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Hate wave hits Australian Muslim women
21-10-2005
By Liam Houlihan, Religious Affairs reporter
Victoria, Herald Sun:
Women wearing headscarfs have been spat on, sworn at and assaulted while hate graffiti such as "Kill Muslims" and "Muslims Out" has appeared in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
In the past two weeks, two Muslim women have been attacked in daylight.
In one, a milkshake was hurled at a Muslim woman as she waited at a Sydney Rd tram stop with her three children.
In the other a man swerved at a Muslim woman and shouted: "F--- off terrorist" while she was crossing the road carrying her baby.
There are also reports of Muslim girls being spat at and abused by drivers.
The Islamic Council of Victoria is alarmed at the rise of religious abuse.
Coburg resident Omar Merhi was stunned when he saw the car swerve at the woman with her baby.
Mr Merhi said Muslim victims often had poor English and felt powerless to take action.
Sgt Mick Ehmer, from Brunswick police, encouraged victims to come forward to help stamp out the bigoted behaviour.
"The woman who was hit by a milkshake has been assaulted. We need to be made aware of these (attacks) so we can follow them up and stop them continuing," he said.
Islamic Council of Victoria president Malcolm Thomas said anti-Muslim attacks had risen since September 11, 2001.
He said the recent spike probably stemmed from the Bali bombings and calls by some politicians for a ban on the Muslim headscarf or hijab.
"Comments like that will bring out the rednecks. Most of the time everybody gets along. It's only when the temperature rises due to overseas events that these things happen," he said.
After the most recent Bali bombings Muslim parents dropping their children off at school were harassed, causing "a lot of distress", Mr Thomas said.
Melbourne Muslims have been further shaken by recent attacks because they had occurred during their holy month of Ramadan.
"If anyone belittles or insults you you can only respond by saying 'I am fasting'," Mr Merhi said.
Equal Opportunity Commission head Dr Helen Szoke said she was appalled by the attacks.
"We recognise that people are fearful about terrorism," she said.
"But fear cannot be used as an excuse to attack fellow Australians who want nothing more than to go to work, send their kids to school, go to the shops and go about their daily lives without being abused and attacked."
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