Rafaela Pandolfini, a NSW Greens councillor, defended her decision to wear a keffiyeh to a dawn service for Anzac Day.
The outfit caused controversy among members of the Jewish community.
She received death threats and abusive messages online.
At dawn on Anzac Day, Pandolfini attended a service at Coogee East, Sydney, wearing a traditional Muslim scarf, which some consider to be a symbol of resistance against the oppression and violence in Gaza.
The Jewish Association of NSW criticized her for wearing the outfit online.
She was then subjected to abusive phone calls and messages from people who opposed her.
According to Pandolfini, she was followed by a man who recorded her as she entered her personal space.
She said she was not abusive to anyone and did not yell at them. She also claimed that she did not put her scarf on to make a political statement.
She said she had worn the scarf for months and did not consider it a controversial outfit when she decided to attend the service.
She said she doesn’t know why she wouldn’t wear the scarf on the day of the service.
Despite having experienced physical abuse and hostile encounters with members of the public, she did not expect her outfit to cause any problems.
In one instance, a woman reportedly shared her contact details online following an event where she saw Pandolfini wearing the keffiyeh.
She also shared her voicemail messages and emails with Yahoo. These revealed the abusive and violent messages that she received from members of the public.
One of the messages that the person left on her phone said that she wished that Pandolfini would be tackled to the ground and choked with her scarf.
In other emails and voicemail messages, she was also threatened. She said she would not be bullied into a particular behavior and that she would continue wearing the scarf.
Pandolfini stated that she was horrified by the thought that people would feel entitled to physically abuse women for wearing a scarf, as they may have done something to her. She feared for her life.