Altona North Muslim Oussama Abou-Zeid was last week named one of Hobsons Bay’s most inspirational young people in the council’s Youth Week awards.
Mr Abou-Zeid, in partnership with Jewish teenager Joel Kuperholz, was last year named Hobsons Bay’s young citizen of the year on Australia Day.
Three years ago, the pair formed the MUJU Peace Club’s Islamic and Jewish football teams, each team comprising equal numbers of Muslim and Jewish players competing for the Unity Cup.
Mr Abou-Zeid, who is an AFL ambassador, said that last year’s honour had driven him to become more involved in the community, especially through his local Newport mosque. “They’ve been really supportive of me,” he said. “Now I’m focusing more and more on my community. When I say my community, it’s not the Lebanese community, it’s the community around me – my community is Australia.”
Mr Abou-Zeid, who is on Hobsons Bay council’s Future Leaders United committee, was also recognised for his role in Youth Parliament. He said football was a way of uniting people of different faiths and backgrounds.
“I guess it’s opened awareness and proved that we can all get along whether we’re from Africa or we’re from Australia,” he said.
Full list of Youth Week award winners
Aaron Ciantar, Aaron Mattiske, Aidan Williams, Danielle Hibbert, Danielle Neal, Eliza Wright, Gabi Duke, Hue Man Dang, Jack Fryer, Jack McCarthy, Jake Wilkinson, James Sayer, Jamie Young, Midori Takahashi, Nabila Wahyu Ningtyas, Nick Tomaozs, Omar Elhawli, Oussama Abou-Zeid, Sam Martin, Sami Yousuf, Scott Brown, Nash McAuliffe, Wil Taylor, Ethan Taylor, Ben Connolly, Jack Van Wyngaarden, Jack Robinson, Jackson Menadue, Riley Modrich.
