Palestinian Brothers Face Racist Abuse On Train After Sunday Marches

Two Palestinian men have spoken out after they were subject to racist abuse on a Sydney train in the hours following the anti-immigration marches on Sunday.

Speaking to Guardian Australia, filmmakers Shamikh and Majed Badra said they were verbally abused after attending a rally for Palestine in the Sydney CBD.

They pair had boarded a Stanmore-bound train at Town Hall station, and believe they were targeted because of the black and white Palestinian keffiyeh worn by Majed.

“They were behind us, so we didn’t see them to begin with,” Shamikh Badra said. “But they just started abusing Majed, telling him to ‘take off your scarf’.”

A video posted to Facebook shows the incident escalate rapidly, with the men aggressively shouting “we don’t want you here”, and “you want to get free money, you fucking loser cunt”. The assailants can be seen being physically intimidating and aggressive towards the pair, and appear to shove the person filming on their phone.

“I tried to stop this escalation, I tried to protect Majed but they kept trying to attack Majed and attack me physically,” said Shamikh. “We tried to protect ourselves as best I can.”

The brothers were forced back to the train station doors, where Shamikh told the men they were “racists” and cried “Free, Free Palestine”.

“This was an attack on our identity,” he said. “Everyone has the right to be proud about their identity, their family, their history. We didn’t do anything.

“No one should feel unsafe because of who they are. And we should not be silent about this.”

The train came to a stop at Macdonaldtown station, and passengers were told to disembark.

Transport officers confirmed the incident had been reported to to NSW Police, accompanied with video evidence.

It is not known whether the four men who racially abused them had attended the anti-immigration rally taking place between Central station and Broadway.

Footage deemed “horrific” and “frightening” by MP

NSW Police said an estimated 15,000 people attended the anti-immigration rally in Sydney on Sunday, which were promoted by prominent neo-Nazi figures and aligned groups, such as the National Socialist Network.

NSW Premier Chris Minns warned that those who “indulge” in racism were “subject to the full force of the law”.

“I just want to say, if you go to a rally and the Nazis turn up, it’s not one you should be at, and no one can deny that they were there,” he told reporters on Monday. “No one can deny that racist language was used. I mean, we can have civil debates about policy issues that affect the country, but this tipped into far more than that.”

Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice, Sue Higginson, has condemned the racism experienced by the Badras, and said on Tuesday afternoon she was concerned about the lack of the Premier’s leadership in regards to the so-called “March For Australia” rally.

“Labor Premier Chris Minns has led the way in demonising the community when they speak out against the Israeli military, but he took a hands off approach when literal Nazis organised a hate event in the heart of Sydney,” she said.

“This footage is horrific, it’s frightening, and it’s happened because political leaders and the media have vilified people of colour, fed extreme right-wing ideologies and tolerated Nazi organised events. We cannot accept our elected representatives, in a democracy, taking a softly softly approach in the face of proto-facists, while simultaneously attacking our fundamental right to protest.”

Higginson has previously criticised Minns for his strict anti-protest laws, which disproportionately target pro-Palestine and climate protesters.

Additional laws were introduced earlier this year in an attempt to curb what Minns called “horrifying antisemitic violence in our community”.

“The attendees of these rallies, when they engage in racism, violence and intimidation, are breaking the laws of NSW. We do not need to shut down protests, or attack the right to protest – we need the Police and politicians to clearly enforce laws that exist to prevent racism, bigotry and violence.”

“These brilliant and creative brothers, subjected to racist attacks, are a sign that Premier Chris Minns and all political leaders are failing to prevent the rise of neo-Nazism in NSW. Political violence, racial violence, the generation of hate based on identity – these things must be called out early and often.”

The Badra brothers are the filmmakers behind the documentary, Gaza Nippers– Hope Amid Devastation, which follows a surf lifesaving program for children in Gaza, supported by Australian surf clubs.

They have had family killed in the conflict in Palestine, with surviving members still trapped in the occupied territory and living under constant bombing.