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2 hours ago
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While many Australians remain in a state of anger, grief and reflection due to the devastating Bondi terror attack, Muslim community leaders are in a predicament. What is to be done about the ensuing rise of anti-Muslim sentiment, hatred and racism that their communities face?
Following the 14 December mass shooting, community registers that document Islamophobia have largely been reluctant to speak publicly about the spike in Islamophobia, out of concern of being perceived to trivialise the killing of Jewish Australians, their suffering, or vying for sympathy from the public.
Nevertheless, the registers have recorded a surge in reports of Islamophobia. These include individuals receiving abusive and threatening calls, a spate of mosques and Islamic centres across Australia reporting vandalism, a Muslim cemetery in New South Wales being desecrated, physical attacks and a wave of online hate. The Islamophobia Register Australia and Action Against Islamophobia have both recorded a spike in such incidents. The Islamophobia Register Australia, for example, has recorded a 740% increase in reports since the Bondi terror attack.
Unsurprisingly, most reports received by the community registers are from Muslim women who have reported being spat at, abused, attacked and threatened. Many women who I spoke to over the past two weeks have actively adjusted their normal movements in public due to a heightened perceived risk of danger to them and their children.
This increased wave of anxiety and unease that Muslims are now feeling is present in everyday community discussions around the nation.
The Bondi terror attack demonstrates that some Australians struggle to distinguish between the jihadist group Islamic State (also known as Isis or Isil) and Islam, the religion of almost 2 billion people worldwide (despite the extremist group being denounced by Muslim religious leaders around the globe, and imams across Australia).
This has been made abundantly clear from the plethora of messages that littered social media following the attack:
“The common denominator in both Gaza and Bondi? Islam.”
“There will be no peace until you can irradicate [sic] Islam from society.”
“It’s not a phobia, it’s pattern recognition.”
These ideas shape people’s attitudes towards ordinary Muslim Australian citizens. They engender social exclusion and fear. For others, it provides them with a “permission to hate” Muslims. Ultimately, it produces an “us” and “them” dynamic, which undermines Australia’s core values such as fairness, inclusion and compassion.
It is imperative that in combating extremism, hate and antisemitism, we don’t unwittingly nurture a fertile environment for the same kind of anti-Muslim hate that became a deluge following the 9/11 terror attacks to reappear.
Muslim community leaders understand that law enforcement agencies have full justification to act on intelligence. They are told to trust the police, but trust is a two-way street.
Take the arrest of the seven Muslim youth (dubbed “the Liverpool seven” in some circles). All were released the next day, without charge. However, many Muslims I spoke to, young and old, were frustrated and anxious, telling me that the “dramatic” arrests simply reinforce the idea that Muslims are suspects, and this spreads paranoia. Others believed that the arrests were “performative” to let the public know that the police are tough, vigilant and serious about terrorism. Everyone understood that terrorism is anathema, and that police must investigate credible leads, but they all feared that they, as Muslim Australians, would now have to endure the public backlash.
Counter-terrorism raids may erode trust between Muslim communities and police, while fanning public anxiety about terrorism, Muslims and Islam. This ultimately adds to prejudice and discrimination against Muslims.
It is critical that the police understand this.
We cannot afford to return to the days of suspicion, profiling, guilt by association, securitisation and surveillance, where Muslims felt they had to constantly prove their innocence and reassure others that they pose no threat. Muslim Australians find this exhausting and distressing. They should not have to carry the collective responsibility for acts of terror carried out by criminals.
No Muslim leader wishes to diminish the pain, tragedy and suffering of the Jewish Australian community. There is legitimate concern still plaguing Muslim leaders that to talk about Islamophobia now will be perceived to be engaging in competitive victimhood. I share this concern. However, we can speak about both, standing in solidarity with Jewish communities by affirming our shared commitment to safety, dignity and mutual respect.
Debate Islam all you like. Be critical, robust and challenging. But be dignified.
Don’t carry out the work of the extremists who want society to rip itself apart, pitting neighbour against neighbour and worshipper against worshipper, forcing people to build walls and retreat.
For the preservation of societal integrity, we must stand guard against what Frank Furedi calls “a culture of fear” and instead follow the sage advice of Marie Curie: “Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
