A protest outside Labor MP Andrew Giles’ office in Thomastown was called on February 23 in response to the growing number of Islamophobic attacks, including the February 13 assault of two Muslim women at Epping Plaza.
Labor is downplaying these racial attacks, in deference to antisemitic ones.
Rally chairperson Omar Hassan described the attacks as a “siege” on Muslim people. He said it started with the “war on terror” in the early 2000s “that brought terror and destruction to peoples across the Middle East”.
Anti-war Jewish activist David Glanz told the rally that the women were for wearing their hijabs. He condemned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for “fanning Islamophobia” in a bid for votes. “As an anti-Zionist Jew, we must condemn all forms of racism.”
Dr Naser Alziyadat, speaking on behalf of Muslim Votes Matter, pointed out that the attacks were not isolated acts of hatred. He attributed them to “systematic racism in Australian society”.
Alziyadat said it was shameful that politicians were crafting “racist political narratives” including that “Muslims are terrorists” in a bid to secure votes.
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Sue Bolton, a Socialist Alliance councillor in Merri-Bek. who is standing for the seat of Wills, said Labor is downplaying some racial attacks, in deference to others.
Ordinary people are experiencing Islamophobia every day, Bolton said. “It might not be as extreme as this attack in Epping … it can take the form of being refused service at a shop.”
She said Islamophobia and “refugee-phobia” and a phobia against people from African backgrounds are all “manufactured by politicians and the mainstream media”.
Bolton urged people not to rely on new laws for protection against racism.
“As we’ve seen racial discrimination laws are used to target the Muslim and Arabic community, especially Palestinians.” Bolton said Victorian Labor’s new anti-racist laws using antisemitism as the justification were an attack on everyone’s democratic rights. “If this law goes through, it will be used to justify pro-Palestine views.”
Bolton encouraged more protests showing solidarity with victims of Islamophobia saying they will challenge mainstream racism.
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