Two terrible tragedies have rocked the Sydney community, but the double standard in the reporting of these attacks is now actively causing harm within our community.
In the week since the stabbings in Bondi Junction and the Assyrian Orthodox congregation in Sydney, the attacks have been dissected in a round-the-clock news cycle, examining the events, the victims, the perpetrators and more.
Media analysis can help us to process and understand these tragedies. However, it can also create divisive narratives that lead to real-world consequences for individuals and communities.
While the Bondi perpetrator has been treated as a lone attacker, the stabbing at the Assyrian congregation by an Islamic teenager has led to knee-jerk judgments and generalisations being made about entire groups of people. It has become a trial for the entire Muslim community, but particularly for Muslim women whose faith is displayed in obvious public markers like the hijab and niqab.
At our organisation, we have been forced to review security at our offices in western Sydney following reports of threats and intimidation towards members of our community.
With the Bondi attack, the media took a deep dive into the attacker as an individual, looking at his mental health history, his ex-partners, his parents – even going as far as dissecting his Google reviews. The narrative was clear: this was an individual who had committed an unspeakable act.
But with the attack on the Assyrian congregation, the focus has been entirely on the attacker’s religion. Granted he is underage so there are restrictions on his identification, but it has become apparent that in the court of public opinion, the individual is not on trial – it’s the entire Muslim community.
This comes at a time of already heightened Islamophobia. The most recent figures from Islamophobia Register Australia shown over 30 reports of Islamophobia a week, up from 2.5 before Hamas’ October 7 attack.
In the decades I’ve worked in migrant and refugee communities, I’ve seen many moments of heightened cultural and racial tensions. The Cronulla riots, September 11, the Lindt Café siege, to name a few. At each of these, it was Muslim women who bore the brunt of the Islamophobic sentiment because they are more obviously identifiable.
Still, I don’t recall reaching a time when the Prime Minister has had to publicly warn against vigilantism, urging community members not to take the law into their own hands.
In the wake of the gender-based violence we saw in Bondi, it feels like a scary time to be a woman. But it’s an even scarier time to be a Muslim woman.
Ultimately, the onus is on those of us with a public platform to use that for good. But there are some concrete steps we can take as everyday community members to stem the tide of hatred:
- In the wake of the Lindt café siege the #IllRideWithYou campaign took off as everyday Australians offered companionships and solidarity to Muslim commuters. A decade down the track, we are in need of something similar – reach out to your Muslim friends, take to social media, and see if there are practical ways to offer support and solidarity.
- Look at our own language. Debates about multiculturalism are important and should be conducted in a respectful manner that is free from inflammatory language. These debates should seek to de-escalate rather than inflame cultural differences and nurture a positive climate towards cultural diversity, migrants and refugees.
- Report inappropriate public commentary when you see it. The Press Council promotes freedom of speech and responsible journalism, and has a report function, while public broadcasters ABC and SBS handle complaints directly.
Above all, we need to remember that social cohesion and culture are things we actively create – we can’t be complacent about our vibrant multicultural society. There will always be detractors who seek to undermine multiculturalism. We need to address them, but so too must we take steps to strengthen the fabric of our society and shape the culture of our country.