Australian official says ‘Globalize the intifada’ is hate speech

The treasurer of New South Wales, the Australian state where the Bondi Beach terror attack took place, says the chant “Globalize the intifada” is hate speech.

Daniel Mookhey made the statement days after the massacre at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, and shortly after the UK said that it would begin cracking down on the chant, announcing the first arrests under the new policy hours later.

“I personally think that any reasonable person would just see what the consequences of that has been on Sunday night. I think a person who is chanting ‘globalizing the intifada’ is chanting a hate speech,” Mookhey says, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“They are dividing the community. They are jeopardizing community cohesion,” he adds. “I don’t think that there’s a place for that in peaceful protest.”

And the attorney general of Queensland, another Australian state, says the government is weighing expanding its list of banned hate symbols.

“Already, the Nazi symbol is outlawed in this state, and we’re working on others – that work has already commenced,” Deb Frecklington says.