#IllRideWithYou Hashtag Reveals Humanity After Australian Siege

By Alison Lesley --
22 Dec 2014 --

A #IllRideWithYou Twitter campaign against Islamophobia in the wake of Sydney Siege was started and had gone viral.

The Australian café siege which lasted over sixteen hours and left two innocent people dead has been incredibly shocking the world over – but perhaps what has been even more shocking is the reaction of those that live in the city where it occurred: Sydney. The incident is being described as an act of terror, but the people of Sydney has demonstrated that they are not easily frightened, and they have even made positive steps towards the Muslim community in Australia.

There were many Muslim people that were frightened about the reactions that they would receive the next morning, especially on their commutes to work. A woman named Rachael Jacobs used Twitter to offer to travel with people that were feeling nervous, using the hashtag #IllRideWithYou. People throughout Sydney and the rest of Australia soon took up the cause, tweeting their intended journeys to work, and offering to travel with someone who was afraid that they may be attacked or mistrusted because of the way that they looked or dressed. Many people were encouraged by the reaction to the attack, and were proud to be Australian.

The #illridewithyou hashtag makes me so proud to be Australian. Thanks for the support everyone. 😉
— Mifrah Mahroof (@MifrahMahroof) December 15, 2014

When a gunman forced a group of people in a café to become a part of his siege, it was unclear what he hoped to gain from it. All we can see for certain is that it has not diminished the Australian people’s capacity to see past a person’s looks or religious beliefs, and see a human being. There have been no retaliations against the Muslim community in Australia, and it is hoped that the café siege will not have any lasting impression on Australia as a whole. But for the families and friends of the two victims that died, the mourning and grief is still very raw.