Shocking footage has captured the moment strangers unleashed a racially fuelled tirade against two Palestinian brothers on a train in Sydney.
Shamikh and Majed Badra had attended a pro-Palestine rally on Sunday and had boarded the train at Town Hall station towards Stanmore.
The pair, who are also filmmakers, were confronted by another passenger when they noticed Majed was wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh.
The keffiyeh, a traditional cotton scarf worn by men in many Middle Eastern cultures, is now a symbol strongly associated with the Palestinian liberation movement.
Within minutes of boarding the train, a man began shouting at the brothers.
‘If you want to fight for Palestine, go back there,’ the man said.
‘Get the f*** out of here. We don’t want you in our country.
‘We don’t want you here. F*** off. You want to get free money, you f***ing loser c***.’
On a Sydney train, Palestinian brothers Shamikh and Majed Badra faced verbal abuse after a fellow passenger noticed Majed wearing the keffiyeh.
The man (pictured) allegedly escalated the verbal assault into a physical confrontation
The brothers responded to the man, labelling him a racist as they tried to move away from him and another commuter tried to intervene.
The pair decided to get off the train at the next stop after the verbal attack allegedly escalated into a physical confrontation.
Shamikh claimed the man had demanded his brother take off his keffiyeh.
‘The attackers shouted at us “If you want to fight for Palestine, go back there. Take off Palestine’s scarf. Yes, this is Australia”,’ Shamikh said.
NSW Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
‘An investigation has been initiated by the police following reports of an attack on a train between Town Hall Railway Station and Macdonaldtown Railway Station on Sunday,’ stated a spokeswomman.
‘Police Transport Command officers were informed that two men, aged 40 and 45, were threatened and physically assaulted by an unidentified man who then exited the train with a group at Macdonaldtown Railway Station.’
Committed to the free Palestine movement, Shamikh and Majed have lost family members in the Gaza conflict and have others still enduring the ongoing bombardment.
The brothers had been traveling back from a pro-Palestine march held on the same day as anti-immigration rallies across Australia (pictured: March for Australia in Sydney on Sunday).
The pro-Palestine march the brothers attended coincided with anti-immigration rallies across the country’s major cities, which saw wild brawls erupt on the streets as rival groups came face to face.
Palestine Action Group activist Josh Less slammed the incident.
‘This is an attack on all Palestinians in Australia, and it’s an attack, as was the intention from these racist protesters on Sunday. It’s an attack on all immigrants or migrants and people of colour in this country,’ Mr Less told Newswire.
The attack came in the wake of nationwide anti-immigration rallies on Sunday, where thousands called on the federal government to pause or slow down immigration.
Ten people were arrested nationwide after they clashed with officers and pro-immigration protesters, with additional charges expected as footage is reviewed.
The rallies, organised by March for Australia, have been linked to white-nationalist extremists, with well-known neo-Nazis in attendance.
National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell, 32, was flanked by 40 black-clad supporters as he delivered a speech outside Victorian Parliament.
March for Australia organisers have denied any connection to white supremacists.
