My Mum’s honour was violated in the Sydney “terror raids”

21st September 2014

This video is the account of a young Muslim teenager whose house was raided as part of the “anti-terror raids” conducted by the Australian authorities on Thursday 18 September 2014.

The raids were “the largest yet conducted” in Australia and have stirred considerable controversy. They come against the background of months of pressure on Australia’s Muslim community due to Australian Muslims going to fight overseas in Syria/Iraq, and the subsequent anti-terror law proposals that have received a backlash from the Muslim community.

In response to the dawn raids last Thursday, Muslims protested in the suburb of Lakemba, the heart of Sydney’s Muslim community. Media attention on the protest was intense, with Talk-Back Radio witnessing a wave of Islamophobia and manufactured hysteria regarding what may turn into a riot.

Numerous attendees informed 5Pillarz that helicopters were seen hovering above the protest site. They added that the protest was carried out peacefully with various prominent figures from the Muslim community speaking about the injustice of the dawn raids and the feeling of victimisation Muslims are being subjected to. The speakers iterated that Muslims are no threat to Australia, and that if some do plan illegal activities, they should be dealt with through due process without the hysteria that the media and government create surrounding such incidents.

The raids came on the eve of the tabling of new legislation before Australia’s parliament, as was the case with laws passed in 2005. Many at the protest viewed the timing as aimed to give the government maximum leverage, particularly as only last week the Australian government declared it had “no specific intelligence” of any plots.