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14 proposals to fight university antisemitism

Australia's Envoy Against Antisemitism wants a judicial inquiry, a national hotline, and an antisemitism brief for the newly announced National Student Ombudsman, among other measures.
Jillian Segal
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uni sydney

Students at the University of Sydney, which has been identified by AUJS as a key problem university.

Published: 9 September 2024

Last updated: 10 September 2024

In preparing this submission to the Senate Inquiry I thought it would be helpful if I obtained some first-hand testimonies from university students, academics and professional staff to understand the gravity of the situation.

My office has interviewed more than 65 Jewish students, academics and staff at universities… the situation is very grave and indeed much more serious and alarming than I expected.

Antisemitic behaviour is not only present on many campuses but is an embedded part of the culture. Universities have not taken appropriate action to denounce and suppress it: it has become systemic.

The Jewish students are traumatised and feel isolated and unsafe. They are not participating as they should in university life. They have been told by their university administration to stay home for their own safety.

This normalised antisemitism is incredibly dangerous to our society as it is an attitude and behaviour that eats away at the fabric of the mission of the tertiary sector. To date university leadership is either in denial about how serious and normalized antisemitism has become on their campuses or has not received information as to the seriousness of the situation (bad news does not travel upwards) or has failed to truly understand what constitutes antisemitism and has responded by placating activist forces.

Universities, important institutions responsible for the development and maturation of Australian values in our next generation, appear to have an embedded culture of antisemitism

 This contrasts with the growing realization of universities overseas that strong measures  must be taken. As US universities open for the new academic year, I expect more US universities will adopt the policies and stances of NYU, Columbia and California.

The situation on Australian university campuses must change. The sector needs to respond to the seriousness of the situation. As I have heard from Jewish students, academics and staff, they will only speak of their experiences to trusted advocates like my office or to a forum like a Judicial Inquiry that can take evidence in private and maintain confidentiality.

They have no confidence currently in other institutions like the Australia Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to approach their evidence with impartiality and appropriate respect. This calls into question the ultimate efficacy of the Government’s referral to the AHRC to study racism at universities including antisemitism.

Another issue that has been raised with me is concern that foreign funding seeking to skew the mission, values and roles of universities may be operating in Australia as has been the case in other Western countries. Universities have been very opaque in their answers regarding this issue.

I am really concerned about the febrile situation on some campuses and the emotional and physical safety of Jewish students

These four concerns in particular are all reasons for this Senate Committee to call for a Judicial Inquiry:

1. Universities are in denial about the seriousness of the situation and have failed to recognise the embedded culture of antisemitism causing Jewish students to be traumatised, feel unsafe, stay away from campus and not partake equally in educational opportunities and failed to act appropriately:

2. The need to take testimonies in private;

3. The need to thoroughly investigate any foreign funding designed to undermine the universities’ mission and values based on upholding truth, democratic and equal opportunity; and

 4. The almost universal view expressed by Jewish community representative bodies that a Judicial Inquiry would help the situation by at least listening to community concerns and recommending change.

I do believe that Judicial enquiries or Royal Commissions can bring about important societal change, particularly when the culture in important institutions has caused the institutions to deviate from their purposes and not serve society.

This was seen to be the case with the banking sector and although the process was painful the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry resulted in important and meaningful change.

 In this case universities, important institutions responsible for the development and maturation of Australian values in our next generation, appear to have an embedded culture of antisemitism and their leadership (with a few notable exceptions) seem not to appreciate this reality.

This will impact not just the future of the Jewish community, but as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, also our future as a democratic and free and open society

Embedded hatred cannot be allowed to foster. It must be called out so that Australian values and our cherished way of life may triumph and it will be important that any Judicial Inquiry be conducted in a manner which respects privacy of testimony and controls extremist outbursts.

 In calling for a Judicial Inquiry I am conscious that any such enquiry (should the Senate Committee make a positive recommendation) and implementation of any recommendations will take some time.

The situation on campuses is far too serious just to wait for this. From the testimonies I am really concerned about the febrile situation on some campuses and the emotional and physical safety of Jewish students. I therefore detail in this submission a series of other measures that I believe should be recommended to be implemented immediately.

