Australia’s Islamophobia problem exposed by Muslim senator’s resignation over Palestine

Payman’s defiant stance against her party’s official position put her on a collision course with the Labor government, which does not recognise Palestinian sovereignty but supports a two-state solution.

The backlash was swift and severe. Payman claims she was exiled by her Labor peers, who reportedly “leaked” to the national broadcaster that she had sought “God’s guidance” on the issue – a thinly-veiled attempt to portray her as an extremist.

Right-wing politicians, meanwhile, renewed warnings that Payman’s actions could foster a new “Muslim political party” and threaten Australia’s “social cohesion”.

Her decision to vote with the Greens to support a motion on Palestinian statehood late last month resulted in her suspension from the Labor caucus.

Observers say her resignation has now exposed the ugly underbelly of Australian politics, where principled stances on sensitive foreign policy issues can result in a politician’s career being unceremoniously derailed.

Media Watch, a media criticism programme from national broadcaster ABC, denounced Payman’s former colleagues’ remarks as blatant “dog whistling” to anti-Muslim sentiment.

The Islamophobia Register of Australia, meanwhile, expressed deep concern that the “current tone of political commentary and public discussion” could “inflame” further discrimination against the Muslim community. The organisation’s executive director Nora Amath in a statement blasted “the scornful and alarmist tone” of the comments referencing God, which she said “can be seen as mocking an Australian Muslim woman’s faith and seem particularly pointed at her Islamic religion, given parliament begins each day of sitting with the Lord’s Prayer”.

Muslim journalists, speaking anonymously to local publication