Hash Tayeh’s open letter to Victoria Police after revelations in The Age: Accused arsonist allegedly claimed Burgertory firebombing was linked to Palestine conflict
Note: font formatting is Tayeh’s
Open Letter
Today’s article in The Age has ripped open a wound that’s been festering for over a year. It’s a harsh reminder of the injustice I’ve faced—a justice system that has failed, a police force that has betrayed, and a community left vulnerable.
For over a year, Victoria Police has refused to recognise the campaign of terror that’s been waged against my business, Burgertory, as the hate-fuelled violence that it is.
Last year, my store was firebombed—an act of arson and hatred that should have been taken as a serious threat to our safety. And yet, despite the severity, police downplayed the attack, stubbornly refusing to classify it as a hate crime, and refusing to pursue justice on our behalf. But that wasn’t the end.
They dismissed a sickening act of hatred that followed—a pig’s heart left at our door—as nothing more than “littering.” Just littering. This twisted act, meant to terrorise and demean, was brushed aside without investigation, leaving us with no recourse, no protection, and no support from those sworn to protect us.
And the truth behind it all?
The man who attacked us confessed to an undercover officer that he had been paid to firebomb Burgertory because of who we are and what we stand for. But instead of acting, the police buried this revelation, hiding it from the public, sweeping it under the rug.
Why was this truth hidden? What are they protecting? Why has justice been denied?
Then, the violence came to my home. A Molotov cocktail exploded at my front door, setting the entryway on fire beneath the room where my two-year-old child sleeps. I have CCTV footage of this, a blatant act of terror against my family, yet the police called it “minor damage to a door.”
They downplayed an attack that could have killed my family as if it were nothing—just another incident to ignore. And now, seven months later, they’ve declared it a “cold case,” closing the book on their so-called “investigation” and leaving us to fend for ourselves.
As if that weren’t enough, the system that should be protecting me has turned against me. I’ve been arrested and questioned for “incitement,” accused of spreading hate despite never speaking a single word against the Jewish community.
In every speech, I’ve made it clear: if this were happening to the Jewish people, I would be standing right here, fighting for them too. Yet I am the one they target, while hate-filled attacks on my life and my business go unpunished. And the harassment didn’t stop there.
Zionists agitators—people who i have never met—have weaponised the legal system to attack me personally. They have lodged complaints against me with Victoria Police, filed a Human Rights Order with VCAT, and even sought an Intervention Order, all to silence me through intimidation and misuse of the law.
This isn’t justice; it’s targeted harassment, enabled and tolerated by Victoria Police.
This was no series of random crimes. These were calculated acts of terrorism and hate that were allowed to escalate, unchecked, by a police force that refused to act.
This year has been nothing short of hell, and my faith in the system meant to protect us is shattered. But Victoria Police, I will not stay silent. I am putting you on notice: I will exhaust every legal avenue to hold you accountable for your complicity, your failure, and the terror you allowed to continue.
You tried to bury the truth, but now the truth is here, and you will answer for it. You are complicit.
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