all cherish as a so-ciety.

Eid Mubarak.

Message from Michelle RowlandShadow Minister for Citizenship & Multiculturalism

I would like to support and send my best wishes to everyone attending the Multicultural Eid Festi-val and Fair on 2 August, 2015.

I have had the pleasure of attending many IFTAR

family dinners and have enjoyed the cele-bration of multiculturalism. In my elector-ate of Cunningham The Illawarra People for Peace movement recently formed to promote peace and harmony in the Illawar-ra. They have hosted Interfaith BBQs and events that have encouraged all people of different cultures and faiths to come togeth-er.

This Fair is a significant event which pro-vides an avenue for the Australian Multicul-tural Community to join together in peace, unity and harmony. This festival aims to bring people out of social isolation and teach tolerance and appreciate cultural diversity.

The Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair is the first festival held to celebrate Eid in Aus-tralia and I offer my very best wishes for an enjoyable and successful event.

Message fromSharon BirdFederal Member for Cunningham

Multicultural EidFestival & Fair

Ph: (02) 9823 2063Email: [email protected]

www.meff.com.au

14 www.amust.com.auAustralasian Muslim Times August 2015

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