<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/19/israel-hamas-war-abuse-and-death-threats-as-arabs-and-jews-face-echoes-of-the-violence-in-faraway-australia>
"In Canberra, a Palestinian teenager is called a terrorist. In Melbourne, a
Muslim man picks up the phone to face a torrent of abuse. In Adelaide, a man
puts a sign saying “death to Israel” in his yard.
As war between Israel and Hamas escalates, and the death toll rises, Australian
communities are facing echoes of tension from across the globe. There have been
death threats, abuse hurled in the streets, and alleged assaults, leaving
Australian Arabic and Jewish communities nervous and distressed.
Both the Islamophobia Register Australia and the Executive Council of
Australian Jewry (ECAJ) have spoken of terrifying surges in reports, as the
national intelligence agency warns of “spontaneous violence” in Australia,
sparked by the war in the Middle East.
The Islamophobia Register Australia reported a quadrupling of reports since the
7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
“Divisive rhetoric by people in leadership positions is irresponsible and
dangerous, and clearly has an impact on domestic tensions,” the executive
director, Sharara Attai, says.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network executive officer, Jessica Morrison,
says they are hearing “lots of stories from lots of young people” being
targeted, particularly at school, and that the community is “distressed” by the
discourse about Palestinians.
“Younger Palestinian people at the moment are feeling very uncomfortable
because of what’s going on,” she says.
Julie Nathan, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s research director,
says one antisemitic incident was reported in the week before the 7 October
attack. In the week after, there were 37.
“[This] number is expected to multiply once all the incidents come in for that
week,” she says.
“Some of these 37 incidents were of people calling for the killing of Jews,
while many other incidents were verbal abuse of Jews on the streets and
anti-Jewish graffiti.”
And there have been more since then, Nathan says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
