‘It’s hateful racism’: Islamophobia spikes since Bondi attack
Ten mosques and Islamic centres have reported vandalism, break-ins or threats since the Bondi terror attack, while Premier Chris Minns says it is “disgusting” Muslims are being targeted.
Police are investigating a break-in at the Australian Islamic House in Edmondson Park.Credit: Australian Islamic House Facebook page
Sibat Sheikh is among those who have reported an incident of Islamophobia. She was called a “dirty Muslim” and had eggs thrown at her as she walked to work the day after the Bondi attack.
Sheikh, 40, a lawyer in inner Sydney, was approached by three young women on bikes who assaulted her and used racial slurs.
“My pants were dirtied and my shoes had raw eggs all over them,” she said.
“I’m one of the very few women who wear hijab at my work, and there is now an elephant in every room we walk into. People are talking about us, and looking at us differently now.”
Two of the major government-funded organisations that track and record Islamophobia have reported a significant rise in incidents since the Bondi attack.
Islamophobia Register Australia, which has been operating for more than a decade and developed nine reports on the impacts and reach of Islamophobia, said its data showed incidents had increased from an average of 1.5 reports a day before the Bondi attack to more than 18 a day since.
A similar increase has been recorded by Action Against Islamophobia (AAI), which also tracks and reports on Islamophobic incidents. It said it had received reports of 62 incidents in December so far, up from 19 in November.
Aftab Malik, the special envoy for countering Islamophobia.Credit: Edwina Pickles
A spokesperson for AAI called the rise horrifying, adding it was mostly physical and verbal harassment that Muslims were facing.
“This is the worst it has been, and it leaves the community questioning its sense of safety and their ability to participate in community.”
The spokesperson said it was “extremely unfair” that the Muslim community had to face these issues despite leading organisations “stating that the Muslim community has nothing to do with the attackers.
“It seems that no amount of distancing, condemnation or correcting the narrative goes any way towards quelling the hate that comes from these events.”
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Both Islamophobia Register Australia and Action Against Islamophobia are listed by Aftab Malik, the federal government-appointed special envoy to combat Islamophobia, as organisations engaged in tackling the issue.