By — Colleen Shalby Colleen Shalby Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/australians-use-illridewithyou-stand-solidarity-muslims Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Australians use #IllRideWithYou to stand in solidarity with Muslims World Dec 15, 2014 2:37 PM EDT Shortly after Man Haron Monisa — a Muslim man — was identified as the suspect who held more than a dozen people hostage in a Sydney cafe Monday, the hashtag #illridewithyou started trending in Australia, and soon elsewhere, in an act of solidarity with Muslims against Islamophobia and possible reactionary violence. The conversation began when Rachel Jacobs noticed a woman take off her hijab on a train in Australia, soon after news of the suspect broke. https://twitter.com/MichaelJames_TV/status/544339713394368512 1/2 #illridewithyou overwhelmed. Mine was a small gesture because of sadness that someone would ever feel unwelcome because of beliefs — Rachael Jacobs (@rachaeljacobs) December 15, 2014 2/2 I’m not the story. Anyone joining #illridewithyou is incredibly inspiring, creating a path to peace for all of us. Thank you @sirtessa — Rachael Jacobs (@rachaeljacobs) December 15, 2014 Jacobs’ story, originally posted on Facebook, gained attention once shared on Twitter. Another user posted encouragement to use a hashtag in support of Muslim culture. If you reg take the #373 bus b/w Coogee/MartinPl, wear religious attire, & don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride with you. @ me for schedule. — Sir Tessa (@sirtessa) December 15, 2014 Maybe start a hashtag? What’s in #illridewithyou? — Sir Tessa (@sirtessa) December 15, 2014 Since its onset, the hashtag — arguably the most powerful of the year — has gone global, traveling beyond Australia to North and South America, Asia and Europe. We may have different religions, languages or coloured skin but we are all one human race #illridewithyou pic.twitter.com/MNFrUaigDL — Zohaib Nawaz Tarar (@ZohaibTarar) December 15, 2014 I was going to drive to work tomorrow but seeing the outpouring of support changed my mind. #illridewithyou Thank you. See you on the train! — Ozge Sevindik (@OzgeSevindik) December 15, 2014 https://twitter.com/anggerwitasari/status/544454734812176384 According to Twitter Australia, the hashtag had been tweeted out more than 90,000 times as of seven hours ago. UPDATE: There has now been more than 90,000 mentions of #illridewithyou tonight http://t.co/Yg80kag6qz #amazing pic.twitter.com/SEliFNmOfF — Twitter Australia (@TwitterAU) December 15, 2014 At the time of posting, that number has since jumped to more than 247,000 tweets, according to Topsy. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Colleen Shalby Colleen Shalby @CShalby
Shortly after Man Haron Monisa — a Muslim man — was identified as the suspect who held more than a dozen people hostage in a Sydney cafe Monday, the hashtag #illridewithyou started trending in Australia, and soon elsewhere, in an act of solidarity with Muslims against Islamophobia and possible reactionary violence. The conversation began when Rachel Jacobs noticed a woman take off her hijab on a train in Australia, soon after news of the suspect broke. https://twitter.com/MichaelJames_TV/status/544339713394368512 1/2 #illridewithyou overwhelmed. Mine was a small gesture because of sadness that someone would ever feel unwelcome because of beliefs — Rachael Jacobs (@rachaeljacobs) December 15, 2014 2/2 I’m not the story. Anyone joining #illridewithyou is incredibly inspiring, creating a path to peace for all of us. Thank you @sirtessa — Rachael Jacobs (@rachaeljacobs) December 15, 2014 Jacobs’ story, originally posted on Facebook, gained attention once shared on Twitter. Another user posted encouragement to use a hashtag in support of Muslim culture. If you reg take the #373 bus b/w Coogee/MartinPl, wear religious attire, & don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride with you. @ me for schedule. — Sir Tessa (@sirtessa) December 15, 2014 Maybe start a hashtag? What’s in #illridewithyou? — Sir Tessa (@sirtessa) December 15, 2014 Since its onset, the hashtag — arguably the most powerful of the year — has gone global, traveling beyond Australia to North and South America, Asia and Europe. We may have different religions, languages or coloured skin but we are all one human race #illridewithyou pic.twitter.com/MNFrUaigDL — Zohaib Nawaz Tarar (@ZohaibTarar) December 15, 2014 I was going to drive to work tomorrow but seeing the outpouring of support changed my mind. #illridewithyou Thank you. See you on the train! — Ozge Sevindik (@OzgeSevindik) December 15, 2014 https://twitter.com/anggerwitasari/status/544454734812176384 According to Twitter Australia, the hashtag had been tweeted out more than 90,000 times as of seven hours ago. UPDATE: There has now been more than 90,000 mentions of #illridewithyou tonight http://t.co/Yg80kag6qz #amazing pic.twitter.com/SEliFNmOfF — Twitter Australia (@TwitterAU) December 15, 2014 At the time of posting, that number has since jumped to more than 247,000 tweets, according to Topsy. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now