in brief
- Pro-Palestinian protesters are challenging Queensland's hate speech laws after arrests were made over the weekend.
- A group arrested on Saturday faces 14 charges of displaying a prohibited expression and seven charges of reciting a prohibited expression.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have pledged to launch a constitutional challenge against Queensland's hate speech legislation following widespread arrests at a rally opposing the laws.
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin activists marched to the state parliament in Brisbane on Sunday, a day after 20 people were taken into custody for allegedly chanting or showing two banned phrases.
At least two people were arrested on Sunday for the same offence.
Earlier this year, Queensland passed legislation banning the phrases "from the river to the sea" and "globalise the intifada", categorising them as hate speech against Jewish people.
However, the chants — both of which are widely used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Australia and other nations — have contested meanings.
The full saying "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" refers to the land between the Jordan River, which borders eastern Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
Anyone who recites or displays the terms can face up to two years in jail if found to have used the popular pro-Palestine chants to menace or harass others.
The group arrested on Saturday faces 14 charges of displaying a prohibited expression and seven charges of reciting a prohibited expression.
But Subhi Awad, from Justice for Palestine Magan-djin, said the group would mount a constitutional challenge against the laws.
They had received legal advice that "almost everyone" of the arrested protesters had acted legally if they used the prohibited expression, he said.
"(The law) provides that it is a reasonable excuse to use the prohibited expression for a purpose that is in the public interest and (their) conduct is reasonable in the circumstances," he said.
"The section provides, as an example of what is a purpose in the public interest, use of the prohibited expression in a genuine political dispute carried on in the public interest."
'Absurd and stupid laws'
At the rally outside parliament on Sunday, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said telling the truth was becoming a crime.
"Your state, Queensland, is at the spear tip of this fight for civil liberties," she said.
"We are here today, standing with those who refuse to be silenced, who refuse to obey these bad, appalling, reckless, but also absurd and stupid laws."
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli previously said the laws provided strong protection and came in response to clear calls from the Jewish community.
"This is about drawing a clear line — and stamping out the embers of hatred that were allowed to burn unchecked for too long — to ensure we protect Queenslanders," he said in announcing the legislation.
But Australian Progressive Party state leader Edward Carroll, who was among those arrested on Saturday, said the laws "do not protect us as Jewish people".
"They are not about combating antisemitism — they are about silencing dissent and support for Palestine," he said.
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