Rex Martinich
A 70-year-old man accused of using the banned phrase “from the river to the sea” at a Gaza conflict protest will claim the charge was “insane”, a magistrate has heard.
Catholic anti-war activist Jim Dowling faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with publicly reciting a prohibited expression that might make a member of the public feel menaced, harassed or offended.
Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, Dowling told magistrate Belinda Merrin he was representing himself.
“I’d like to plead insanity. I think the charge is insane. Anyone who takes it seriously could be such as well.”
Dowling was barefoot in court due to him taking a vow of simplicity over material possessions.
Queensland has banned the phrases “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”, categorising them as hate speech against Jewish people under new “fighting anti-Semitism” legislation.
The highly contested phrases are seen by some to advocate for the genocide of Jewish people from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The laws were a “common sense” response to the Bondi terror attack, Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said in February.
Dowling said outside court he was arrested and charged on March 18 during a protest outside aerospace company Boeing’s headquarters in Brisbane.
He said he had a banner with the words “From the river to the sea, Brisbane will be free of Boeing”.
Pro-Palestine activists have accused Boeing of supplying the Israeli Air Force during the Gaza conflict.
Dowling would need to prove he was not mentally fit to stand trial, the magistrate said.
“I don’t think I’m insane. I think the law is insane,” Dowling said.
Merrin said she would note he was contesting the charge.
Dowling was granted bail and ordered to return to court on April 29.
He was greeted by a small group of supporters and pro-Palestine protesters outside court.
“I’m not here to win any court cases, I’m here to expose the arms trade. There was no mention of any other politics, just Boeing,” Dowling said.
He denied menacing or harassing people with his banner at the Boeing protest.
“Some people are offended by anything. ‘From the river to the sea’, how could that offend anyone?” he said.
“The law is absurd.”
Dowling said most people did not support the prohibited expression laws and he doubted a magistrate would jail him.
“I certainly think it will be declared unconstitutional if it goes to the High Court,” he said, commenting on another person who was charged.
Dowling has a history of anti-war protesting and has said he was first arrested in 1978.
A Northern Territory judge spared Dowling a jail term in 2017 for illegally entering the joint US-Australia Pine Gap surveillance base near Alice Springs.
Dowling was fined in 2005 for attempting a citizen’s arrest on then federal MP Peter Dutton over his support for the Iraq war.
AAP
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