Overview
Newtown Lebanese restaurant Arabella has been attacked by unidentified vandals, in what appears to be a blatantly racist attack. Early Tuesday morning, the King Street restaurant's windows were smashed and horribly racist messages like 'fuck Arabs' were scratched into the front glass using a key.
Speaking to Pedestrian, owner Moey Hachem said he was called by security last night, when the vandalism occurred. Hachem posted images of his damaged restaurant on Facebook, with the caption, "Talking about racist people this what happen at my restaurant (Arabella) tonight at 1.30am and they left racist comments on the glass. Let's see if media pays attention to such event."
Sadly, this isn't the first time Hachem and Arabella have been targeted by racist harassment. Hachem told Pedestrian incidents like this have happened before, but after reporting them to Newtown Police Station, nothing happened.
He, his family and his employees have been getting phone calls over the 15 years the restaurant has been operating. "The girls that work here, they tell me that they get phone calls from private numbers, with people talking bullshit, talking crap," he said. "Two months ago, when I was away in Lebanon, that happened. Most of my clientèle is Aussie, and I never have problems with Australians, they're really nice — last night was really terrible.
"This is not going to stop me loving and respecting Australia — I came to this country at six years old, and I belong to this country, I'm an Aussie."
If you've got any information about this attack that could be useful to police, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Via Pedestrian.