Palestinian-Australian students called 'terrorist' at school and online, community feels 'isolated'

After war erupted between Israel and Hamas, Sarah, 17, and her sister Salma, 15, have been the subject of ignorant comments and hate at school.

As hostilities entered the 10^th day, 2806 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military strikes since October 7. In that time, about 1400 Israelis have been killed by the Hamas, and at least 199 others have been taken hostage, according to David Saranga from Israel's foreign ministry.

Sarah said fellow students have asked them things like, "are you proud of Hamas?", and if the sisters supported the killing of babies.

"We've never felt more alone and more segregated from everyone else," she said.

"No one's ever come up to us and said, 'how do you feel when Palestinians babies have been killed?'. It's only one-sided."

Random people have also messaged the Palestinian-Australian student on Instagram after seeing her posts from a pro-Palestine rally at Garema Place. Sarah received multiple Islamophobic reactions labelling her a terrorist.

"[It's] paragraphs and paragraphs, personally attacking me, attacking Palestine as a whole," Sarah said.

She takes a politics class at school and has found herself breaking down every time the ongoing conflict is even mentioned. The sisters have needed to take a few days off school just to "breathe".

"We didn't go to school today because it was just too much, very unbearable," Sarah said.

"We usually just face it with trying to educate people, but lately, it's just gone. It feels like everyone's against us, " she said.

The teenagers are also anxious about their safety after reading about a six-year-old Muslim boy who was killed in the United States in an alleged hate crime against Palestinian Americans.

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Sarah believes all Palestinians in Australia would benefit from a balanced approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict. She wanted the news to show both sides of the violence and not "blatantly ignore" Palestinians.

Mum Lama Qasem said her girls felt guilty every night when the table was set for dinner. She said they were plagued by the thought of Gazans without access to food.

The anxiety of the Abujarbou family in Canberra is far worse.

Abdul Abujarbou, said he was worried for his oldest son Ahmad, his wife, and their five children caught in the middle of the violent conflict in Gaza. His mother Nima was distraught. She cried and hoped for the family's safety, the youngest of whom is only five-years-old.

"[On the news] the camera, it's concentrating on a certain area where my house is located... when I saw the smoke there ... my heart is broken, particularly for the kids," Mr Abujarbou said.

His son's family was forced to leave their ancestral home in Gaza City after the bombing of a cemetery next door. They are now seeking refuge in the Al Nuseirat camp near north Gaza.

Ahmad's sister Ayah, now in Canberra, had grown up with him in Gaza. Ms Abujarbou said she had spent her whole childhood fearing sirens going off. She remembered hiding under staircases with her whole family and praying to survive.

She felt re-traumatised by bombing in Gaza. She was sorry for children who had not known life outside of the bombing and says they would carry the trauma forever.

"I left Gaza 10 years ago and I still feel the fear," Ms Abujarbou said.

"There are no such words that can describe what happens there during war. All I can say it's like hell on earth at the moment."

She said children in their family were the target of hate speech at school and felt Palestinians in Canberra were not getting enough support.

"As a community we feel isolated to be honest and ... targeted and scared of Palestinian-phobia" she said.

"The current government positions and the acceptance of hate speech have severely impacted my community and the mental health of our children."

Ms Abujarbou urgently called for immediate ceasefire and de-escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. She said there was no justification for the indiscriminate killing of civilians or holding them hostage.

She too felt guilty and helpless for being in Canberra and not being able to hug her brother's family.

Ms Abujarbou said they had exhausted their savings and had negligible access to clean water, electricity and internet.

The family last spoke to Ahmad two days ago.

A peace vigil led by Amnesty International will be held at the lawns of Parliament House on Thursday at 8am. Amnesty said they would put out a statement calling for ceasefire, which has been signed by various civil society groups in Australia.

There are is also another pro-Palestine rally planned at Garema Place on Friday at 5.30pm, to coincide with international rallies happening on the day.

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