People Used Anzac Day To Back Asylum Seekers And Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Lest we forget...
One year after the country lost its goddamned mind over a seven word Facebook post, a number of Australians have used Anzac Day to express their support for asylum seekers and other persecuted people in social media posts inspired by Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
In case you missed it, Abdel-Magied, an engineer, author and broadcaster, was subjected to vicious harassment after posting “Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)” on Facebook on Anzac Day last year.
Conservative politicians and media outlets piled on, proving that there’s nothing more important to them than free speech… unless you say something they don’t like or happen to be a Muslim.
In the lead up to this year’s Anzac Day celebrations, former Get Up! campaign director Sally Rugg referenced the controversy by tweeting “what if thousands of us all tweeted ‘lest we forget (manus)’ next week on April 25th…”.
Abdel-Magied later shared Rugg’s tweeted with a two word caption: “Do it”.
Rugg has since deleted her tweet following a predictable wave of abuse. But the message has been taken up by many others, who used the day to express solidarity not only with refugees but also Indigenous Australians and people suffering in conflicts around the world.
Let’s get the ball rolling….
Lest we forget the people fleeing war and persecution that our government has imprisoned in #Manus and #Nauru
Anzac Day isn’t just remembering the combatants in wars but the victims too.
— Grumplestiltskin (@2FBS) April 24, 2018
Lest We Forget the frontier wars.
The frontier wars lasted 146 years. I’m thinking of my ancestors who fought for my people and family to be here. The attempt to extinct us failed because of Aboriginal resistance. #LestWeForget— Tarneen (@Tarneen) April 24, 2018
#LestWeForget this country was invaded for the British empire and it was brutal. Lest we forget the people held as political hostages on #Manus and #Nauru were fleeing our bombs. Lest we forget #Palestine #Syria #Iraq #Yemen
— WACA (@akaWACA) April 24, 2018
#lestweforget the thousands of Aboriginal warriors who died fighting for their country, and their descendents who served a country that refused to recognise them. pic.twitter.com/Ne9yWaInnD
— Amy McQuire (@amymcquire) April 24, 2018
Lest we forget the frontier wars and massacres that claimed 65,000 Aboriginal lives in what we now call Queensland alone. All lives lost in wars waged by Australia must be remembered, all veterans and their descendants must be supported. #AnzacDay pic.twitter.com/T96El4ByyX
— Nic Holas (@nicheholas) April 25, 2018
Lest we forget those who fought for our freedom and those who are still fighting for their freedom. Nauru, Manus, Syria & Palestine. It’s now our responsibility to continue to fight for freedom from those who wish to oppress #auspol
— Kailani Mana (@mana_kailani) April 24, 2018
Our soldiers fought and died for a better world. We would honour their sacrifice by bringing the refugees on Nauru and Manus back to Australia to rebuild their lives. Lest we forget.
— Bev Floyd (@Bf99Floyd) April 25, 2018
Lest we forget TAMPA, Woomera, Manus, Nauru, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, suffering Nam vets, murdered refugees
— Marilyn Shepherd (@MarilynShephe15) April 24, 2018
The sentiment was also shared by Father Rod Bower of the Gosford Anglican Church in New South Wales.
“While I deeply appreciate the privilege that Anzac Day affords us in honouring those who gave their lives opposing tyranny I am also conscious that the most meaningful way to honour their sacrifice is to continue to oppose tyranny in all its forms and expressions,” wrote Bower on the church’s Facebook page. “Therefore I join with so many other voices today in calling for the cessation of the degradation of some of the worlds most vulnerable people for political purposes.”
“We must remember what we are doing to Refugees and Asylum Seekers on Manus and Nauru along with the harm we continue to cause First Nations people. I believe that this particular approach to the commemoration of this very special day in our nations history helps to guard against the slide into destructive nationalism that seems to be being attached to Anzac Day.”