It looks like news outlets have been fooled once again into reporting a story that was just too good to check.
An Australian woman launched a movement this weekend to combat anti-Muslim sentiment by claiming on social media that she supported a Muslim who felt uncomfortable in public due to backlash caused by an Islamic State-linked terror attack in Sydney, Australia.
But it appears that the story that gave birth to the pro-Muslim “#illridewithyou” Twitter phenomenon was almost entirely made up, according to the woman who started the trend.
“Confession time. In my Facebook status, I [editorialized],” Rachael Jacobs, who has been identified as the originator of the solidarity movement, admitted in an article for the Brisbane Times.
“She wasn’t sitting next to me. She was a bit away, towards the other end of the carriage,” she wrote.
In her original story, Jacobs said she was on a train as the Sydney Siege raged on at Martin Place. She said she saw a Muslim woman removing her hijab, the woman apparently uncomfortable with wearing it in public due to supposed anti-Muslim sentiments.
“[T]he (presumably) Muslim woman sitting next to me on the train silently removes her hijab,” Jacobs wrote. “I ran after her at the train station. I said ‘put it back on. I’ll walk with [you].’ She started to cry and hugged me for about a minute – then walked off alone.”
After the story circulated on social media, Sydney TV content editor Tessa Kum commented on Twitter: “If you [regularly] take the #373 bus … wear religious attire, & don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride with you.”
And that’s how the “#illridewithyou” trend was born, with major news groups in both Australia and the U.S. citing the Jacobs anecdote as its origin.
However, Jacobs now writes: “Like most people, she had been looking at her phone, then slowly started to unpin her scarf. Tears sprang to my eyes and I was struck by feelings of anger, sadness and bitterness.”
“I wanted to talk to her, but had no idea what to say,” she added. “She might not even be Muslim or she could have just been warm. Besides, I was in the quiet carriage where even conversation is banned.”
“It’s hard to describe the moment when humans, and complete strangers, have a conversation with no words,” she said. “I wanted to tell her I was sorry for so many things, for overstepping the mark, for making assumptions about a complete stranger and for belonging to a culture where racism was part of her everyday experience.”
Supporters of the solidarity movement say the origin isn’t what’s important; it’s the message.
“The hashtag continues to divide people on social media, with some lauding it as Australia’s way of combating” anti-Muslim sentiment, the Australian reported.
“Others say it detracts from the real tragedy of two people being murdered at Martin Place,” the report added.
