Ban Islam Stickers Posted in Austalia's Maitland High Street
On Monday morning small stickers were spotted in three locations in High Street. Each showed a black skull-and-crossbones with the words "BAN Islam”.
Two were stuck to street signs near Cathedral Street roundabout and one was placed at the Eastern entry to the Levee.
Maitland-Morpeth Amnesty Group’s spokeswoman, Wendy White, said she was shocked and appalled when she heard the anti-Islam stickers were put up in Maitland CBD.
"It’s a dreaful thing to do, to demonise a group of people for the actions of a few,” she said.
"I’m ashamed and shocked it’s happened in Maitland.”
Ms
White labelled the people behind the anti-Islamic graffiti "cowards”
but warned they represent a growing undercurrent of bigotry across
Australia.
"I feel like we’re shifting,” she said.
"Those in power have not issued strong enough leadership, have not said ‘no’ to racism. This is the climate we’re in.”
Ms
White said she felt the political discourse around Islam had shifted on
a national level, and the hateful stickers were a local manifestation.
"I hope there’s a backlash,” she said.
"I hope good people in the community stand up and say this is not on.”
Maitland councilor Loretta Baker has worked extensively with Muslim refugees that fled violent homes to settle in the Hunter.
She said those behind the stickers were acting on ignorance.
"There’s a [xenophobic] undercurrent in this country and we’ve had it here,” she said.
"There were pamphlets handed out at Aberglasslyn after the [Buchanan] mosque was announced.”
Cr Baker likened the opposition to Muslim Australians to the conflict between religious groups in Ireland that destabilized the country for decades.
"These people are our health care workers, our doctors, they work in our banks,” she said. "They’re just people like us.”
Source: The Maitland Mercury
