WEB CHUTNEY

Instead of ignoring her trolls, Australian Muslim academic, Susan Carland, has decided to turn their abuse into charity.

Susan Carland, who teaches at Monash University in Melbourne, tweeted, on October 22, that she was donating to UNICEF for every nasty comment from trolls.

“I regularly get tweets and Facebook messages from the brave freedom-fighters behind determinedly anonymous accounts telling me that, as a Muslim woman, I love oppression, murder, war and sexism,” Carland wrote in an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday. “Their online abuse ranges from requests to leave Australia, hope for my death, insults about my appearance (with a special focus on my hijab), accusations that I am a stealth jihadist, and that I am planning to take over the nation, one halal meat pie at a time.”

Both the American and Australian chapters of UNICEF took to Twitter to thank her

@SusanCarland Thanks for your support! You've turned hate into something wonderful: education, health care and protection for kids.

— UNICEF Australia (@unicefaustralia) November 12, 2024

Thank you @SusanCarland for both taking a stand and putting children first! https://t.co/Ta28wo65SX

— UNICEF USA (@unicefusa) November 12, 2024

Since declaring her pledge in October, Carland has said she has donated more a $1000 to UNICEF. It’s not yet known if the e-haters have slowed down, but turning a negative situation into a positive one is something that she ought to be proud of.

“I have a choice: to respond similarly, or respond with “that which is better”. Their hate doesn’t define me; my beliefs do. And so what my response should be is clear”, she said in her op-ed.

Bravo, Susan Carland