Nerves are frayed amid repeated invocations of a terrorist attack targeting Muslims in comments aimed at places of worship, sparking calls for greater protections and warnings Islamophobia is on the rise.
Lakemba Mosque in Sydney's west has been latest targeted by online comments invoking an Australian man's terrorist attack in New Zealand in which 51 worshippers were murdered during prayers.
The vile reference to the 2019 attack in Christchurch was posted on a video Lakemba Mosque shared on TikTok showing worshippers leaving during Ramadan.
"Enough is enough," a post on the mosque's Facebook page said on Thursday.
"This is not just online hate - we have seen where unchecked racism leads.
"We demand protection, respect, and the right to live without fear in our own country," it said.
The call for greater protection comes amid fierce debate about laws rushed through the NSW parliament in February to criminalise hate speech on the grounds of race.
The changes were introduced after a spate of attacks targeting Jewish sites and communities and the discovery of an explosives-laden caravan on Sydney's outskirts in an apparent anti-Semitic plot.
Many of those incidents including the caravan discovery were orchestrated by organised criminals to further their own ends, rather than ideological reasons, police have since revealed.
The laws have been criticised for singling out race-based hate speech but failing to extend the same protections to religious communities.
Gamel Kheir, secretary of Lakemba Mosque's custodians, the Lebanese Muslim Association, told AAP the community was experiencing "a sense of heightened alarm".
"The Christchurch tragedy rings in our ears as it is and the community really is on edge over Gaza ... their nerves are frayed," he said.
"These sort of acts ... even if they are meaningless, just drive a wedge into the community which we don't need at the moment."
Mr Kheir said police and security were patrolling but the doors would not close.
"The mosque will always be open ... this is a place of worship," he said.
He welcomed the parliamentary inquiry and hoped it would provide answers.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has resisted calls to repeal the laws.
He condemned the reported threat against the mosque, saying racism and Islamophobia have no place in NSW.
"Those responsible will face the full force of the law," he said on Thursday.
The federal government's special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, said he would attend the mosque on Thursday to show his support.
"This is another deeply disturbing example of anti-Muslim hate in Australia and it needs to stop," Mr Malik said in a statement.
A NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed an investigation was under way and urged anyone with information to reach out.
"It is important that the community and police continue to work together to make NSW a safer place for everyone," she said.
Local mayor Bilal El-Hayek said the post was another disgusting case of Islamophobia.
"Hate speech and intolerance against the Muslim community is on the rise and we must all call it out," he said.
The threat came after a Western Australian teenager was charged for similarly invoking a repeat of the Christchurch attack in a comment on another Sydney mosque's social media page earlier in March.
