An April 13 knife attack in a mall in Sydney, Australia killed six people before police killed the attacker. Days later, Australian police said the attacker had mental health problems that led to the isolated act and that the attack was not related to terrorism.
On April 15, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and three people at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church were injured in an attack during services before the accused attacker was captured. The chief of the New South Wales Police quickly said the attack would be investigated as a "terrorist act."
Imam Shadi Al-Suleiman, head of the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), told Anadolu that authorities' approach to the two attacks was not equal.
"One was described as a mental health issue, the other one was labeled a terrorist act. There is a serious disparity amongst the community," he said.
Emphasizing that the language used by police did not help the situation, Al-Suleiman said they conveyed their concerns about a double standard to authorities but got unsatisfactory feedback.
"The mainstream media agencies inflame the situation when they start using words like 'religious' and 'Sunni Muslims.' Not everyone understands that terrorism, extremism, and violence have no race, religion, or color.
"Islamophobia isn't just physical attacks, it's also verbal, online, and bullying. These are all types of Islamophobia," he said.
Highlighting that Muslims are a minority in Australia that account for 3% of the population, Al-Suleiman said Muslims should stand in solidarity and raise awareness of Islamophobia.
Saying Muslims should be included in the legal system to better combat anti-Muslim sentiment, he said: "The legal system needs to be improved, and the Muslim community needs to improve its engagement and awareness."
Al-Suleiman underlined that there has been an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia since the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people. Since then, Israel has launched a counterattack on Gaza that has killed over 34,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured nearly 78,000.
Al-Suleiman added that last month's church attack exacerbated the hostility, based on information received from the Australian National Imams Council.
