‘Media actively fuelling attacks on Australian Muslims’
Political rhetoric and “irresponsible media commentary” are actively fueling violence against Muslims, one of the nation’s top Islamic bodies has warned
CANBERRA, Australia (MNTV) – Political rhetoric and “irresponsible media commentary” are actively fueling violence against Muslims, one of the nation’s top Islamic bodies has warned, following an attack on an imam and his wife, reports The Klaxon.
The Australian National Imams Council said falsely tying peaceful pro-Palestinian advocacy to the Bondi terror attacks had “contributed directly to a surge in Islamophobic abuse, threats and physical assaults”.
Three people have been arrested after Imam Dr Ismet Purdic, 47, and his wife were racially abused and driven off the road in Melbourne’s south-east Saturday night.
The couple were allegedly abused by the occupants of a small black hatch on South Gippsland Highway, in Dandenong South, before being forced off the road into a service station, police said.
The three occupants exited their vehicle, “continued to racially abuse the victims”, and “damage their vehicle”, before Dr Purdic was assaulted.
A 23-year-old man, of Cranbourne North, and a 22-year-old man, of Cranbourne East, were arrested Sunday and charged with criminal damage and common law assault, police said.
An 18-year-old Dandenong South woman was released pending summons.
Dr Purdic is the leader of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Islamic Society, in Melbourne’s south-east.
In a statement, the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) said the two men “exhibited behavior and language consistent with white-supremacist and extremist hate ideology”.
“ANIC warns that political rhetoric and irresponsible media commentary are actively fueling this violence,” the body said. “Particularly the dangerous false equivalence being drawn between peaceful pro-Palestinian advocacy and the Bondi terror attacks”.
“We call for urgent…stronger national action to confront Islamophobia, far-right extremism and hate-fuelled violence in Australia,” ANIC said. “All Australians deserve to feel safe going about their daily lives without fear of being abused, threatened or attacked”.
In late December ANIC warned “divisive rhetoric” and “harmful media narratives” following the Bondi attack was causing a “rising backlash” against Muslim Australians.
“Muslim communities are facing an alarming surge in hate-driven incidents, including hateful graffiti at the Islamic College of Melbourne, dismembered pigs thrown onto graves at a Muslim cemetery in Narellan, NSW, and visibly Muslim women being spat at, abused and threatened in Perth,” the group said.
“ANIC is also alarmed by the way divisive political rhetoric and irresponsible media commentary stigmatize Muslim communities, reinforce harmful stereotypes and create an environment in which racism and abuse are emboldened,” ANIC said on December 29.
“The sweeping and unjustified backlash directed at an entire community for the actions of two individuals is unacceptable and dangerous.
“Selective outrage, where some forms of racism are rightly condemned while others are minimized, excused or ignored, further entrenches division and erodes trust,” ANIC said.
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