‘People have a lot of time on their hands’: Yassmin Abdel-Magied tweets draw HRC complaint

CONTROVERSIAL author and activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been reported to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

CONTROVERSIAL Muslim author and activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied says someone has filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission about her tweets.

Ms Abdel-Magied, a former ABC TV presenter who has drawn criticism from the right and support from the left after a number of politically charged comments about Islam, Anzac Day and African gangs, revealed the complaint on Wednesday.

“So apparently my tweets are worth complaining about to the Aus Human Rights commission,” the 26-year-old wrote on Twitter. “I can’t give you more details ... but it does make me wonder — should I have been reporting every single thing that people said to me that was racially, religiously or sexually charged?”

So apparently my tweets are worth complaining about to the Aus Human Rights commission. I can’t give you more details... but it does make me wonder - should I have been reporting every single thing that people said to me that was racially, religiously or sexually charged? #auspol

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

I mean, wow. People have a lot of time on their hands.

But this relates to what others have talked about - the fact that this stuff takes *time*.

Choosing to report stuff. To record stuff. Awful hateful stuff, so that consequences MAY be felt. It takes time and energy.

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

Like, I’m a well educated woman who understands the system and even I didn’t think to report anything to the Commission last year. It’s fascinating to think why...

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

Is it cos the process of doing so is exhausting in of itself? Cos I wasn’t brought up with it as an option when something happened - we were taught to just brush it off and deal w it? It it cos I subconsciously didn’t believe it would make a difference (even if that wasn’t true?)

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

And if I - a well educated woman w access to resources - don’t think to report, I shudder to think how inaccessible it is to those who don’t share similar privileges.

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

And this feeds into a broader thought process about how inequality and inequity is structural, and although processes might be available - the access to those processes may not be so straightforward...

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

But I can’t emphasise enough - I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have to deal w distractions that are racist, sexist or islamophobic. Like... wow. Imagine all the free time I could have! The gorgeous mental space!

— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) February 14, 2018

In a series of tweets, she continued: “I mean, wow. People have a lot of time on their hands. But this relates to what others have talked about — the fact that this stuff takes *time*. Choosing to report stuff. To record stuff. Awful hateful stuff, so that consequences MAY be felt. It takes time and energy.”

“And if I — a well educated woman w access to resources — don’t think to report, I shudder to think how inaccessible it is to those who don’t share similar privileges.

“But I can’t emphasise enough — I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have to deal w distractions that are racist, sexist or Islamophobic. Like ... wow. Imagine all the free time I could have! The gorgeous mental space!”

The Human Rights Commission has been contacted for comment.

Ms Abdel-Magied was born in Sudan in 1991 and migrated to Australia with her family a year later, after the government was overthrown by an Islamic military coup during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

She helped establish Youth Without Borders and has served on the Council for Multicultural Australia, Federal ANZAC Centenary Commemoration Youth Working Group, the 2014 Youth G20 Summit and the Council for Australian-Arab Relations.

The former engineer and Queensland Young Australian of the Year first made headlines last year when she described Islam as “the most feminist religion” during an appearance on ABC’s Q&A.

She later caused controversy with an Anzac Day Facebook post saying, “Lest We Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine ...)”, which some described as disrespectful to Australian soldiers. Her ABC TV show Australia Wide was axed the following month.

After she claimed during a panel discussion at the ANU that the parliamentary system had failed and “doesn’t represent anyone”, Liberal Senator Eric Abetz suggested Ms Abdel-Magied move to “one of these Arab dictatorships that are so welcoming of women”.

She earlier came under fire from conservative politicians after it emerged she had taken a taxpayer-funded trip across the Middle East to promote her book, with the backing of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s department.

She moved to the UK last year in the wake of the controversies, describing herself as Australia’s “most publicly hated Muslim” and comparing Australia to an “abusive boyfriend” that had “betrayed” her.

In a piece for Teen Vogue, she revealed how she had received death threats, saying she had been “made an example of” by Australia. She argued “people of colour” were only “considered conditionally Australian” and “the moment they step out of line, the country explodes with outrage”.

Last month, Ms Abdel-Magied mocked Australians concerned about rising African gang violence in Melbourne as “descendant [sic] of actual convicts lol”.

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