Stoking hate in the Sunshine State

So far, 26 people have been arrested for uttering or displaying words that the Crisafulli Government declared illegal. If convicted, those arrested could face up to two years in prison for their words, writes Dr John Jiggens.

IN MARCH, Crisafulli Government in Queensland introduced Controversial hate speech legislation banning two expressions deemed anti-Semitic: “from river to sea” And “Globalize the Intifada”.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies It called for a ban on speech that encourages violence, harm or attack. They said these two statements played a key role in frightening the Jewish people.

The proposed laws have been criticized by civil liberties experts as excessive. Arif HusseinA senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Center (HRLC), in question:

“These rushed laws will not improve community safety or reduce hatred in Queensland. Instead, the Crisafulli Government is heating up the heat by introducing legislation that will increase division, discrimination and stifle peaceful political communication.”

Queensland Civil Liberties Council (QCCL) Minister Michael Cope He expressed concerns about freedom of expression:

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right that deserves maximum protection. Crime is a vague concept. Everyone is offended by something. In the QCCL’s view, crime is too low a bar for speech to be criminalized. These laws set the standard too low and pose a threat to the fundamental right to freedom of expression.”

In recent months, the Queensland police force has been tasked with policing new hate speech laws that Crisafulli has implemented at pro-Palestinian protests. So far, 26 people have been arrested for uttering or displaying words that the Crisafulli Government declared illegal. If found guilty, those arrested face a maximum of two years in prison for their words.

On Sunday 17 May, as hundreds of members of Brisbane’s Palestinian community and their supporters gathered in Queen Victoria Park to commemorate the 78th anniversary of hate speech, fifty Queensland police officers were on hand to enforce Crisafulli’s new hate speech laws. Nakba.

The Nakba, or catastrophe, originally referred to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948. For Palestinians, the Nakba has become much more than a historical event; It is an ongoing process of displacement that never stops.

The commemoration began with grandchildren of Nakba survivors describing the suffering their grandparents suffered during the Nakba.

A young man named Zac, one of 26 people arrested for speaking the illegal lyrics, described how his grandfather was expelled from his village during the Nakba in 1948 and how this intergenerational trauma influenced his decision to defy hate speech laws.

When he was eleven, Zac’s grandfather had to carry his grandmother on his back four kilometers to a safe house. On the way, he witnessed the massacre of the bus drivers, shopkeepers and tea shop owners who trained him. Ordinary people who had done nothing wrong lay dead in the streets. When he was eleven, his grandfather had to witness this.

His grandfather now sees the same thing happening on his phone in Gaza. A whole new generation of Palestinians is experiencing the same disaster that occurred 80 years ago.

Zac told the crowd.

That’s why a few weeks ago I chose to oppose these new Crisafulli laws targeting the Palestine campaign. I could not sit back and watch this government spread lies and slander about the suffering of my family and millions of other Palestinians. If Crisafulli is allowed to get away with this, he won’t stay there. He will seek to further violate our right to speak on behalf of Palestinians and our families.

Another speaker at the rally was Nick HannaA Sydney lawyer who helped Hate Speech 26 described himself as:

Very brave individuals who were prosecuted for defying one of the most oppressive laws ever enacted in this country.

They were told that if they wanted a distant country to be free, they would risk going to prison. Knowing the risk, they went ahead and did it anyway.

These people opposed this ban because they oppose racism against all people, not just some people. Because they knew that not only the West Bank, not only the Gaza Strip, but all of Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, were occupied, and they wanted freedom for these lands and people.

Queensland laws “In the last two and a half years, many laws have been passed restricting our freedom of expression and our right to protest”, said Hanna. The text of the laws varies from state to state, but the goal is always the same: to suppress criticism of Israel and its crimes.

Hanna continued:

We are currently witnessing the most aggressive crackdown on civil liberties in living memory. Israel is trying to shut down the debate completely. That’s why these laws were passed in this state and this country. In the past, the world was largely blind to Israel’s crimes.

The Nakba we commemorate today was carried out in darkness. No one knew about the massacres, rapes, or ethnic cleansing until it was too late. So, how have times changed?

We have been forced to witness the genocide in Gaza, broadcast live on our phones every day for the last two and a half years. We have been exposed to so many terrible things that we will never forget them. The world has woken up and we will never fall asleep again.

In other words, Israel, which lost the debate, is trying to close the debate completely. That’s why these laws were passed in this state and this country.

Nick Hanna is working with other civil liberties lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court to have Crisafulli’s hate speech laws declared unconstitutional because they restrict free speech.