Graffiti on Melbourne Mosque Spurs Community Forum
Virgin Mary Mosque in Hoppers Crossing was sprayed with the words “Get some pork on ya fork” on Friday morning, sparking condemnation from state MPs. Eating pork is forbidden under Islamic law.
The Virgin Mary Mosque has about 7000 worshippers. Almost 9 percent of Hoppers Crossing residents are Muslim, compared with 4.2 percent of Victorians, according to the latest census.
Dr Seyed Sheriffdeen, secretary of the Australian Islamic Mission, which owns Virgin Mary Mosque as well as the Bendigo Mosque, said the mosque expected hundreds of people to gather on Saturday night following the “racist” graffiti. “The community is disturbed and upset about it,” he said.
Sheriffdeen said the mosque had video footage of the one-person attack, which happened just after midnight on Friday. The graffiti was spotted by people doing their 5am prayers on Friday and swiftly removed by the mosque.
“We called the police, but the police did not come yet,” he said. However, Victoria Police said it was yet to receive a report about the incident.
“We didn’t want to highlight this one,” Sheriffdeen said. “We wanted to paint [over] it and forget about it. But already, before we did all of that, people have seen it in photos and floating around social media.”
Sheriffdeen said the 21-year-old mosque had experienced attacks before, but none as bad as this graffiti. “Before this, we had here and there, small things happen,” he said.
The offensive graffiti was sprayed two weeks after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was suspended for entering the Senate chamber wearing a burqa for the second time in her political career.
Aftab Malik, the special envoy for combating Islamophobia, said Islamophobic incidents had rocketed since the war in the Middle East, and Muslim women had been targeted and fake bombs planted outside mosques.
The Islamic Council of Victoria said the Muslim community would “never be intimidated by such cowardly acts” and it hoped the perpetrator would be caught.
Read More:
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt said Muslims were an integral part of Melbourne’s west and the “multicultural Victoria that we all love”.
Stitt described the graffiti as disgraceful.
Evan Mulholland, opposition multicultural and multifaith affairs spokesman, said there was no place for religious intolerance in Victoria.
“We cannot allow a small minority of hateful and cowardly individuals to erode the sense of safety that every faith community deserves,” he said. “When one community is targeted like this, it diminishes the safety and freedom of us all.”
Victorian Greens multicultural spokesperson Anasina Gray-Barberio said all Victorians should be able to gather to practice their faith in peace. “The vandalism at Virgin Mary Mosque is a targeted message of exclusion and intimidation on communities of faith,” she said.
Sheriffdeen said representatives for the Wyndham City Council had visited the mosque on Saturday. The council did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: brisbanetimes.com.au
