After declining to invite MPs for Easter at Lakemba Mosque, Australia’s largest mosque, MPs were also told they were not welcome for the traditional Eid prayers and festivities this morning. That includes long-time western-Sydney Labor MPs like Tony Burke. Anti-genocide protesters have come together for the campaign, angry at the government’s response to Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian civilians.

Stand4Palestine says no pro-Israel MPs or candidates from any side of politics should be invited to any Islamic event or space, and those that do should be made to feel uncomfortable.

It’s one of the underlying issues of the election campaign which is not getting a lot of coverage, but MPs, particularly those in western Sydney, are facing a backlash from their community for how the two major political parties have handled Israel’s assault on the civilian population in Palestine, even after the ICC issued arrest warrants.

It has meant the campaigns have had to change how they do things, as spaces they may have taken for granted in previous years are no longer welcoming.