Muslim schoolgirl called a 'terrorist' during racist tirade on Sydney bus
A 13-year-old Muslim girl was subjected to a racist verbal attack on a Sydney bus, where she was called a 'terrorist' and an 'immigrant dog' by an older man. The incident has sparked outrage as the Islamophobia Register reports a sixfold increase in such incidents since the October 7 attacks.
Why it matters
The incident highlights rising social tensions and the prevalence of Islamophobia in public spaces, raising concerns about bystander apathy.
NSW Police has confirmed it is investigating the incident that occurred when Janna, 13, was travelling towards Greenacre in Sydney's south-west on Thursday afternoon. The incident is a "microcosm of the state of Islamophobia nationwide", according to the Islamophobia Register, which says it has recorded a more than sixfold increase in reports of Islamophobia since the October 7 attacks . The teenager's mother, Roula, who was not on the bus at the time, said her daughter noticed an older man photographing another girl in school uniform and approached the girl to tell her. "He heard my daughter and he started attacking her," Janna's mother Roula told SBS News. Janna, in Year 8, told the man that what he was doing was "disgusting" — then the stream of abuse started. Roula said he told her daughter, who was born in Australia, that she "didn't deserve to be in this country".
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