An ABC reporter has shared a clip of the “casual racism” he receives while trying to do his job.
Nabil Al-Nashar was reporting on an alleged hit-and-run in Sydney’s southwest on Wednesday morning when a passerby made an allegedly racist comment just as he was about to record a segment.
The clip began with Al-Nashar allowing the man to walk past his shot.
“Due to the increase in immigration, thank you very much,” the man said to the camera as he passed by.
Mr. Al-Nashar shook his head in disbelief.
‘Excellent. “Immigrants are always the problem, even when it’s a hit-and-run – you’ll have heard it first,” she sarcastically told the camera.
The ABC journalist shared a clip of the encounter, describing it as “just a small sample of the casual racism I sometimes experience as an Arab-Australian journalist.”
‘Notice how polite I was to him before he declared that immigrants are the root of all problems. By the way, he was covering a hit and run… but I guess the culprits are always the ‘immigrants,’ Mr. Al-Nashar wrote.
Dozens of people in X were shocked by Mr Al-Nashar’s experience.
“I’m so sorry you had to endure this horrible racism,” one wrote.
‘This is not the Australia I know or want. “I love multiculturalism and it contributes to Australia’s heritage.”
Nabil Al-Nashar was reporting on an alleged hit-and-run in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday morning when a passer-by made an allegedly racist comment just as he was about to record a segment (pictured).
It is not the first time Al-Nashar, who is an Australian citizen after emigrating from Qatar with his Egyptian family, has received a racially charged insult.
In December 2022, he was reporting to the Parramatta court when A police officer asked his cameraman to come out to the sidewalk.
After the officer, who was reportedly laughing at the time, looked Mr Al-Nashar up and down, he asked him if he worked for the Middle East broadcaster Al Jazeera and not ABC.
Mr Al-Nashar reported the incident to New South Wales Police and received a response two months later notifying him that they had determined “misconduct had occurred”.
Mr. Al-Nashar only asked for an apology from the officer and that he not be fired.
It is not the first time Al-Nashar, who is an Australian citizen after emigrating from Qatar with his Egyptian family, has received a racially charged insult. In December 2022, a police officer asked him if he worked for Al Jazeera and not ABC.
‘When you first make the complaint, you are asked what outcome you would like to see happen.’ He wrote Al-Nashar on Twitter in May last year.
‘I said, I’d like an apology. That’s all. I don’t want the officer to be fired. I didn’t want (still don’t want) anything bad to happen to him.
‘Just basic polite behavior our mothers taught us.
“When you make a mistake, you apologize and the police acknowledge that they were wrong.”
However, Al-Nashar never received an apology, only notification of the officer’s misconduct and “proportionate measures have been taken.”
The statement to Mr Al-Nashar also stated that NSW Police “consider this matter closed”.
