The Racial Justice Centre is preparing a group complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission concerning a Sydney restaurant, Jimmy's Falafel, that denied dine-in service to individuals wearing Palestinian keffiyehs. The incident occurred on August 3 after a pro-Palestine protest. Six Palestinian complainants will be represented in the complaint. Witnesses reported being told to remove their keffiyehs to gain entry. A Merivale representative stated that the restaurant served many individuals who participated in the protest, who were wearing keffiyehs and hijabs.
A man who wishes to be identified as Amir not his real name traveled from Queensland to Sydney to attend the pro-Palestine protest. Afterwards, Amir and his friend Hasan, who were both wearing Palestinian keffiyehs, went searching for food and stumbled across Jimmy's Falafel on George Street.
The security guard said the directive came from the restaurant manager, Amir said. We were quite shocked that this is happening to us, right in the centre of Sydney.
Keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn across the Middle East, are often worn by people expressing support for Palestine.
A Merivale spokesperson said in a written statement that Jimmy's Falafel was patronized by many who participated in the Harbour Bridge protest march on 3 August, including many, many people wearing keffiyehs and hijabs.
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