It’s been almost a year since Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s controversial Anzac Day tweet caused anger around Australia, but the 27-year-old looks set to cause even more trouble in 2018.
Abdel-Magied sparked outrage last year when she shared a message online saying, “Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine…)” and while she later apologised for her “disrespectful” message, she seems to have backflipped in the week leading up to the day of remembrance.
Taking to Twitter on Friday, Abdel-Magied retweeted a message by former GetUp! campaign director Sally Rugg, encouraging people to remember refugees on Manus Island this Anzac Day.
“What if thousands of us tweeted ‘lest we forget (Manus)’ next week on April 25th…” Rugg wrote to her 11,000 followers.
https://twitter.com/yassmin_a/status/987116589538570240
Abdel-Magied encouraged her fans to follow suit with a simple “Do it” written on her own Twitter page, which quickly sparked backlash.
One Twitter user wrote: “You are not Australian. A piece of paper does not make you a true Australian. You will never be accepted as a real Australian”.
Another person said: “No thank you. I do have respect for others”.
A third comment read: “You’re a disgrace. My grandpa was a tortured on the Burma railway as POW. ANZAC day is about remembering sacrifices made for freedom, not about attention seeking nitwits like you”.
On Thursday evening, the activist also started a debate about whether it’s acceptable for white people to be offended when they are referred to by their skin colour.
“Why do white people get so upset when we say you’re white?” she asked. “Like, here’s the thing. The fact that white people ‘weren’t’ described as white for so long in public discourse was because drum roll white was seen as the norm, as neutral, as objective, as unbiased. But we all know, that’s not true.”
Despite ruffling some feathers, Abdel-Magied insisted she wasn’t judging anyone.
“Again, as I’ve said a million times before, it’s not a judgement call, it’s a descriptor, if you’re hearing it as a judgement, ask yourself ‘why’,” she continued. “Calling someone white isn’t identity politics, it is *accuracy*.”
Despite some being offended by her views, she continues to find support with many likeminded people around the world. Last month, she was announced as the winner of the Liberty Victoria Young Voltaire Award. She will be formally celebrated at a dinner in July, and previously expressed her excitement online.
“I won an award for Free Speech y’all,” she wrote, before dedicating the win to other young Australian Muslims.
“This one is for all those young Muslims and POC in Aus and around the world who know their equality is conditional, but know they need to speak anyway,” she said. “I got your back, y’all. “One for all those – no matter their faith or identity – who see injustice, and are afraid of speaking but speak anyway. It is they who know their equality is incomplete when the equality of others is conditional.”