Today is a bad day for freedom of speech and public protest in Qld

The passing of the Anti Semitism law which criminalises two protest chants in the Qld Parliament today is a bad day for freedom of speech and public protest in Qld.

QCCL Vice President , Terry O’Gorman, said that the banned sayings “ globalise the intifada” and “ from the river to the sea” carry a sentence of 2 years imprisonment  in circumstances where even different Jewish groups disagree as to the meaning and effect of the sayings.

“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.

Mr. O’Gorman said that the Qld Premier boasted  when announcing the new laws that they were an Australian first.

“That’s correct  because other States and Territories  have baulked at criminalising chants and placards at public protests as a step too far,” Mr.O’Gorman said.

Mr.O’Gorman said the whole process behind the passage of the new laws had been botched by a total lack of consultation except with one Jewish group resulting in a law that will inevitably be challenged in the Courts, including the High Court of Australia.

“ As a new law promoted by the Qld government at improving social cohesion and harmony it will inevitably have the opposite effect,” Mr.O’Gorman said.

“Just as the Bjelke -Petersen street march ban in 1977  brought people onto the streets to protest against laws that banned protest, the new law will result in protestors  coming onto the streets to challenge the  criminalisation of two chants that are irrevocably tied into the aftermath of the  October 2023  massacre of Jews in Israel and the resultant all out destruction of Gaza with the loss to date of 70,000 lives,” 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, “ Mr. O’Gorman said.