Sydney Muslim Community Split Over Political Boycotts

Muslim communities in Sydney are divided over the tactics used by different activist groups to punish Labor over Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Muslim Sydneysiders gathered at mosques around the city to mark the end of Ramadan on the first day of Eid. Many of them noticed the lack of politicians in attendance. This comes after a debate on whether or not political figures from any major party should be welcome in Muslim spaces at all.

This came to fruition when, on Sunday, activist group Stand4Palestine called for their followers on Instagram to monitor and guard mosques and other places of worship for local MPs. When Labor’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Education Minister Jason Clare did not attend the mosques on Monday, as expected to mark the celebration, the group boasted online.

“Just like cockroaches – when you shine the light on them, they run away!” they wrote in an Instagram post.

Stand4Palestine is targeting politicians who are holding electorates in Sydney’s south and south-west. Burke holds the seat of Watson, where one in four people are Muslim.

There is also a significant share of Muslim voters in the electorates of McMahon (14 per cent), Parramatta (10 per cent) and Chifley (10 per cent).

Members of Sydney’s Muslim community have remained silent as groups such as Stand4Palestine used “bullying” tactics and spread divisive ideals, said Jamal Rifi, a GP and community leader, to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“They are promoting mob mentality and want to dictate to the community which way to vote,” he said. “Of all the people to attack, they choose [Burke], who has agitated the most for the Palestinian cause, all to prove a point in the least strategic, most short-sighted way.

“It is an unholy alliance between the Muslim vote and hardline fringe elements in our community to create fear, spread misinformation and divide the community,” continued Rifi, a Lebanese-Australian, who was sentenced in absentia by Lebanon to 10 years in prison for treating Palestinian children in Israeli hospitals.

“It’s poisoning the well you drink from”.

Others in the Sydney Muslim community feel that politicians have failed to understand the impact that the war in Gaza has had on Australian Muslims. Gamel Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association – one of the nation’s most significant Islamic not-for-profits – said his community was “extremely angry because of the helplessness that we feel”.

Sydney Muslim community divided

In a major departure from tradition, the Lakemba Mosque stopped inviting politicians to their major gatherings in 2024 due to the government’s response to the war in Gaza.

“It would be unconscionable of us to actually have politicians at such an important event,” Kheir said of Monday’s Eid celebration.

“These are solemn events, and I don’t believe it serves anyone’s purpose, especially the Muslim community, to make it an election grab. Our solemn days are not there for political gain or political advantage.”

Kheir said that the idea of social cohesion, that is so frequently used by politicians, had lost it’s meaning, which has resulted in religious and ethnic communities becoming more insular.

“We all say it but none of us want to seem to practice it.”

That same day, police were called to the Al Zahra mosque in Arncliffe after a threatening note was delivered via post. The note called Muslims “Diabolical/Satanic”.

“There is absolutely NO HOPE! for any MUSLIM: Male or Female to go to HEAVEN, when they DIE: NONE,” the note read.

Police are conducting a forensic analysis of the handwritten note to find the author.

Rifi posed for pictures with NSW Labor minister and member for Bankstown Jihad Dib at Lakemba Mosque on Monday morning, and he saw Burke on Sunday evening. He said he and others were considering escorting MPs through community events so they could connect with their electorate, rather than be cut off from one another.

“The smear campaign is strategically coordinated to achieve one thing – to teach Labor a lesson,” Rifi said. “Well, if they don’t get Labor, they will end up with Dutton, and while they rejoice, we will pile our disappointment on disappointment.”