How Australia’s top universities misunderstand antisemitism

The Australian Group of Eight Universities (Go8) has made a submission to the Senate Committee considering the Bill before Parliament to establish a Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities.

The Go8 submission sets out the position of Australia’s leading universities: ANU, Sydney, UNSW, Melbourne, Monash, Adelaide, Queensland and WA.

It argues that any inquiry should not be limited to examining antisemitism at universities. Rather it should be broadened to incorporate “all forms of racial or religious intolerance and include universities, the media, schools and other key components of Australian society”.    

The submission insists that the Go8 rejects all forms of hate or prejudice, including ‘antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of racial or religious intolerance’. It points out, rather curiously, that the scenes at the Opera House on 8 October and antisemitic incidents elsewhere in public places did not occur on campuses. The submission does not identify the antisemitic incidents that did occur on campuses. A reading of the submission by the Australian Alliance Against Antisemitism will remedy the omission.

The Go8 submission is seriously flawed: