The Racial Justice Centre is making ready to file a gaggle grievance with the Australian Human Rights Fee after a Sydney restaurant denied dine-in service to folks sporting Palestinian keffiyehs throughout a 20-minute interval final weekend.
The authorized centre will file the grievance to Australia’s nationwide anti-discrimination physique on behalf of six Palestinian complainants, concerning an incident that passed off on 3 August at Merivale-owned Jimmy’s Falafel within the Sydney CBD after the Sydney Harbour Bridge march, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Guardian Australia has spoken to 4 folks, not a part of the grievance, who report being advised they’d be barred from consuming inside at Jimmy’s Falafel until they eliminated their keffiyehs.
A person who needs to be recognized as Amir – not his actual title – travelled from Queensland to Sydney to attend the pro-Palestine protest. Afterwards, Amir and his pal Hasan, who had been each sporting Palestinian keffiyehs, went trying to find meals and stumbled throughout Jimmy’s Falafel on George Avenue.
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Amir mentioned whereas they had been asking a restaurant worker if a desk was vacant, a safety guard approached the pair and mentioned their scarves couldn’t be worn contained in the venue and needed to be eliminated in the event that they wished to dine in.
The safety guard mentioned the directive got here from the restaurant supervisor, Amir mentioned. “We were quite shocked that this is happening to us, right in the centre of Sydney,” he mentioned.
Amir, who mentioned he noticed different folks additionally being turned away as a consequence of sporting keffiyehs, mentioned the pair calmly left the venue.
Keffiyehs, conventional scarves worn throughout the Center East, are sometimes worn by folks expressing assist for Palestine.
A Merivale spokesperson mentioned in a written assertion that Jimmy’s Falafel was patronised by many who participated within the Harbour Bridge protest march on 3 August, together with “many, many people wearing keffiyehs and hijabs”.
The assertion mentioned {that a} administration resolution was made at about 3.55pm “that people carrying large flags and placards should not carry or display them within the Jimmy’s Falafel venue”, after cases of members of the general public “yelling obscenities and violent rhetoric” at Merivale venues on George Avenue, together with feedback resembling “death to the IDF”, “death to all Zionist pigs” and “f***ing Zionist pigs and scum”.
“Jimmy’s staff understood that decision as providing that persons wearing political garb and/or carrying flags and placards should be kindly asked to remove those items (place them in their bags) before entering,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“This meant that for the period 3.55pm to 4.15pm, people wearing political items of clothing were politely asked to remove those items and place them in their bags before entering.”
Merivale CCTV footage, seen by Guardian Australia, reveals that in that 20-minute window, some patrons sporting keffiyehs left the venue or had been turned away, whereas others eliminated them earlier than getting into or ordering takeaway.
The footage reveals different diners sporting keffiyehs contained in the venue throughout that interval, in addition to at different factors in the course of the day.
On the footage, which didn’t embrace audio, simply earlier than the beginning of the 20-minute interval, protesters seem to yell into the venue.
“To be clear, at no time was anyone refused entry or discriminated against due to their political or religious affiliations. As you can imagine, it was a day of thousands of people attending the city. It was a challenging time for venue staff, and we of course have an obligation to their safety and comfort. Merivale is politically neutral and has no interest whatsoever in disabusing any patron of their religious or political views,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“No Merivale venues including Jimmy’s Falafel have policies on customers wearing keffiyehs or other scarves.”
Sharfah Mohamed, a lawyer on the Racial Justice Centre, mentioned: “Our position is that Merivale’s conduct breaches the federal Racial Discrimination Act.”
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In a written assertion, Mohamed mentioned that safety personnel “in all types of venues are required to respond to threats to safety on a case-by-case basis based on actual conduct”.
“As to neutrality, there is nothing neutral about banning the cultural garment of a specific racial or ethnic group,” Mohamed mentioned.
Hasan, who requested his final title be withheld, mentioned the safety guard didn’t say why they weren’t allowed to put on the keffiyehs contained in the venue. “We were humiliated. I felt humiliated,” he mentioned.
Hasan, who’s Lebanese, mentioned the keffiyeh resonates with Palestinians and is an emblem of “hope and freedom”.
“We just wanted to become one with the Palestinian people and show solidarity with them,” he mentioned.
Amir mentioned he now fears sporting a keffiyeh in public or expressing his opinion concerning the battle within the Center East. “I feel quite shocked, traumatised and humiliated,” he mentioned.
Qamar Albashir mentioned he was sporting a Moroccan scarf when his group of six folks approached Jimmy’s Falafel . He mentioned the safety guard advised the group, which included three folks sporting keffiyehs, they may not enter the venue sporting the scarves and must take away them to go inside.
“We were kind of dumbfounded. When [they] said we couldn’t go in we ask why not, and the security guard said it was a private establishment. We were lost for words.”
“It felt really horrible. We felt further anguished because our kids were there with us.”
A fourth man, who requested anonymity, mentioned he was additionally denied entry to Jimmy’s Falafel on the afternoon of the march whereas sporting a Jordanian keffiyeh.
“We were told by the security guard that we wouldn’t be allowed in because we were wearing scarves,” he mentioned. “We were in shock at first.”
The person mentioned he was accompanied by his spouse, who was sporting a Palestinian keffiyeh, and his pal, who was not sporting a shawl. He mentioned the group noticed two different teams, the place some members had been sporting Palestinian keffiyehs, who had been denied entry on the identical foundation.
The person mentioned his pal ordered takeaway meals from the venue from the road for the group.