Recommendations:

  1. That the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee recommends a Judicial Inquiry into antisemitism at Australian Universities be established.

  2. That all universities work with the Special Envoy to adopt best practice policies which are fit for purpose in combatting antisemitism and ensure that such policies are implemented.

  3. Ensure that the terms of reference and resources and expertise of any National Student Ombudsman to improve student safety be amended to receive complaints regarding racism at universities, including antisemitism. The National Student Ombudsman should seek the input and expertise of the office of the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism when considering a workable definition of antisemitism.

  4. That The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) provide a list of Australian tertiary institutions that have adopted the IHRA Working Definition on Antisemitism.

  5. That the Australian Government consider whether TEQSA needs greater powers to ensure that tertiary institutions comply with Threshold Standards and the law.

  6. That TEQSA utilises existing powers to provide advice and make recommendations to the Commonwealth Minister for Education on the impact on the quality of education flowing from universities’ failures to enforce their codes of conduct and policies, or to apply the law properly to instances of racism against Jews in order to make all students feel safe and give them the opportunity of attending campus.

  7. That the Universities Accord’s emphasis on recommendations and performance targets be applied in the area of addressing antisemitism in tertiary institutions.

  8. That the Australian Government establish a repository for standardised and consistent reporting of racist incidents and hate crimes occurring in Australia (National Database of racist incidents and hate crimes).

  9. That a national hotline be instituted for university students and staff so that data about racist incidents at universities can be captured and shared with the national database referred to in recommendation 8 (National Hotline for racist incidents and hate crimes) with appropriate measures for confidentiality and counselling.

  10. That all universities that have not yet adopted the IHRA Working Definition work with the Special Envoy’s office to adopt a working definition of antisemitism.

  11. Given that the Government and Opposition have adopted the IHRA Working Definition, that the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) adopts the IHRA Working Definition in order to guide its work.

  12. That the AHRC consult with the Special Envoy in relation to educational materials on antisemitism so as to inform their complaints handling in this area.

  13. That all the universities’ leadership attend a series of workshops organised by the Special Envoy to put in place training to understand antisemitism and be equipped to deal with it; and consider a range of measures to change the culture of embedded antisemitism. that there are defined ways of measuring how universities are promoting social cohesion.

  14. That universities work with the Special Envoy’s office to establish training for students, staff and governance on antisemitism, similar to what has been established for sexual harassment and that such training extend to international students and visiting academics. 

This article is an edited extract from Jillian Segal's submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee's Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities.

Read the full submission
.

READ MORE

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Best and worst Australian uni responses to antisemitism (The Jewish Independent)

Syd Uni students endorse ‘one Palestinian state’, refuse to condemn October 7 (The Jewish Independent)

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About the author

Jillian Segal

Jillian Segal is Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

Comments1

  • Avatar of Betsy Cornwewll

    Betsy Cornwewll13 September at 10:57 pm

    Australian antisemitism is undoubtedly an evil inheritance from the all pervasive European antisemitism that preoccupied church and state from Roman times onward. At the time of Australia’s settlement as a penal colony ( a nasty effusion of colonial arrogance) the caste system established in Australia, jailers and inmates, replicated most of the European caste division between peasants, serfs, indentured laborers ,and the free, entitled middle classes, aristocrats and sometime voters in quasi democracies.

    Antisemitism was so deeply embedded in European social and economic systems it is natural that even the exiles were infected with it. All humans seem to need someone inferior to themselves.

    Modern Australians have maintained, as much as possible their exclusive white society, grudgingly admitting only the most carefully vetted and useful others. For those imbibing antisemitism without any corrective, it is no wonder they accept it as natural and right So too, do far to many people around the world. It is still a plague in North America but was losing its virulence until Trump’s bottomless well of disparagement unleashed all the imperfectly buried racism in the New World, which in this instant global news network explosively exhumed all the rotten old fear and hatred.

    I can think of only one response to the unformed brains of the young – “surely you are not going to let your parents and grandparents opinions rule your lives?”

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