Queensland’s turn to make antisemitism unthinkable
Thousands of Queenslanders are expected to rally in Brisbane on Sunday against the hate directed at Jewish people throughout Australia since October 7.
Mark Leach
The Stop the Hate, Mate rally, organised by the grassroots Never Again is Now campaign, will bring together Queenslanders from multiple religious, ethnic and political groups with a common aim to push back against the hate and stand for peace and love. The rally will be held in a Brisbane CBD venue to be announced, for security reasons, 48 hours before the event.
The rally will hear from political representatives, community leaders, a member of the anti-Islamic-fundamentalist Iranian community, Christian pastors and indigenous supporters.
Campaign co-founder Reverend Mark Leach said that many ordinary Australians were saying this was not the Australia they knew, and calls in our streets for the genocide of the Jewish state and people were abhorrent.
The Brisbane rally follows similar events in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, where thousands of people from a range of ethnic groups, people of faith and those of no religious observance have gathered peacefully to protest against the vile increase in antisemitism: the hatred of Jews.
“What is happening today on our streets and university campuses is un-Australian; we need social cohesion, not division. We promote love not hate, and our rallies aim to push back the hate,” he said.
“Even more alarming is the open support for Hamas, designated by the Australian and many other governments as a terrorist group.”
Rev. Leach recalled his experience of October 9th in Sydney where he famously carried an Israel flag and was chased and threatened by angry pro-Hamas protestors.
“The police had to protect me. This anti-Israel protest occurred before Israel had even started to defend itself from the October 7 attack.”
Rev. Leach said there had been a more than 800% increase in antisemitic incidents, including violence, in Australia in the past six months, and it was still rising.
