Last week, the Queensland Government passed a law banning the expressions “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.
The ban applies to the use of the phrases to make “a reasonable member of the public feel menaced, harassed or offended.”
Police Minister Dan Purdie said the law is “in direct response to a specific attack on Jewish people... [Queenslanders] expect to be able to practise their faith without fear”.
The Labor Opposition voted against it, saying Premier David Crisafulli had “backflipped on the legislation and gagged debate on his amendments.”
Context
On 14 December, two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish community event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and injuring many more.
In the wake of this terrorist attack, the Federal Government passed new hate speech legislation.
Under the bill, a person found guilty of committing a hate crime as part of their role as a religious or spiritual leader faces up to 12 years in prison.
A non-citizen associated with a terrorist or hate group can also have their visa cancelled or refused.
Qld laws
Last month, the Qld Liberal-National Government announced changes to the state’s hate speech laws.
A joint statement from Premier David Crisafulli and Qld Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the reforms would address intimidation at places of worship and restrict terrorist slogans and symbols.
The bill bans Nazi, Hezbollah, Hamas, and ISIS emblems/flags, and increases penalties for displaying terrorist symbols from six months to two years’ imprisonment.
A new offence prohibits slogans used by some pro-Palestine activists.
Queensland is the second state to examine further hate speech measures in response to the Bondi terror attack, after a bipartisan committee of NSW MPs filed a report in January recommending certain law changes.
However, it is the first to legislate change. The NSW Government has not yet released draft legislation on hate speech, but has stated its intention to do so.
In the Queensland bill, two phrases are specified: “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.
Expressions
“Globalise the Intifada”:
Intifada is the Arabic word for “uprising”. In the NSW report, the committee said “the term intifada cannot be separated from its history of violence against Jewish people” and “inspires violence”.
However, the committee noted that it had received multiple submissions from stakeholders who argued the phrase was “commonly understood as a call for peaceful global solidarity and/or opposition to Israel’s violations of international law“.
“From the river to the sea”:
This phrase refers to the Jordan River on Israel’s eastern border, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
The NSW committee did not recommend banning it, determining it didn’t meet the same threshold as “globalise the intifada”.
According to the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, the phrase “effectively calls for ethnic cleansing of Jews”.
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According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, it is “a demand for democratic coexistence between Jews and Arabs”.
Both slogans have been outlawed in some cities overseas.
For example, in 2024, the German Government declared “from the river to the sea” was a “Hamas slogan” and using it could be considered a punishable offence.
In December, police in London and Greater Manchester announced “globalise the intifada” was banned at protests, relying on existing hate speech and public order powers designed to target racially-aggravated hate speech.
Shortly after, two men in the UK were arrested for chanting the slogan at a protest.
Amendments
The original bill was written with scope for further slogans to be added.
This week, amendments were introduced to cover only the two specific expressionsin the legislation, removing the ability to add more phrases.
Purdie said the law is “necessary to prevent their use to incite discrimination, hostility or violence against Jewish Queenslanders.”
Multiculturalism Minister Fiona Simpson described it as “very targeted because the Jewish people have been targeted through antisemitism.”
Penalties
Under the laws, a person who “publicly” recites, distributes, publishes or displays a prohibited expression “in a way” that could cause someone to feel “menaced, harassed or offended” could face a maximum of two years in prison.
Exemptions include “genuine” artistic, religious, educational, historical, and legal purposes.
Journalists reporting in the “public interest” is also considered a “reasonable excuse”.
Opposition
Opposition Leader Steven Miles said Labor had planned to vote to allow the bill to be debated, but against “the amendments that threatened freedom of speech.”
Miles claimed Crisafulli had “backflipped on the legislation and gagged debate on his amendments,” adding that “Labor could not support the LNP Government’s abuse of its large majority.”
The LNP holds 53 of the 93 seats in Queensland’s one house of Parliament.
Labor, the Greens, and independent MPs ultimately voted against the bill.
Miles noted that “Queensland Labor stands against antisemitism in all forms.”
Greens MP Michael Berkman told Parliament he has attended pro-Palestine rallies, calling the bill “a crude facade”.
“We will not support a bill that purports to tell us what these words mean,” Berkman said, adding that he believes the slogans are “a call for peace, equality and freedom of expression from violence.”
Berkman concluded by saying: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
