The flash mob descended on Brisbane’s metropolis sq., sporting double denim and blond wigs within the model of a legendary Australian singer as they danced with wild abandon to certainly one of his Eighties hits.
In an unlikely pairing, pro-Palestinian protesters have adopted John Farnham’s music “Two Strong Hearts” as an unofficial anthem, as a result of its lyrics bear a coincidental resemblance to a political slogan lately banned by the state authorities in northeastern Australia.
So far, 25 individuals have been arrested beneath new hate-speech laws within the state of Queensland that threatens a two-year jail sentence for utilizing the phrases “From the river to the sea” or “Globalize the intifada.”
Both slogans are usually utilized by pro-Palestinian protesters and are extremely controversial. Critics say the previous calls for the elimination of the Israeli state – from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – and incites violence towards Jewish individuals. In the previous two years, the US House of Representatives has condemned it, and the British authorities is inspecting its use, as a part of a review of hate speech laws due to report in May.
Queensland is the one Australian state, up to now, to have launched a particular regulation towards the phrase, and few direct comparisons exist worldwide. The ban was handed in March, simply months after gunmen killed 15 individuals at a Jewish gathering in December at Sydney’s Bondi Beach within the southern state of New South Wales (NSW). “We must all understand, words became vandalism, vandalism became violence, violence became murder,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli wrote days after the taking pictures.
When the state proposed a ban on “From the river to the sea,” some pro-Palestinian activists observed an echo of the forbidden phrase within the Farnham ballad “Two Strong Hearts,” which was additionally launched within the US in 1988 as a duet that includes Johnny Mathis and Dionne Warwick.
“We’ve got two strong hearts
Reaching out together like a river to the sea”
No one was arrested for singing the lyrics eventually Friday’s flash mob – they’re not precisely the identical because the proscribed phrase, which is outlawed when used to menace, harass or offend. Exceptions are allowed for “genuine artistic, religious, educational, historical, legal or law enforcement purpose(s)” and conduct “in the public interest.”
But pro-Palestinian activist Remah Naji stated the ban had despatched a chill by means of the native protest motion.
“Even though these laws, in my view, are stupid, they’re still serious and they’re very dangerous,” stated Naji, spokesperson for political group Justice for Palestine Magan-djin. “This could be a risk of up to two years in jail.”
Response to a bloodbath
After the Bondi assault, Australian authorities got here beneath intense strain to present they had been taking sturdy motion to stamp out antisemitism.
Queensland moved rapidly, proposing and passing laws inside a month to ban what the federal government referred to as “terrorist slogans” – a reference to listed terror group Hamas, which incorporates the phrases in its 2017 structure.
It was in February that some observers observed the road within the Farnham music. Known to his legions of followers as “Farnsey,” the singer had blended success on the worldwide charts however at house his highly effective ballads have been belted out for generations round karaoke machines nationwide.
Artist James Hillier, who goes by the moniker Nordacious, began drawing on his iPad, capturing Farnham’s blond mullet and slices of watermelon – a image of Palestinian solidarity.
Artists James Hillier aka Nordacious obtained a name from Queensland Police over Farnsey photographs offered on his web site. “We’re not gonna sit in silence” references one other Farnham music. – James Hillier
“I grew up on John Farnham. He’s been a soundtrack to my childhood, and so I thought I’d make a piece to highlight the potential absurdity headed our way,” stated Hillier.
“At the time, a lot of people sort of pushed back and said I was being hyperbolic… And then, as it turns out, what I did half-jokingly, literally came to pass.” The design was printed on T-shirts on the market on Hillier’s web site, till police phoned him to recommend he take them down.
Sydney-based artist Scott Marsh flew to Brisbane to paint Farnham’s face on the wall of a metropolis automotive park. He criticized the regulation as “ridiculous government overreach” that units a “very dangerous precedent.”
