Racist rant on bus condemned
COMMUNAL leaders have strongly condemned a racist rant on a Sydney bus last week in which a woman identifying herself as Jewish and from Israel spewed abuse on a Chinese-Australian woman.
COMMUNAL leaders have strongly condemned a racist rant on a Sydney bus last week in which a woman identifying herself as Jewish and from Israel spewed abuse on a Chinese-Australian woman.
In a video posted on social media, a 55-year-old woman can be heard calling 29-year-old Lindsay Li a “f***ing ugly f***ing chink” and telling her to “take your f***ing language and piss off”.
She also stated “I’m Jewish from Israel and you are f***ing nothing.”
While waiting at a bus stop on Artarmon Road, Willoughby, prior to the tirade, the woman also allegedly spat at Li and hit her with a bag.
The woman was charged by NSW Police with six counts of common assault and two counts of using offensive language after reports of multiple assaults on and around transport hubs including North Sydney, Bondi Junction, Edgecliff, Parramatta, Eastwood and Hornsby.
The AJN understands the woman has been refused entry to several Jewish venues in the past.
Labelling the incident “despicable”, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff said, “This act of bigotry – and the many others which go unrecorded each day – must be strongly condemned. Too many such incidents occur in our society and we have an obligation to speak out and stop them whenever and wherever they occur.”
Stating that racism is “completely unacceptable under any circumstances”, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Li “should be applauded for bringing both the indefensible racist behaviour, and the deplorable silence of the bystanders, to the attention of the public”.
B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said there is “no place in Australia” for such intolerance.
“I am horrified and outraged by this hateful attack. As Jews, we know all too well what it is like to be targeted by racism, and we decry this disgraceful outburst of prejudice toward Ms Li,” Abramovich said.
“Australian of all faiths, nationalities and ethnicities should feel secure on the buses of our cities without the fear or threat of being targeted for abuse because of their religion or background.
“It is a sad and distressing reminder of the lengths people will go to express their bigotry and that we have much work to do to in weeding out the roots of xenophobia.”
EVAN ZLATKIS
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