Australia bans Nazi salute, swastika, other hate symbols in public as antisemitism spikes

Australian lawmakers have banned the performance of the Nazi salute in public and outlawed the display or sale of Nazi hate symbols such as the swastika in landmark legislation that went into effect in the country Monday. The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.

The crime of publicly performing the Nazi salute or displaying the Nazi swastika is punishable by up to 12 months in prison, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s Attorney-General, said in a press release Monday that the laws — the first of their kind in the country — sent “a clear message: there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts.”

Poxlox,

Excellent

yamanii,
@yamanii@lemmy.world avatar

Surprised they weren’t banned.

throwwyacc,

Probably because it hadn’t been an issue until recently Strange times indeed

platypus_plumba,

I wonder if those chants are actually anti-semitic or if they are just trying to trigger the people from Israel.

I feel if people are pro-Palestine, they are against discrimination and abuse of power, which would make it pretty strange if they actually want to do the same to jews.

Syntha,

You’re so right! Chanting “Gas the Jews” is just a bit of trolling. No antisemitism to be found here!

metaStatic,

other hate symbols

such as? am I going to prison for owning a black flag?

The new laws also make the act of glorifying OR praising acts of terrorism a criminal offense.

I will not stop praising or glorifying climate protestors laying across lanes of traffic. you being a little bit late to your soul sucking 9 to 5 isn't an act of terrorism.
The word Terrorist is already used as a truncheon against dissidents. Convicted Terrorist is about to become the 3rd gender in Australia.

SpaceCowboy,
@SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca avatar

On the internet words like terrorist, fascist, and genocide seemingly has lost all meaning. It’s just an expression of dumb emotions.

But in a court of law these words do have defined meanings. The internet != real life.

And yeah a law in which the intent is to reduce antisemitism by banning symbols carried by antisemitic people may result in it being illegal for you to display your black flag in public if that same flag as carried by people who promote violence against Jews.

This might trigger some introspection in some people about why they’re in possession of symbols that are also carried by people that promote racist violence. Is there is significant difference between your black flag and a swastika in terms of how those symbols affect people?

Silverseren,

I mean, I'm fine with that. That seems like something that should have been done a while ago.

It's when they try and extend such things to saying any criticism of Israel is illegal, like what Germany is trying right now.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • world@lemmy.world
  • fightinggames
  • All magazines
    •