WATCH: Liberal frontbencher heckled out of Melbourne mosque
Many were upset about what they saw as political interference in a celebration for the end of the holy month of Ramadan while others defended the funding announcement as a positive step.
Some people who attended the Eid prayer and protested were also associated with the activist group Stand for Palestine, which is discouraging mosques in western Sydney from inviting senior Labor ministers to Eid events. Labor is also facing a backlash from Muslim voters in its western Sydney strongholds who don’t think it has done enough to support Palestinians.
A video posted to the group’s Facebook page congratulated those who protested at the Melbourne Eid event. “Liberal MPs thought they could come to our community and bribe us into voting for Peter Dutton! Shoutout to our Afghan brothers and those who took a noble stance,” it said.
But the protests came from dozens of people spread across the large hall and were not confined to those associated with Stand for Palestine, according to sources who attended the event but did not want to be quoted because of safety fears.
People who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity said Wood gave a speech to the crowd before the prayer began, in which he made the $6.5 million funding pledge on behalf of Dutton and the Coalition.
They said worshippers in the crowd eventually started yelling things like: “What are you doing here?” and “You’re not welcome to do this”.
Others made angry comments asking about the Coalition’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza, or said they just wanted to pray.
“They were yelling at Jason Wood and the Liberal Party… People have different emotions in the community, different values, and that’s important to them,” one man said.
“It’s really disappointing for the community. It’s a spiritual institution, religious place, and should not be used for political campaigns.”
The man said many people were angry at the Afghan Islamic Centre for allowing the Liberal MPs to speak before the prayer in the context of a federal election.
But a former local council candidate, Liaqat Khan, praised the Coalition’s offer to give $6.5 million to the Afghan community if elected.
“Please accept our apologies for the minor disturbance caused by a few individuals. We assure you that the vast majority of the attendees welcomed and applauded your commitment to the Afghan community,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.
The mosque’s spokesperson, Rokhan Akbar, said its committee had called a meeting and would make a statement later on Monday night.
Wood was also contacted for comment, while the Coalition headquarters declined to comment.
The federal seat of Bruce was held by Labor’s Julian Hill with a 6.6 per cent margin at the last election, although a redistribution has cut that down slightly.
While it has been a safe Labor seat since 1998, the Coalition thinks voters could be swayed by a meaningful pitch on cost-of-living.
The seat is also home to Victoria’s largest population of Afghan Australians, which is reflected in the Liberal party’s pre-selection of Safi, an Afghanistan-born local businessman.
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