Protestors clash with police at anti-burqa protest

Ongoing controversy surrounding the ‘No To Burqas’ mural in Station Street, Newtown escalated to a flashpoint around 1pm on Sunday, January 16, when around seventy people gathered in Newtown Square and moved down Enmore Road to express their opposition. Banners were displayed reading ‘Racists out of Newtown’ and ‘Fascists off our streets’.

During the protest, paint was lobbed at the mural and anti-racist posters pasted onto it. When police attempted to disperse the crowd and seize those who they suspected of the paint-throwing, lengthy scuffles broke out. The crowd moved away from the mural site following police orders, and the footpath on Enmore Road became the scene of protracted scuffles, as the police encircled and forcibly dispersed demonstrators. Eight arrests were made, amid allegations from protestors of heavy-handed police tactics.

Seven men were charged with a range of offences, including destroy or damage property, assault police and resist/hinder police. Six of the court hearings are scheduled for Newtown Local Court on February 8, while a 41-year-old man will appear on March 1.

The demonstration is the latest in a string of actions opposing the mural’s message. Since it first appeared in late September, the mural has been defaced some thirty times, according to its owner, Sergio Redegalli.

Protest organiser Veronica Malatesta questioned Redegalli’s intentions behind the mural. “Sergio claims that his mural is an attempt to open up debate about ‘fundamentalism’,” she said. “But it’s not a debate when the starting point is an attack on someone’s way of life. ‘No to Burqas’ is really an attack on Muslims as a group, by singling out Muslim women in particular. It’s a poor repackaging of sexism and racism, of a sort that has become disgustingly fashionable in recent years.”

Adam Leeman, a participant in Sunday’s protest, said, “I came along because the mural represents a trend of racism that’s escalating in this country. In Europe, that trend has escalated to the point where governments have banned face coverings. I fear that attempts to get the hijab or burqa banned will increase racism and give room for nationalist, fascist groups to build [up] in this country.”