melbourne – Human rights groups have criticized the Australian government’s new “hate speech” laws, saying they will have a “chilling effect” on those supporting the Palestinian cause.
Recently, two activists were arrested and charged for chanting “From the River to the Sea”, a phrase that, along with “Globalize the Intifada”, is now illegal in Australia’s northern state of Queensland.
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Anyone arrested under the new law can face a maximum prison sentence of two years.
The New South Wales federal parliament stormed after an attack on a Jewish festival in Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December that left 15 people dead, the new laws apply in both federal and state jurisdictions and specifically target speech considered anti-Semitic.
Arif Hussain, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Center in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, told Al Jazeera that the law could be used to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel’s massacre in the Gaza Strip.
“There are serious concerns that the new laws could adversely impact legitimate activism and protest and unfairly influence peaceful protest and speech in relation to Israel’s actions in Palestine,” Hussein said.
He said, “There is no place for anti-Semitism or racism in Australia, but everyone has the right to criticize state conduct and hold public officials accountable.”
The Bondi shootings were a rare incident of mass violence in Australia and prompted a royal commission of inquiry, as well as the introduction of new legislation on hate speech and extremism and strengthened gun ownership laws.
The Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Act was brought through the New South Wales federal parliament in January and includes higher penalties for existing hate crime offences, expanded offenses for displaying or distributing prohibited symbols considered hateful and an easier process to deport or cancel the visas of individuals associated with banned groups.
Hussein said the laws are vague in defining what constitutes a hate group and could be used against legitimate human rights groups, including those focused on Palestine.
He said, “The laws introduce broad and poorly defined criminal powers directed at ‘hate groups’, leaving affected groups without the opportunity to be heard before they are listed.”
“This uncertainty is compounded by inconsistent explanations from the government as to whether the law can apply to criticism of the conduct of a foreign government, raising fears that advocacy for Palestinian rights could be unfairly scrutinized.”
‘Crush me, hold me and strangle me’
Police powers have also been strengthened across Australia to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests, such as rallies in Sydney protesting against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit in February.
Herzog was in Australia on an official visit to meet with the government and Jewish groups after the Bondi attack, but his appearance in the country prompted thousands of protesters to gather in the city to condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The peaceful protests were met with excessive police violence, with video footage from the rally showing protesters being repeatedly “punched in the kidneys” and pepper sprayed by police, who charged into the crowd and violently pulled away Muslim men praying.
Ali al-Lami, a 23-year-old student arrested at the protest, claimed he was racially abused and attacked by police.
“Immediately after crushing me, grabbing me and strangling me and putting cuffs on my hands, they punched my head and started beating me,” al-Lami told Al Jazeera.
Al-Lami said the new laws introduced to tackle so-called hate speech were a continuation of the repression against activism – from climate change to Palestine – which began long before the Bondi attack.
The New South Wales government, he said, “wants to break and crush the Palestinian movement forever”.
The right to peaceful demonstration has been under attack for two decades, with New South Wales authorities introducing the most anti-protest laws of any federal government, according to the Human Rights Law Centre’s recent report, Protests in Peril.
Victoria state in the country’s south-east has also seen an increase in police forces targeting Muslim communities and pro-Palestine protests.
Police in the state are now able to declare “designated areas” where they have increased powers to deal with members of the public, including the power to stop and search at will.
They may also direct a person to leave the location if they refuse to wear a face covering, which police believe is being used either to conceal the face or as a means of protection against crowd control measures, such as police pepper spray.
Activists report that pepper spray is now routinely used against protesters in Australia, along with non-lethal weapons such as “flash-bang” grenades and hard-foam baton round bullets.
A Ramadan night market in the Dandenong suburb of Melbourne, the state capital, was recently declared a designated “stop and search” zone, which “sends a deeply disturbing message,” said Noor Salman of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.
“Legitimate criticism of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights is not dangerous or illegal,” Salman said.
“Palestinians and their supporters should not worry that speaking out against genocide could be considered a crime.
He said, “For Muslim communities already facing increasing hostility, it reinforces the idea that even places of faith, culture and celebration are viewed with suspicion. This approach does not build trust. It creates fear and normalizes the policing of Muslim and Palestinian identities.”
‘Decision taken only to protect one religion’
The New South Wales federal hate speech laws were part of recommendations made by government-appointed special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal, who argued that “Since 7 October 2023, anti-Semitism in Australia has increased to deeply disturbing levels.
“Ancient myths and misinformation have re-emerged in new forms to justify violence and threats against the Australian Jewish community,” Segal, a South African-born lawyer, wrote in her report on plans to tackle anti-Semitism.
As well as the Bondi attack, there have also been attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses across the country, while neo-Nazism is on the rise.
Far-right and fascist groups such as the National Socialist Network have held public anti-immigration marches, one of which saw an attack on an Indigenous sacred site in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city.
The attack involved around 40 men dressed in black who attacked a camp at a tribal site, injuring women and damaging property.
Robbie Thorpe, the indigenous leader who oversees Camp Sovereignty, said such violence against indigenous people needed to be taken as seriously by the government as a campaign against anti-Semitism.
“(The attack on Camp Sovereignty) was an act of terrorism,” Thorpe said.
“We warned the city council about the increased threat of violence by these people. We warned them before it happened,” he said.
In January, a man was accused of throwing an explosive device at a group of pro-Indigenous protesters in the Western Australian city of Perth.
Fortunately, the device did not explode, but Thorpe questioned why such incidents of violence against Indigenous Australians are not taken as seriously as anti-Semitism.
“It angers a lot of Aboriginal people that they could get a direct investigation or royal commission into anti-Semitism,” Thorpe said. “We’ve been talking about the issue of racism in this country the whole time.”
Since British colonization, Indigenous Australians have been victims of genocide, forced removal of children, and land dispossession, supported by racially-based government legislation.
A 2023 referendum to include an Indigenous voice in Parliament and address the injustices and inequalities experienced by First Nations people was roundly rejected, while the period was marked by an increase in racism towards Indigenous peoples.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended new laws targeting hate crimes, saying, “The terrorists on Bondi Beach had hate in their hearts but they had guns in their hands. This law will deal with both, and we need to deal with both.”
“We want to make sure Australia remains a society where everyone has the right to be proud of who they are,” he said.
However, Greens Party spokesman Senator David Shoebridge said the laws were primarily designed to prioritize the safety of the Jewish community in Australia.
“We know that hate touches all marginalized people. The same hateful ideology that led to the horrific shooting in Bondi can also be weaponized against women, members of the Muslim community or LGBTQ+ Australians,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This law was deliberately designed not to protect these vulnerable parts of our community, and that seriously undermines its validity and usefulness,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the Albany Labor government and the Liberals decided to protect just one religion.”
