SHAFAQNA- As war between Israel and Gaza escalates, Australians are facing echoes of tension from across the globe.
There have been death threats, abuse hurled in the streets, and alleged assaults, leaving Australian Muslims 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 (West Asia).
The Islamophobia Register Australia reported a quadrupling of reports since the 7 October. 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.
At the Islamic Council of Victoria, staff answering the phones have faced outpourings of hate. Amir says the calls come in from a private number, and when staff pick them up, people start calling them slurs, using derogatory stereotypes.
A Melbourne woman, worried about family and friends in Palestine, says the war in the Middle East means she is facing Islamophobic abuse here.
On Monday (16 Oct. 2023), federal parliament condemned “all forms of hate speech”. “We have no room for antisemitism in this nation, just as we have no room for Islamophobia,” the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said.