JENI O’DOWD: Grace Tame’s ‘globalise the intifada’ chant at Sydney protest was recklessness not activism

Grace Tame needs to grow up. There is a difference between protesting and posturing, and on Monday she well and truly crossed that line, becoming as insufferable as Greta Thunberg.

Turning up to a rally is one thing. Using your national platform to amplify rhetoric that appears to excuse violence is another entirely. That is not activism. That is recklessness.

Yes, she has exposed the horror of child sexual abuse. Her bravery changed national conversations and arguably made Australia safer for vulnerable children. That legacy deserves respect.

But legacy does not equal immunity. And Grace Tame appears to believe it does.

Her decision to lead chants of “globalise the intifada” at Monday’s pro-Palestine rally in Sydney against Israeli President Isaac Herzog crosses the line from protest into something far more reckless.

Words matter. Especially when spoken by someone with a national profile and a strong following among younger Australians.

Even senior Labor figures have acknowledged that reality. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil on Wednesday defended Tame’s contribution to child abuse reform but also made it clear that language referencing an intifada was deeply distressing to Jewish Australians and had no place on Australian streets.

“I also feel very strongly that no Australian today should be on our streets using words like ‘globalise the intifada’,” O’Neil said on Sunrise.

“We need to put ourselves in the shoes of Jewish Australians and understand that those words are heard by this community as saying that violence against Jews should be encouraged, and that is not the right thing to say today or any day in our country.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns has also indicated that such phrases are being examined under potential hate speech restrictions.

The phrase “globalise the intifada” is not a neutral slogan. While “intifada” literally means “uprising”, it is associated with grisly violence that includes attacks on civilians.

When that history is paired with the call to “globalise” it, Jewish Australians hear a threat, not a protest.

Tame’s action at the rally was like a naughty child revelling in provocation, fitting a growing pattern of her performative outrage.

She first divided public opinion when she famously refused to smile during her meeting with then prime minister Scott Morrison.

It was defiant, and also disrespectful to the office, regardless of her personal views of Morrison. It was the first sign that confrontation was her default setting.

Since then, her confrontational tone has only intensified.

At Monday’s rally, Tame was playing into a broader cultural shift. In parts of inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, activism has become almost a social identity.

Many marches feature large numbers of young demonstrators wrapped in Palestinian flags, chanting slogans that carry complex historical weight. They upload videos of themselves on social media as they turn conflict into theatre.

Significantly, most Australians are tired of seeing overseas conflicts imported into domestic life. A Roy Morgan survey conducted during the Israel-Gaza war found nearly half of Australians (49 per cent) believed the Federal Government should not take sides in the conflict.

This suggests many Australians want social cohesion at home rather than importing conflicts from abroad.

But this does not mean we are indifferent to suffering in Gaza or Israel. Polling shows strong humanitarian concern.

A YouGov survey found 82 per cent of Australians believe blocking food, water and medicine to Gazan civilians was unjustified, while 67 per cent say Australia should do more to ensure aid reaches them.

Separate polling also shows strong support for an end to the violence.

But this does not mean we support shouting slogans that inflame tensions within multicultural communities.

We all know the Israel-Palestine conflict is extraordinarily complex. It is shaped by religion, nationalism, colonial history and cycles of violence. Anyone claiming moral clarity in a chant has not studied the conflict deeply enough.

I am not suggesting Tame or others cannot protest. They can. But public figures such as Tame carry responsibility. When their words risk escalating division or legitimising violent language, criticism is not censorship, it is accountability.

Tame needs to remember that she is an influential voice, particularly among young women who admire her courage.

Removing her 2021 Australian of the Year honour would achieve little and risk turning her into a martyr. But, like Jenny Morrison did so well years ago, we should challenge her judgment.

Tame should know her voice carries too much power to be used carelessly.

That is a lesson she needs to learn.