- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,227
- Points
- 113
Australia's special envoy to combat Islamophobia has condemned anti-Islam graffiti that was discovered in western Sydney over the weekend as "appalling" and "unacceptable".
Speaking to SBS Arabic on Monday, Aftab Malik joined religious and political leaders
in their condemnation of the incident,
as police continued their investigation.
"Regarding the message itself, what was sprayed was appalling, and it's simply unacceptable, and it crosses the line from free speech to hate speech," Malik said.
"In the multicultural and the multi-faith Australia that we are in, that has no place whatsoever. That message can only do one thing — it can only fuel hate and division."
NSW Police said it received reports of offensive graffiti in the suburb of Sefton on Sunday morning.
The words 'F--- Islam' had been spray painted onto both sides of an underpass and the words 'cancel Islam' were graffitied on a nearby advertisement. By Sunday afternoon, the graffiti had been painted over.
On Sunday, the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) said it "strongly condemns" the graffiti, describing it as "another Islamophobic and anti-Muslim attack in Australia".
"The location of the attack is no coincidence. This act of Islamophobia was targeted at a suburb with a high Muslim majority to intimidate and threaten the Muslim population," ANIC said.
"If they cannot feel safe in their own home, where can they feel safe?"
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the vandalism was "abhorrent".
"This racism and Islamophobia is disgusting and corrosive to the very fabric of the successful multicultural state that we have built here in NSW," he said.
He said he had spoken with his Jewish counterpart, the government's special envoy to combat antisemitism Jillian Segal, on many occasions about the challenges both groups faced.
"Whatever is taking place, what is at risk is people's safety," he said.
"Whoever you are, we all need to work together to ensure that everyone is safe in Australia, so we can all thrive.
"In regard to places of worship, I think it's really important that we explain that an attack on a synagogue is an attack."
The Islamophobia Register Australia has documented Islamophobic incidents across the country since its inception in 2014.
She said women are often targeted.
"Incidents could be that they're just going about their everyday business, and where they're shopping with their children in their pram and getting verbally and physically assaulted while the child is in the pram," she said.
"We've had cases like that in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, as well as Brisbane. So that is probably the very common incident that's reported to us as well as attempts to remove the headscarf from them.
"We've seen a lot of graffiti as well."
Amath said the rise in Islamophobia is leading to concerns about the safety of her children. She says friends have left the country in recent months.
"Let's say I don't feel happy, I don't feel secure. I feel worried about the kids, and especially my girl."
Speaking to SBS Arabic on Monday, Aftab Malik joined religious and political leaders
in their condemnation of the incident,
as police continued their investigation.
"Regarding the message itself, what was sprayed was appalling, and it's simply unacceptable, and it crosses the line from free speech to hate speech," Malik said.
"In the multicultural and the multi-faith Australia that we are in, that has no place whatsoever. That message can only do one thing — it can only fuel hate and division."
NSW Police said it received reports of offensive graffiti in the suburb of Sefton on Sunday morning.
The words 'F--- Islam' had been spray painted onto both sides of an underpass and the words 'cancel Islam' were graffitied on a nearby advertisement. By Sunday afternoon, the graffiti had been painted over.
On Sunday, the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) said it "strongly condemns" the graffiti, describing it as "another Islamophobic and anti-Muslim attack in Australia".
"The location of the attack is no coincidence. This act of Islamophobia was targeted at a suburb with a high Muslim majority to intimidate and threaten the Muslim population," ANIC said.
"If they cannot feel safe in their own home, where can they feel safe?"
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the vandalism was "abhorrent".
"This racism and Islamophobia is disgusting and corrosive to the very fabric of the successful multicultural state that we have built here in NSW," he said.
He said he had spoken with his Jewish counterpart, the government's special envoy to combat antisemitism Jillian Segal, on many occasions about the challenges both groups faced.
"Whatever is taking place, what is at risk is people's safety," he said.
"Whoever you are, we all need to work together to ensure that everyone is safe in Australia, so we can all thrive.
"In regard to places of worship, I think it's really important that we explain that an attack on a synagogue is an attack."
'I don't feel safe'
The recent vandalism follows a bus belonging to an Islamic school being set alight in Adelaide under suspicious circumstances.The Islamophobia Register Australia has documented Islamophobic incidents across the country since its inception in 2014.
She said women are often targeted.
"Incidents could be that they're just going about their everyday business, and where they're shopping with their children in their pram and getting verbally and physically assaulted while the child is in the pram," she said.
"We've had cases like that in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, as well as Brisbane. So that is probably the very common incident that's reported to us as well as attempts to remove the headscarf from them.
"We've seen a lot of graffiti as well."
Amath said the rise in Islamophobia is leading to concerns about the safety of her children. She says friends have left the country in recent months.
"Let's say I don't feel happy, I don't feel secure. I feel worried about the kids, and especially my girl."
