Anti-Semitism laws banning chants draws mixed reaction
Andrew Stafford |
A veteran civil liberties campaigner has likened the passage of laws designed to combat anti-Semitism as a return to the days of a notoriously authoritarian former state leader.
Terry O’Gorman, president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, said the passing of the laws by the Crisafulli government was a bad day for freedom of speech and public protest in Queensland.
The law specifically outlaws two phrases: “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.
Their utterance in Queensland is now punishable by up to two years’ jail.
The phrases are considered inherently anti-Semitic by some, who claim they are designed to intimidate Jewish people and are implicated in a series of incidents, including the Bondi Beach terrorist attack of December 14.
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies President Jason Steinberg said the passage of the reforms was a significant moment for Jewish Queenslanders.
“Following the horrific Bondi terror attack, years of abuse and an attack on our oldest synagogue, our community has faced unprecedented fear,” he said.
“This outcome proves that Queensland stands firmly against anti-Semitism and supports those targeted by hate.”
But the meaning of the two phrases is heavily contested by others.
“Some Jewish groups assert the sayings urge the destruction of the Jewish state, while other Jewish organisations maintain the phrases are a protest against Israel’s role in Gaza and the settler movement in the West Bank,” Mr O’Gorman said.
“Criminalising chants with harsh jail terms in respect of the biggest public protest issue since Vietnam is up there with other excesses of the Bjelke-Petersen government.”
In 1977, the Queensland government then led by Joh Bjelke-Petersen passed draconian laws outlawing street marches.
Mr O’Gorman, a veteran of those marches, later sparred with Bjelke-Petersen at the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption which prompted the premier’s resignation.
He predicted the ban on the two chants would have the opposite effect to which it was intended and would see more people on to the streets in protest.
He also predicted the law would be challenged in the High Court.
“As a new law promoted by the Queensland government at improving social cohesion and harmony it will inevitably have the opposite effect,” he said.
The government made a last-minute change to one of the most contentious aspects of the legislation.
The laws, which passed on Thursday, originally gave the attorney-general of the day extraordinary powers to ban any expression which was considered to incite violence, harm or offence.
The changes take that individual discretion away from the attorney-general, meaning any new phrases or expressions will require further legislation.
AAP