There were ugly scenes at the major protest against the proposed Buchanan mosque on Sunday.
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It didn’t descend into physical violence, but aggression, fear and hatred were the flavours of the day, as more than 700 people marched down Vincent Street chanting and waving placards that implied Muslim people posed a risk to Australia’s way of life.
The Mercury whole heartedly disagrees with that sentiment.
The Reclaim Australia movement is capitalising on the fear being generated by the terrorist group Islamic State, which has done unspeakably evil things in recent times, to push its anti-Muslim agenda by painting any person of Islamic faith as a threat.
But implying that IS is representative of all Muslim people is as ridiculous as saying the Ku Klux Klan represents all Christians – it’s simply not true.
Reclaim Australia labels itself as a group of patriots who care deeply for their fellow Australians and free speech – except, of course, if you happen to disagree with them.
That was painfully obvious through the abuse hurled at counter protesters in Cessnock on Sunday.
“Dirty dogs”, one Reclaim protester screamed as the group stood toe to toe with police who stopped them crossing the road and clashing with the counter protesters.
A representative of the Christian Democratic Party even commented that mosques should be bulldozed.
In a democratic society, free speech belongs to everyone. It’s not only the territory of those who support the views of Reclaim Australia, it also belongs to those who disagree, people of any colour and religion.
To abuse, be aggressive towards or incite violence against someone just because they use their freedom to disagree with you contradicts the very idea of free speech. There were few signs of respect or tolerance from the anti-mosque protesters on Sunday, just aggression and bigotry.