Since phrase unfold in regards to the mural, it’s been defaced; the phrases “river to the sea” have been painted over and later re-added in a tough, spray-painted scrawl (not by the artist). Marsh stated police haven’t phoned him, however he’s not in a hurry to return to Queensland.
Artist Scott Marsh lined a wall in a Brisbane automotive park with John Farnham’s picture and the phrases “River to the Sea”. – Scott Marsh
It was later defaced with blue paint to erase the Palestinian-related components however the slogan was later repainted. – Scott Marsh
And so, regardless of fears of a police response, protesters danced on Friday in Brisbane’s King George Square, throwing their arms within the air, waving fluorescent sweatbands and shaking coloured tights, because the strains of “Two Strong Hearts” crammed the air.
“The intention of the legislation is to narrow the space in which people can express Palestinian solidarity,” stated organizer Ellen Roberts.
“The intention of our flash mob action was to push back hard on that, to recreate space in the most kind of like joyful, fun way that drew on this iconic Australian song.”
Farnham’s representatives advised NCS that using the sound recording requires particular permissions and an acceptable license. “There are currently no such permissions or licenses in place for the use of this sound recording,” the assertion stated.
Hillier declined to remark when requested if the singer’s representatives had been in contact about using his picture.
No arrests had been made among the many flash mob, however the “joyful” environment evaporated on Saturday when round 20 individuals had been arrested for saying or displaying the banned phrase at a rally held to take a look at the boundaries of the regulation. Two extra arrests on Sunday took the overall variety of alleged offenders to 25.
A Queensland Police spokesperson stated officers had been imposing the regulation, including “the application of legislation is ultimately informed by judicial consideration through the courts.”
“Everyone in Queensland has the right to feel safe and free from threatening or victimising behaviour,” the spokesperson stated in a assertion.
Police moved in to arrest individuals for saying the banned phrase at a protest on Saturday April 18 in Brisbane, Queensland. – Elias Boyle
Answering Jewish neighborhood issues
Antisemitic assaults have surged worldwide since October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel for an assault that provoked a ferocious response from Israel that’s razed giant elements of Gaza and killed tens of hundreds of Palestinians.
In Australia, synagogues had been firebombed, automobiles torched and Jewish neighborhood buildings defaced – the kinds of assaults recently seen in the United Kingdom which have prompted requires a crackdown on antisemitism.
The day after the Bondi assault, David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said “for two years, people have paraded in our streets and universities calling for the intifada to be globalised, a catchphrase which means kill Jews wherever you find them.”
“Last night, the intifada was globalized and came to Bondi.”
A committee tasked by the state’s Attorney General Michael Daley has really useful that “Globalize the intifada” be banned in NSW. But earlier this month he indicated that the federal government was ready to see what occurs in Queensland.
“Legislation in this area is complex and may face constitutional challenge,” he stated. The proposed NSW ban doesn’t embrace the phrase “From the river to the sea,” as a result of the committee discovered that “its meaning is contested.”
People take part in a candlelight vigil at Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on December 16, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. – Audrey Richardson/Getty Images
In Queensland, protesters are planning to problem the regulation within the High Court, which offers with constitutional issues.
Anthony Gray, a professor of regulation at Queensland’s Bond University, stated there’s a affordable argument the regulation infringes on the nation’s implied freedom of political communication.
He stated it may be challenged as an try by the federal government to censor one viewpoint over one other. Authorities may additionally wrestle to show its use may incite violence, he added.
“There isn’t much evidence that the mere utterance of these phrases is likely to lead to violence,” stated Gray, who has examined its use at pro-Palestinian protests worldwide, together with within the United States.
While the High Court case is compiled, extra protests are deliberate, together with a enjoyable run in Brisbane – from a river to the ocean – to strive to contain the broader public, who might not care about struggle in Gaza, however ought to care, organizers argue, about authorities makes an attempt to censor speech.
“There is a strong political campaign as part of this,” stated Naji, the Justice for Palestine spokesperson. “As much as we want to win in the courts, we also want to win on the streets.”
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