Yassmin, ‘that horrible child’

Opinions of Ms Yassmin Abdel-Magied vary according to taste. Fairfax columnist Clementine Ford, who seldom finds a sentence (or T-shirt) that would not benefit from an obscenity, thinks such a swell gal deserves a pony for panel-beating Lest We Forget into a jibe at the policy of detaining uninvited arrivals offshore. Yes, a pony would be best, given that Islam, of which Ms Abdel-Magied is an ardent advocate, especially of its impact on women, regards puppies as Shaytan’s spawn. Others see Ms Abdel-Magied as a mouth with an agenda attached and wonder how she came to be the way she is.

Her mother, Faiza El-Higzi, answered that question way back in 2008, when she chatted with the ABC’s Dick Fidler about her own life, her hubby, her daughter and the circumstances under which they all left Sudan to spread a little cultural enrichment on the other side of the world. The full interview can be heard by following the link at the foot of this post. The mother’s confirmation that Ms Abdel-Magied is as she has always been comes at about the 38-minute mark.

“I remember one day going with a friend of mine going to the bank and my daughter being a young, feisty girl was shouting and screaming and wotnot, so my friend said to me ‘How about pretending she’s not yours’ [you’re not]… the mother of this horrible child.”

That’s the “horrible child” (above), smiling and not as-then-yet veilled. On the subject of Islamic draperies, Mum’s time in Australia seems only to have made her even more nostalgic for the country she fled. That’s her below, looking picture-perfect for all the multi-culti groups and bodies that keep her busy when not occupying a desk as a senior Queensland public servant.

Things worked out well for the Ms Abdel-Magied’s father as well. While the family decided an encounter with a secret policeman made it expedient to leave, he now pops back to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the vibrant Sudanese tech sector. That nasty secret policeman must have retired.

Given how well things have turned out for the Abdel-Magieds in their new homeland one knows for an absolute certainty that, given Mum’s enthusiasm for multi-culturalism, she will be giving her daughter a good talking-to about Anzacs, Anzac Day and why Australians get every bit as upset at those who demean them and it as, say, a token ABC Muslim who is told that her creed doesn’t enjoy a sterling reputation for its treatment of women.

The Fidler interview can be heard in full via the link below.

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