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After siege, Australia supports Muslims with #illridewithyou

(RNS) Australians used the hashtag #illridewithyou to condemn Islamophobia, and to show solidarity with Muslims fearing a potential backlash while riding public transportation.
After siege, Australia supports Muslims with #illridewithyou
Alia Dastagir

(RNS) A social media campaign supporting Australian Muslims exploded on Twitter Monday (Dec. 15) after a self-proclaimed Muslim cleric took 17 people hostage for 16 hours in a Sydney cafe.

Australians used the hashtag #illridewithyou to condemn Islamophobia, and to show solidarity with Muslims fearing a potential backlash while riding public transportation. In the past day, there have been more than 280,000 tweets with the hashtag, according to social media analytics website Topsy.

The gunman was identified as Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, 50, who had a lengthy criminal record and who had been free on bail. Monis and two hostages died in the fiery end to the crisis.


Monis’ exact motive wasn’t clear during the hostage situation, but he released videos stating that he wanted an Islamic State flag and a phone call from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

As the crisis unfolded, #illridewithyou began trending on Twitter, with users pledging to support people wearing religious attire who felt threatened.

Sydney TV editor Tessa Kum appears to have started the campaign. Kum said she “broke” when she saw a story on Facebook about a Muslim woman on a train who, when hearing of the hostage crisis, pulled off her hijab for fear of retaliation.

Kum tweeted: “If you reg take the #373 bus b/w Coogee/MartinPl, wear religious attire, & don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride with you. @ me for schedule.” She followed up with another tweet: “Maybe start a hashtag? What’s in ?”

Muslim women and ordinary Australians then rallied to thank her for the gesture, creating a meme.

https://twitter.com/vanbadham/status/544463427381387264/

(Alia Dastagir writes for USA Today.)

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