Published: 6 May 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
University leaders describe vote by student union as 'antisemitic'; Sydney Uni SRC passes resolution accusing Israel of genocide - NSW JBD says the motion highlights SRC's ‘gross double standards’
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY HAS condemned a call by its student union to cut ties with Israeli institutions and academics, labelling the student motion as “antisemitic”.
On Wednesday the University released a statement saying the student union is “a self-governing body and operates as a separate entity to the University”, the Age reported, “and that its motion is not the position of the University of Melbourne; nor is it one that is endorsed or supported by the university”.
In Sydney on Wednesday night, the Sydney University Students’ Representative Council (SRC) passed a resolution that labelled Israel an apartheid state, accused it of genocide against Palestinians and called on students to join a demonstration in solidarity with them on Nakba (“catastrophe”) Day on May 15 at Sydney’s Town Hall.
“On May 15, 1948, aparthied (sic) in Israel was brutally established through the expulsion of 85% of the Palestinian population and the murder of 15 000 people. Palestinians were only given a few minutes warning, and to this day, families still have the keys to their stolen houses,” the resolution stated.
“This day is called Nakba day, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic. Daily life for Palestinians since is one of repression, inequality and dispossession (sic). 80% of the population of Gaza are dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive while Palestinians in the West Bank face evictions and arrests constantly.
“The Australian government is one of the biggest supporters of Israel, which is unsurprising considering the state’s barbaric torture of refugees in manditory detention (sic). It is important to build a fighting, radical Palestine solidarity movement in Australia, as our government is complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestine.”
The CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Darren Bark, condemned the SRC resolution as “a highly divisive, hateful and one-sided motion”.
The statements within the resolution highlighted "the gross double standards of the university’s SRC" and do nothing to advance the cause of peace, Mr Bark added.
"Every student has the right to feel safe and included on campus, and we condemn the motion in the strongest possible terms," he said.
READ MORE
Melbourne Uni condemns student union over call for Israel boycott (Age)
The University of Melbourne has condemned as anti-Semitic a vote by its student union demanding the university cut ties with Israeli institutions and academics and boycott companies “complicit in and profiting from the Israeli apartheid”.
On Wednesday the university, which is one of the country’s top-ranked tertiary institutions, stressed that the student union’s move was not reflective of its views.
University of Melbourne condemns student union motion, labels it ‘anti-Semitic’ (The Australian)
The University of Melbourne has condemned a motion passed by its student union, which pledged support for the anti-Israeli Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, labelling it anti-Semitic.
Stating the University of Melbourne student union “operates as a separate entity to the university”, a spokesman said “this anti-Semitic motion, narrowly passed in a vote by 16 members of the UMSU Students Council, is not the position of the University of Melbourne; nor is it one that is endorsed or supported by the university”.
“We are proud of our relationships with the Jewish community in Australia and across the world, and our academic partnerships with Israeli universities and scholars,” the spokesman said.
It comes as Sydney University’s student union on Wednesday night debated a motion encouraging students to attend an anti-Israeli demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians.
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark described the motion as divisive and hateful, and said the union had deliberately decided to hold the meeting on Israel’s Independence Day to insult Jewish students.
