After Sydney was thrown into absolute chaos earlier today with the seige of a cafe in one of the busiest parts of the city, anti-islamic sentiment flooded social media after reports the incident may be politically motivated.
Though in a move which will completely restore your faith in humanity, Australians have quickly banded together on social media under the now viral #illridewithyou hashtag, offering to ride on buses and trains with Muslims, or give them a lift to work tomorrow, in order to keep them safe.
This absolutely amazing campaign has seen more than 50,000 Australians pledging their solidarity with those who fear racially motivated and bigoted reprisals on public transport after the Martin Place siege.
An absolutely moving response proving that Australia truly is the multicultural and tolerant country we claim to be – a country who will stand up to bigotry and hatred and never let terrorism win.
Today’s response makes me proud to be Australian.
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8 Comments
I’ve been watching the I’llridewithyou hashtag for about an hour, and it has regularly brought tears to my eyes. If the sentiment continues long after the siege then maybe there is some hope for humanity after all.
It truly has restored my faith in us as a society – I would have never imagined that such a beautiful and viral response was possible, so I’m very glad I was proved wrong.
It’s such a moving reaction – truly a touching response from a tragic situation.
How lovely is this. It’s 12:30am and I can’t go to bed because there’s too many beautiful things being said on Twitter under this hashtag. I just…there are no words. :)
I know – I stayed up for hours last night just watching the hashtag on twitter – it was the most moving thing I have ever seen!
Australia is one of my favorite countries, and after this incident, I have a deeper awe for it. I hope and pray that terrorism never prevails anywhere in the world.
We share the same hope! Hopefully after this beautiful display of strength of character the world will take notice and start following Australia’s lead.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the hashtag was based on a fake story. Advice: use more skepticism, because social media is full of people trying to manipulate you.
http://qz.com/313896/what-i-did-on-a-brisbane-train-that-stoked-illridewithyou/
I think despite truth to the story, the movement it sparked remains inspiring. I don’t think that takes away from the campaign at all, because it’s not how it started which is important – it is that it did start.
I don’t see how using scepticism applies to this situation, as people were not manipulated. If a fake story is what was needed to unite a country behind such an amazing movement, then all the more power to it.