Mosque vandalised in Brisbane after deadly Bondi Beach attack

Days after a terrorist attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that left at least 15 people dead, a mosque in Australia's Brisbane was vandalised, sparking further tensions in the country.

The wall of the mosque, named Masjid Taqwa, at Bald Hills — a northern Brisbane suburb — was sprayed with Islamophobic comments and white supremacist symbols.

In the Bondi attack, a father and son duo, identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed — who originally hailed from India — opened fire during a Jewish event on December 14, in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.

One of the mosque’s directors, Kambiz Koshan, said he received countless calls from worried community members after the vandalism. "Our message to the community has always been to keep peace," Koshan said.

“It’s unfortunate that we have people that do such things in it. We do understand people’s frustration but this is not a solution.

“We’re all Australians. We shouldn’t be pointing to a specific community for the fault of someone who doesn’t even know what they’re doing. Our message is peace. It’s always peace,” he said.

Bisma Asif, who represents Sandgate in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, shared the photo of the vile vandalism and strongly condemned the incident.

"Overnight, the local Bald Hills Mosque was vandalised with white supremacist symbols and the subject of death threats," she wrote on Instagram.

"This, on the back of 15 innocent people losing their lives at the hands of extremists in an anti-Semitic attack on Sunday," she said, adding: "I’m sick of the constant anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and racist incidents we’ve had in our community."

“This is not the way forward. This is not how we get through this. Not with more hate. Not with retaliation. Not by tearing each other apart,” Asif said, calling for the community to stand together against divisiveness and for the state government to pass racial vilification laws.

“Everyone in our community deserves to feel safe in their homes, places of worship and at work. Now more than ever, it is important we stand together against divisiveness," she added.

Meanwhile, Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, a South East Queensland resident, also condemned the incident.

"Don’t let the haters divide us,” he posted in an Instagram story with an Australian flag emoji.