Envoy calls for ‘clear leadership’ against antisemitism

Antisemitism has been a blight on civilisation for thousands of years so Jillian Segal, the government’s Special Envoy to combat the problem, knows she has a huge job on her hands – advising the prime minister, informing policy, addressing hate speech, driving social cohesion, and much more.

In her first Jewish community interview since being appointed four months ago, Segal focussed on three themes as being central to addressing the explosion of discrimination and intimidation since October 7.

Leadership, respect and education.

Leadership sets the guardrails for what is permissible to say and do. Respect for a community’s sensitivities, trauma and collective experience. Education for those who do not appreciate those sensitivities, who refuse to acknowledge them or who are ignorant of them.

“One of the main guidelines for combatting antisemitism, and one that has been the most overlooked, is that you need leaders to speak out,” Segal told The Jewish Independent.

“People take direction from leaders about what is permissible behaviour. If leaders say something is unacceptable - whether it's a political leader, or on a university campus, or a leader of an arts body -  people tend to follow that lead. Of course, even with clear leadership, some people will still have antisemitic views, which are embedded.

She says the impact of leaders speaking out is particularly influential with casual antisemitism, which she describes as “blaming Jewish people for this or that, without thinking about it too carefully. On the other side there is the very deep-seated antisemitism that comes from hatred of a group of people.”

“I don't think one little office is going to eliminate the problem. But I do think we can ameliorate the situation. Clear leadership can diminish casual antisemitism.”

Segal has made leadership the hallmark of her public advocacy to date by shining a forensic spotlight on the inadequacies of university leaders during the protests that paralysed campuses in May.

When the Senate constituted a committee to inquire into antisemitism, she invited Jewish students to give testimonies about their experiences. Segal received 65 responses, which “gave me a direct personal insight into what was going on. But I don't think the vice-chancellors (VCs) had that insight”.

Was she shocked at what she learnt? “I was upset, but not surprised at the depth of their pain, though I was surprised at the uniformity of their views, that their complaints were not listened to and responded to, and I was surprised at the level of trauma that some of them were experiencing (the exception was Australian Catholic University, from where there were no complaints).”

The underlying explanation, she says, is that Australian universities were “very ill-prepared” for what confronted them. “They did not expect this level of demonstration, anger, even hatred, and they did not expect encampments. One might say, given what happened in the United States, they should have been better prepared.

“But they were taken by surprise. Their policies were not strong enough in relation to structures on university property and their rights in relation to whether they were affecting other students or to attend classes. They needed to look at security issues and safety issues for minorities, but particularly for Jewish students and Jewish staff, much more seriously.

“[The vice-chancellors] didn't want to see violent interactions with police on their campuses, as they saw on television, and they took the view that if they did not exacerbate the situation, it might go away (Segal noted two exceptions: University of Western Sydney, and Monash).”

Instead, they advised Jewish students to stay at home if they didn’t feel safe. “That was a complete abrogation of the role of universities. It should be for everyone to attend, everyone to have equal learning and everyone to feel safe,” she adds.

Segal has been meeting with the VCs from the Group of Eight leading universities, and says they have since realised that their response was inadequate. “I've sensed a degree of engagement and responsiveness to understand better what antisemitism is, to try and ensure that the systems are stronger and more responsive.”

In her submission to the Senate, Segal says she made 13 suggestions about concrete steps the universities could take to improve things. They included that the universities all adopt a definition of antisemitism, review their complaints processes, train staff who are involved in complaints processes to understand what antisemitism is, and ensuring the regulator TEQSA review its requirements with regard to university processes.

Another of Segal’s themes is the corrosion of respect for Jewish sensitivities, on several levels. The visceral brutality of October 7, and Australian Jews’ close family and friendship links with Israel meant the collective trauma was much greater than people originally anticipated. “Everyone knows someone, either through a first or second link, who was affected, and there are still hostages. The trauma impacted so many members of the community more than we thought,” she says.

This was further exacerbated by the use of words, phrases and symbols that became code for hostility to Jews or implicit support for Hamas. Foremost among these is the corruption of the term Zionist, or abbreviations such as Zio, which Segal says have been used in place of the word Jew, to sidestep hate laws about antisemitic messaging.

She says there have been moves overseas to address this issue. “New York University has, in its policies, stated that the reference to a Zionist or a Zio in context where it's being used to avoid the word Jew, but with the intent of vilifying or severely criticising not just the individual but the group, will be seen as antisemitism.”

She is cautious about whether Australian universities might follow suit. “I don't know, we’re a long way from that. We have to look to overseas to help us.”

Other examples of cultural disrespect include the Sydney Theatre Company keffiyeh protest in November, less than two months after October 7, the public display of Hamas red triangles, the Melbourne exhibition in September by an artist that featured a huge red triangle, and most recently, the pro-Palestinian rallies held around the anniversary of the Hamas massacre.

None of them were illegal, all of them were protected by free speech, but collectively, she says they reflected an indifference and hostility to Jewish sensitivities, and an absence of common decency.

“The keffiyeh is a traditional headdress that has been appropriated as a political symbol. People were wearing it to show support but it was unclear whether they were supporting Hamas or not. We are a community that has been traumatised. To then have symbols appropriated to not condemn what happened on October 7 creates an ongoing trauma, and that's why so many people found it distressing.

“We've always seen theatre and cultural institutions as places of cohesion, of celebration of culture. It was suddenly appropriated as a place of demonstrated support for a cause that was antithetical. That's why it was shocking.”

Regarding the red triangle exhibition in Melbourne, she says: “While people are free to engage in artistic expression in our society, when symbols are used which convey violence to some, they should not be accepted."

These and other incidents highlight why education has to be a key element, Segal stresses. “It might be that there were some people who have worn keffiyehs in places like [the STC] who didn't appreciate the hurt, who thought it was an innocent gesture. We've seen it in some places. There are some people who wear it as a strong statement, and they are not interested in the hurt that they might engender, and there are others who don't understand the hurt.

“So we need to educate people who might have a genuine feeling of sadness at loss of life. We all mourn loss of civilian life. But we need to educate people about messages and the way they are received by others in light of history. This will help bring society together.”

She says attitudes to Australia’s indigenous community provide an important comparison. “There are works of art and works of expression that we know would give great hurt to the indigenous community, and we've had a process of education in our society, of generally trying not to give offence to the indigenous community.

“It's a community that's been traumatised and has suffered, and Australians have made an effort to understand their cultural sensitivity. We need to try and do that with the Jewish community.”

As part of this, Australians need to understand that the threats posed by terrorist organisations are real, and long-term, she adds. Shortly after her appointment, Segal visited Buenos Aires for a meeting with other antisemitism envoys on the 30^th anniversary of the bombing of the Jewish community centre, an attack that Argentina has definitively attributed to Hezbollah. “Thirty years on, Hezbollah is now attacking Israel. Terrorist organisations have longevity unless they are effectively dealt with.”

“I don't know that we will eliminate everybody who wishes to show support for Hamas [and Hezbollah], but I think we need to educate.”

Segal has certainly started that process. But how will we be able to gauge her success at the end of her three-year appointment?

“I'm going to do research on attitudes, and I hope to repeat that in three years’ time and see whether there's been a change. We'll look at antisemitic incidents in general, at universities, how Jewish students feel, and also at school level. And how we've managed to revitalise Jewish life,” she says, among a host of other benchmarks.

“But we mustn't forget that although my focus is here, what happens here is influenced by what is happening overseas. We’re very dependent on international affairs. God forbid that we still have a war in three years’ time. But if there's been some kind of peace settlement in the Middle East, it will obviously be better for social cohesion.”

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