A Sydney man has recalled the terrifying moment he found a device suspected to be a bomb attached to his vehicle after he erected a Palestinian flag outside his home.
Theo was taking his rabbits outside when he discovered an item attached to the bonnet of his ute at his Botany residence just before 2pm on Friday.
Theo did not want his surname disclosed for safety reasons.
The item was a jerry can with a small volume of petrol inside with a rag forced into the open lid. A lighter was also taped to the top and several bolts were taped to the side.
A note attached to the device read: “Enough! Take down flag! One chance!!!!”
Bomb Squad officers were called to the home and removed the device, which they deemed to be “safe”.
“I worried that I’d done something wrong. I worried that somehow in speaking up and being in opposition of genocide, I had done something wrong.
“Someone’s come into our house at night. They’ve brought something they made to scare us. They want us to change what we’re doing.
“It’s also something which is clearly there to threaten me, to make me and my partner feel scared, feel terrified. This is terrorism.”
Theo had put up the flag and a sign about the overseas conflict at the front of his home in November, and also attached a flag to the back of his ute.
Before calling police, he went over to console his partner after the alarming discovery and asked whether he should remove the flags and sign.
They both decided to leave the flags and sign up.
“My partner and I are committed in our support for Palestine,” he said.
“This is going to be 24 hours or a week of difficulty in our lives, a few hundred bucks worth of security cameras. This is nothing compared to what people in Palestine experience constantly.”
Despite the threat, Theo said the response from the flag and sign has been overwhelmingly positive. He has received support from both local residents and organisations.
“This is a scary, upsetting and difficult experience for me. It’s only something I can do because of the support of the community around me.”
Police established a crime scene at Theo’s home and are investigating the matter.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
(ABC)
