‘We have not seen anything this violent’: CBD attack on pro-Palestinian activists condemned as among worst in SA

An alleged racially charged attack at a CBD hotel this month has been blasted as the worst in SA by a leading organisation.

An alleged racially charged attack on pro-Palestinian activists in Adelaide’s CBD this month has been regarded as among the worst in South Australia.

The call comes from Islamophobia Register Australia, a leading organisation tracking Islamophobia.

The alleged attack saw a group, which travelled from Sydney to Adelaide for a pro-Palestine picket this month, who were wearing Palestinian keffiyehs when they were allegedly assaulted by a 64-year-old Victoria man identified as Gary Wylde.

Three of the alleged victims are of Arabic background.

A group of friends wearing Palestinian keffiyehs were allegedly assaulted at an Adelaide hotel on July 6.

Islamophobia Register Australia warns of an “unprecedented surge” in Islamophobic incidents, having recorded 759 of them since October 7.

Executive director Nora Amath said the attack this month was among the most violent the Register has recorded in South Australia.

Diala, one of the alleged victims who asked to be identified only by her first name, said the incident had left her “more on edge and cautious” and stopped her from wearing her Palestinian keffiyeh in some parts of Sydney.

“In the immediate aftermath of Adelaide, I felt quite unsafe. None of us would allow the other to go out on their own wearing the keffiyeh,” she said.

“The immediate association with the keffiyeh is with terrorism. People don’t really understand it.

“It’s a cultural garment … I wear it quite pridefully to show that Arabs and Palestinians, the culture will persist.”

Aboud Shaweesh, another alleged assault victim, said when he walked out in public wearing his keffiyeh “it almost feels like in some way it makes you a target”.

“Especially as a Palestinian,” he said.

Aboud Shaweesh was part of a group of pro-Palestinian activists allegedly attacked at an Adelaide hotel this month. Picture: Supplied

But Mr Shaweesh, who has family in Gaza, said it was not going to stop him from advocating for Palestine, attending rallies or wearing the garment.

He said his family in Gaza had their home bombed and lost loved ones but “even if we didn’t have my dad’s cousins in Gaza … it would still be affecting me in the same way.”

“If anything, I wear the keffiyeh with pride but there is the thought in the back of my head, I wonder what could happen,” he said.

Following the incident in Adelaide, Mr Shaweesh and others have called on the authorities to take more action.

Speaking generally,Mr Shaweesh said the government needed to do more to tackle all forms of racism in Australia.

“They need to act proportionately to combat all forms of racism and condemn all forms of racism equally,” he said.

Police charged Mr Wylde with five counts of assault.