Yusra Metwally has attended the Ramadan night markets in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba almost every year since they started as a dinky, illegal street market.
But like many in the Muslim community, the war in Gaza has changed things, including how the holy month of Ramadan will be marked this year.
“There’s a sense this Ramadan will be subdued in many ways, it’ll be a back-to-basics Ramadan,” Metwally says. “The empathy that is central to Ramadan is being felt acutely as we watch Palestinians in Gaza starve to death.”
She feels “quite torn” about the Lakemba Ramadan markets this year.
“It just feels inappropriate to engage in the excess food consumption that comes with these markets,” she says.
The lifelong western Sydney resident says she’s had a “sense of pride” in the markets, with evenings in Lakemba forming a core part of her Ramadan experiences. But this year she will focus on “introspection”, the spiritual side of the month, and on advocacy.
Metwally is speaking outside the Marrickville office of Anthony Albanese, where a pro-Palestine picket has maintained a nonstop protest for weeks. She says the month of Ramadan is a chance to renew advocacy, and calls for the Australian government to play a “a stronger role in demanding a permanent ceasefire”.
Muslims are obliged to fast from dawn until dusk during Ramadan as a spiritual and physical detox, as a means to empathise with the less fortunate, and to reconnect with community.
The night markets in Lakemba began when late-night, illegal vendors supplied snacks to Muslims looking for something extra to eat after completing Taraweeh, a special Ramadan nightly prayer.
In the decade since, the event has become a Sydney institution, attracting millions of visitors, hundreds of vendors, and inspiring copy-cat events in other western Sydney suburbs.
But Metwally says she feels increasingly disconnected from the markets, a feeling exacerbated by the immense grief felt in the Muslim community this year.
“We see these horrific scenes every day, and it makes us aware of our privilege, that we have food to break our fast while the Gazans starve.
“I think this Ramadan will be unlike any other before. We’ve been exposed to the violence and starvation in Gaza for six months; watching the level of pain we have witnessed is hard, it’s hard to continue like nothing is different. It can’t be business as usual.”
Criticism of the markets has grown over the past year and crystallised as the war in Gaza dragged on, culminating in calls to boycott, cancel or change the markets to reflect community sentiment.
The author and teacher Maysah Dib has called for a boycott of the markets to protest the federal and state government responses to the war in Gaza.
“I think many in the community feel the same way. We are all in the same boat. Palestinians haven’t left our thoughts and our prayers, and we will be walking into Ramadan thinking about them.”
The advocacy group Vote4Palestine has been urging Muslims to demand that Canterbury-Bankstown council should cancel the markets to “show solidarity with Palestine”, or at least display the Palestinian colours there.
Council mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, points to his previous support for Palestine.
“I have been quite outspoken about this issue, and that our council was the first to fly the Palestinian flag in support of the innocent lives lost.
“I want to share that it is vital the event proceed as planned, as it brings together millions of people to celebrate, pray and reflect during the holy month of Ramadan.”
But Dib says it doesn’t sit right with her that the markets take place with no mention of Palestine.
“I just think it is so inconsiderate. It feels like the markets are just about making money now, not about community, not about spirituality, and definitely not about Gaza.
“Why should we have people come and enjoy our culture, enjoy our ‘religious celebration’ when they don’t show that they care about Muslims being massacred or starved to death in Gaza?
“It just feels like we are being used and abused,” she says.
Dib says this year’s Ramadan has been framed by the war, which has left more than 31,000 people dead according to Gazan health authorities.
“There is a different vibe in the air,” she says.
“I don’t think anyone is starting Ramadan and not thinking of them.”
It’s a sentiment shared by many in the community.
Mosques have cancelled their daily communal iftars (the fast-breaking meal at sunset), and peak bodies have rejected invitations to premiers’ iftars in NSW and Victoria.
Bilal Rauf, a spokesperson for the Australian National Imams Council, says no politicians or heads of departments will attend the council’s iftars, which are usually large events.
He says the iftars will be reduced to smaller community events, in keeping with the “level of distress” in the community about what is happening in Palestine, and to reflect the “real disappointment in the response and position from politicians”.
“It seems disrespectful to those sentiments and feelings to invite politicians for whom there is high levels of disappointment amongst the community,” he says.
“There has been a real failure to acknowledge the distress and depth of concern among the community, and it is taking a toll.”
