Within 24 hours, 4000 people answered the February 9 threat by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli to ban Palestine freedom slogans such as “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free” at a rally in Magan-djin/Brisbane.
Another 800 people turned out in pouring rain on February 15.
The February 9 rally was part of a national mobilisation against Israeli president Isaac Herzog's visit.
Thousands of rally-goers chanted — in defiance of the government’s threats – “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free” and “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution”.
Rally chair Remah Naji told the crowd: “It is beyond me that a chant that calls for equality and the application of international law is making headlines when war criminals are allowed to roam the streets freely in this country.”
Roba Rayan of the Muslim Legal Network also drew attention to the double standard — that an “alleged war criminal was welcomed with open arms” while the government threatened to clamp down on slogans used to campaign against genocide.
Greens MP Michael Berkman said “We will continue to fight for our right to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine who are still facing genocide, who are still being starved, they are still displaced, they are still living in camps through the bitter cold of winter in the Middle East.”
Berkman said he was the only MP to speak out against these laws, highlighting that Labor had given mealy-mouthed excuses to support the crackdown on people using these slogans.
He also pointed out that far-right figures, like Pauline Hanson and Bob Katter, who routinely proclaim their support for “free speech” had been completely silent in the face of the government’s move.
At a media conference before the rally, Naji “condemned” the government’s attack on free speech on behalf of Justice for Palestine Magan-djin (JFP). “We will not stop communicating the message of justice. We will defend our right to stand up for people who are being killed as we speak.
“But instead of talking about slaughter and killing that is occurring, we are forced to talk about slogans today, so I’d like to remind every one of you, starting with our premier that genocide is occurring.”
Naji said that JFP would consider a legal challenge against the proposed law.
Ed Carroll told the media conference that “I’m standing here today as a representative of the Jewish community, who are very strongly against the weaponisation of our identity and the politicisation of what happened in Bondi”.
The government confirmed that the phrases “Globalise the intifada” and “From the River to the Sea” would be proscribed.
Attorney General Deb Frecklington said: “These sayings have no place in Queensland, when they are used to incite hatred, offence and menace.”
However, the premise of this claim is false. When these slogans are chanted, they are used by the Palestine liberation movement to oppose genocide and apartheid, not to incite hatred or menace.
Zionist organisations falsely claims that the chant “From the River to the Sea” is a call for genocide. However, anti-Zionist Jews, including academic Peter Slezak, have explicitly denied that the slogan is antisemitic. “It should be obvious that the slogan is a plea for liberation and justice,” he said.
Slezak has also cited academic Lana Tatour who pointed out that “Palestinians have been articulating liberation as an inclusive project of equal rights for all” and Nasser Mashni from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network who said: “If you have a problem with freedom and justice for everyone, the problem is not the chant, it is you.”
Terry O’Gorman of the Queensland Civil Liberties Council has also spoken out against the proposed law. “Banning any slogan in public protests, particularly gatherings that do not contain an immediate incitement to violence, is an unjustified attack and limitation on freedom of speech.”
Police minister Dan Purdie made clear that the proposed law is targeted at the pro-Palestine movement. “We don’t want people at a protest or elsewhere chanting those sort of chants,” he said.
JFP has called on civil society organisations, including trade unions, student organisations and faith communities, as well as individuals, to make opposition submissions to the parliamentary committee considering the draft. (Submissions close on February 17, 10am.)
The Socialist Alliance (SA) said in its submission that the bill aims to suppress the Palestine solidarity movement. Free speech rights should be protected SA argued.
Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey said the process is “unduly rushed process with insufficient scrutiny” and suggested that there might be some “dodgy stuff in the bill”.
Opposition has come also from unlikely sources, such as right wing think tank The Institute of Public Affairs.
Students for Palestine and JFP organised protests against the proposed bill on February 10 and February 12, respectively. JFP also organised a mock trial of Herzog outside the Supreme Court on February 10. Meanwhile, activists shut down the Ferra Engineering factory on February 16 in protest against its role in supplying weapons' parts to Israel’s genocide.
