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Aussies' #Illridewithyou reaches out to Muslim community
/ AP Photo
By Ko Dong-hwan
Some Australians are reaching out to the Muslim community on social media in the wake of the Sydney cafe siege in which an Iranian gunman held several hostages, two of whom were killed.
The Twitter hashtag “#illridewithyou” had been mentioned about 250,000 times as of Tuesday in a bid to stem potential backlash against Muslims.
Hostages were held inside Sydney's Lindt Chocolat Cafe beginning Monday by Man Haron Monis, who had a flag bearing an Islamic declaration of faith. The declaration has been used in jihadi imagery.
Amid the siege, reports of anti-Muslim behavior surfaced.
A train passenger, Rachel Jacobs said on Facebook that she had seen a Muslim woman removing her hijab for fear of being targeted. Jacobs told the woman to put the hijab back and offered to accompany her.
The incident was later turned into the hashtag by a Twitter user named Tessa Kum. Kum was quoted by The Atlantic as saying #illridewithyou was “a small act, but might be important for someone one day... My thoughts are with those involved, who will be affected for so long to come, and those uninvolved, who are being blamed nonetheless.”
The crisis ended with two hostages slain and police shooting dead the gunman.