It took just a matter of hours for a crowdfunding project launched on Wednesday to reach $100,000, surpassing its original goal of $50,000 to fund a campaign for racial and religious tolerance.
The campaign was started after a billboard advertising an Australia Day event in Melbourne was removed due to social media outrage and threats made over its depiction of two Muslim girls in hijab.
Dee Madigan, executive creative director at Campaign Edge, created the GoFundMe page with support from anti-Islamophobia advocate Mariam Veiszadeh.
Explaining the campaign, Madigan wrote on the GoFundMe page: "The same groups who complain 'Muslims don't assimilate', complained about the photo OF AUSTRALIAN MUSLIMS CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA DAY. And due to this pressure the billboard was removed. If you or your business thinks this is not ok, please help us fund a billboard and print campaign featuring these two girls promoting Australia Day."
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Veiszadeh told Fairfax Media she had been in contact with the families of the girls whose image was used on the original billboard, and that they had been upset about the Islamophobic backlash. She said she wanted to send a message to them and other Muslim girls to "be proud of who you are, be proud of your identity."
"Unfortunately with the xenophobia we are seeing today, no minority group is spared. Some are copping it more than others, and we all have to band together," she said.
However, some advocates within the Muslim community are concerned about the campaign's alignment with Australia Day and the message that sends to Aboriginal Australians on what is a day of grieving and protest for them.
Commend those tackling #Islamophobia against those girls, but can't do it at the expense of another marginalised community#Changethedate
— Sara Saleh (@SaraSalehOz) January 18, 2017
Human rights and refugee advocate Sara Saleh said she would prefer the billboard to remove any reference to January 26. Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre which is set to receive any leftover money from the campaign, also tweeted he did not want any reference to Australia Day "as 26/1 is not OK".
In a statement posted to Facebook, Veiszadeh said her advocacy "is not in any way, intended to ignore or 'whitewash Australia's dark past' and the injustices committed against the first Australians," and added that the two girls whose image attracted an Islamophobic backlash were also not seeking to be disrespectful to the Indigenous community.
"They had no choice in their images being plastered over that original billboard. They didn't choose to become the subject of threats and ridicule by the far right. They also didn't anticipate such a heartwarming response to the backlash from Australians from all walks of life."
The billboard campaign will deliberately not mention January 26, Veiszadeh said. "Of course this doesn't resolve much of the very valid national debate that needs to be had about the celebration of Australia Day on January 26th."
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