88 Mr Levy gave evidence of his experience of anti-Semitism and other discrimination or hatred directed at him for being Jewish. For example, when he was about eight years old he was playing community sport with his Jewish football club. He recalls some opposing players walking past his team and saying words to the effect of "bloody Jews" to them.
89 Mr Levy said that, because of his family history, he is constantly anxious about fascism taking root again, and what it would mean for him and everyone he cares about. That is especially aggravated for him when political leaders campaign on xenophobia and bigotry in general, which he sees to be hallmarks of fascism. He gave evidence of the negative effects of anti-Semitism on his mental health.
Fatima Hasan
90 Fatima Hasan was born in 1991 in Lahore, Pakistan. She identifies as being of Pakistani origin and is Muslim. She immigrated to Australia in 2016. She works as a nurse.
91 Ms Hasan believes that it is likely that she saw Senator Hanson's tweet on Twitter on or about 9 September 2022. She understood the tweet as an attack on her personal identity as an immigrant to Australia because, like Senator Faruqi, she was born in Pakistan. She interpreted Senator Hanson's tweet as racist and xenophobic. She felt offended, insulted, humiliated and intimidated by the tweet.
92 She said that she was offended because she understood that the words "piss off back to Pakistan" and the sentiment conveyed by them were directed towards everyone originally from Pakistan, including her. She took those words personally. They made her feel like all the hard work that she had done in her life and particularly during the time that she has lived in Australia meant nothing because she was made to feel like she does not belong in Australia.
93 She said that reading the tweet reminded her of her previous experiences of racism which reactivated trauma and insult. It made her realise that attitudes she had experienced in the past had not changed. She felt humiliated because she understood the tweet to be a direct threat that challenged her right to continue to live in Australia.
94 Ms Hasan said that she felt intimidated by the tweet because she believed that the thoughts and views expressed in the tweet by an elected politician with a large public profile must represent the thoughts and views of people who had voted for Senator Hanson or who follow her on Twitter. She fears being subjected to racist comments or attacks, verbal or physical. After seeing Senator Hanson's tweet, she saw numerous racist comments directed at Senator Faruqi
