‘Refuse to be silent’: Grace Tame issues defiant message after controversial speech at Sydney rally
Grace Tame has issued a defiant message following calls for her to be stripped of her Australian of the Year title following controversial comments she made at a protest against visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Ms Tame came under fire this week for shouting “globalise the intifada” as she led pro-Palestinian protesters at a rally in Sydney on Monday.
“We must continue to act and we must continue to go global,” he told the crowd.
“Say it with me; from Gadigal to Gaza, globalize the intifada.”
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce was among those calling for Ms Tame’s title to be stripped; party leader Pauline Hanson went further to claim the statement “must have been a terrible trigger” for the former Australian of the Year to be investigated by ASIO.
Ms. Tame was awarded this honor in 2021 for her advocacy for sexual assault survivors.
Grace Tame has issued a defiant message following her controversial pro-Palestinian speech and says she will not remain silent after calls for her to be stripped of her Australian of the Year title.
On Wednesday, Ms Tame posted a defiant message on her social media saying she was not advocating violence or anti-Semitism and refused to remain silent.
Wearing a T-shirt that read “Readers and writers against genocide”, he said he was “strongly against violence and all forms of racism”.
“I have spent more than half my life fighting for the rights and safety of children,” he wrote.
“We are at a point where a federal MP is demanding that I be investigated by the police, two other MPs are demanding that my Australian of the Year Award be canceled and the Premier of NSW is linking me to the Bondi massacre – all because I said something that was not illegal while speaking at a peaceful protest.
“In the same speech, I also said that our social weapon is compassion and love.
“That message was completely lost.”
In the nearly three-minute clip, Ms Tame said calls for her to be stripped of her title were part of “Israel’s propaganda strategy”.
“Choosing to attach a negative connotation to the word ‘intifada,’ which literally means ‘to be shaken,’ is just another example of this,” he said.
In the video, Ms Tame claimed that “non-violent participants in these protests (in Sydney) were met with unprovoked police brutality”.
An estimated 6000 people attended a rally against Mr Herzog’s visit to Sydney City Hall on Monday evening, which ended with dozens of protesters arrested after violent clashes with police officers.
A lawsuit was filed against nine people, four of whom were accused of attacking the police.
Ms Tame said in her post: “Our leaders remain committed to social cohesion; what better example of social cohesion than tens of thousands of people from many and diverse backgrounds coming together in the pursuit of humanity?”
He said this wasn’t the first time he’d been “made into a villain for speaking out” and that he “refused to remain silent” about his actions.
