Muslim families across Sydney were left reeling last month after the discovery that graves at Al Nur Islamic Cemetery in Narellan had been deliberately vandalised, in what the Lebanese Muslim Association has described as a blatant act of Islamophobia.
The desecration is believed to have taken place on Sunday, 27 September, with the damage discovered and reported shortly after.
Headstones were toppled and smashed across multiple plots – the final resting places of mothers, fathers, grandparents and children.
“This is an act of hatred directed at Muslims, plain and simple,” said an LMA spokesperson.
“These are Australians of the Islamic faith who deserve the same dignity and respect in death as every other Australian.”
For grieving families, the attack has turned what should be a place of peace and remembrance into a scene of distress.
“Families should be able to visit the resting places of their loved ones in peace,” the spokesperson added.
“Instead, they’re now confronting the sight of those graves deliberately destroyed.”
“It’s appalling that hatred toward Muslims has reached a point where even the dead are not left alone.”
This is not an isolated incident.
Earlier this year, the same cemetery was targeted when pig heads and remains were deliberately dumped on Muslim graves – an act widely condemned at the time as a calculated act of religious vilification.
The LMA says it is treating the matter with urgency, working to repair the damaged graves and restore the cemetery as quickly as possible, while liaising closely with NSW Police to identify those responsible.
“We are deeply sorry that these families have been subjected to this distress and indignity, and we will do everything in our power to restore the graves as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said, adding that the LMA expects those responsible to be “held accountable.”
In response to the growing threat, the LMA is also progressing the installation of security cameras and additional security infrastructure at the Narellan site, with funding support from the NSW Government.
The Association has acknowledged Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper and Multicultural NSW for backing the upgrade.
While the LMA’s media release on the matter drew widespread sympathy and solidarity from many in the broader community, the organisation’s social media posts on the desecration also attracted hundreds of comments – a disturbing number of which were openly hateful, mocking and disrespectful of the dead and their grieving families.
It should go without saying that there is no justification, religious or political grievance or online ‘keyboard courage’ that excuses celebrating or dismissing the desecration of graves.
Those responsible for these comments should be ashamed.
Hiding behind a screen to mock the dead, and the families burying them, is absolute cowardice and it is precisely this kind of normalised hatred that creates the conditions for acts like those at Narellan in the first place.
The LMA has reiterated its commitment to repairing the damage, supporting the affected families and continuing to work with police to ensure those responsible for the Narellan attack are brought to justice.
