An Australian Islamic leader has claimed the carcass of a kangaroo left outside an Adelaide mosque was intended to provoke “fear and anger” among Muslims.
Security cameras captured the moment a hooded figure used a wheelbarrow to transport the dead marsupial along a busy main road before dumping it outside the main gate of Marion Mosque in Park Holme, in the south of the city, on Thursday.
The figure then pushed the empty wheelbarrow down the street, crossed the road, and disappeared from sight behind nearby houses.
South Australian Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident.
A Facebook post by the Islamic Society of South Australia said it “appears to be a form of symbolic harassment or bullying directed at the Muslim community.”
“This act is both strange and deeply disturbing.”
President Ahmad Zreika said the act was “clearly” an attempt to “intimidate or express hatred.”
At the same mosque, as well as the Al Khalil mosque in Adelaide’s north, lit gas cylinders were placed outside last year.
CCTV footage shows the figure throwing the kangaroo outside the main gate of the Marion Mosque in Adelaide.
The person then calmly walked away and disappeared from sight behind nearby properties.
More recently, a Muslim woman had her headscarf pulled and was beaten at Westfield Marion while she was with her young son and told to “go back to your country.”
Shocking security camera footage taken earlier this year showed a group of Palestine supporters being pushed and verbally abused by a man in a hotel lift in the city.
Mr Zreika called on the government to “take these incidents seriously”.
“Some political leaders exploit these fears to gain support or push specific agendas,” he said. 7 News.
‘Furthermore, a lack of understanding and limited knowledge of Islam and Muslim cultures exacerbate these problems.’
A local Muslim leader called the dumping of the dead kangaroo “disturbing” and said it was intended to “stir up fear and anger”.
The government announced an envoy against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in June this year, following heightened tensions following the war between Israel and Palestine.
Jewish lawyer and businesswoman Jillian Segal has been appointed as the envoy on anti-Semitism, but her counterpart on Islamophobia has yet to be appointed, more than two months later.
Queensland Muslim leader Ali Kadri and Sydney doctor and Lebanese community leader Jamal Rifi have reportedly held talks over the role.
