Two Palestinian Australian brothers, Majed Badra and Shamikh Badra, encountered a disturbing incident of racist abuse while traveling on a train in Sydney. On the same day, thousands of marchers against immigration across various Australian cities. Images like this raised serious questions about the nation’s current climate of tolerance and acceptance.
Majed held a black-and-white keffiyeh around his neck, a garment woven so tightly to the fabric of the Palestinian cause. Majed with his brother Shamikh after speaking at a rally for Palestine in Sydney’s Central Business District. After the rally concluded, they filled a train at Town Hall station, en route to Stanmore.
As Badra took his seat, he noticed the positions of the supposed abusers directly behind him. To start with, they were in total ignorance. A confrontation flared up almost immediately, because, as the brothers told The New York Times, they were pushed from their seats and toward the train station doors. Video surveillance obtained by local media during the encounter spills out of the alley, as shouting escalates to slurs toward the McMichaels.
One unidentified individual off-screen can be heard shouting a racial slur: “Look at you, you monkey.” The attackers instructed Majed Badra to “remove your scarf,” adding insult to injury with their increased aggression. Shamikh is now working on a PhD. He attempted to de-escalate by encouraging the attackers to “chill out and sit down and we can have a conversation.” In answer to their hate, he screamed “racists” in return and then continued with “free palestine.”
During this exchange, the alleged abusers responded with inflammatory remarks, stating, “If you want to fight for Palestine, go back there.” For the entire 90 minute ordeal, the brothers felt physically threatened, the severity of which finally broke through their shock with the decision to go to the police. They showed the authorities video proof of the abuse they suffered on their train trip.
The context of this action is important too, as it happened during a wave of anti-immigration protests, including at least one white nationalist rally. Local police originally estimated that upwards of 15,000 people participated in the March for Australia. Our streets have become the battleground between protesters and those extremists. By some reports, far-right groups infiltrated the protesters. The atmosphere of these events has drawn criticism from various leaders, including New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who stated, “If you go to a rally and the Nazis turn up, it’s not one you should be at.”
The Badra brothers have very personal stakes in the conflict currently raging in Gaza. Others have lost loved ones to the violence and upheaval that consume their homeland. What about their surviving relatives, who are still in danger of these kinds of attacks and military shootings? This personal connection feeds into their experience of racism and discrimination here in Australia.
While the investigation into the crash continues, time is of the essence. Police are working hard to release and respond to reports of hate crimes with vigilance and prejudice. The community has been asking for larger conversations about tolerance and mutual respect for different cultures ever since.