Published: 15 August 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
La Trobe has struck out on its own, neither fully adopting the antisemitism definition nor fully rejecting it.
La Trobe University has decided to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism - but without the definition’s 11 examples.
The university fears the examples “could pose potential limitations to academic freedom and reasonable political debate which could be misclassified as antisemitic behaviour”.
The examples are controversial because they include language about Israel which the definition classes as antisemitism, such as comparing Israel’s policy to that of the Nazis or requiring behaviour from Israel not expected of other democratic countries.
La Trobe’s decision follows a raft of other decisions by Australian universities this year in relation to the IHRA definition. It is the first to adopt the definition in a modified form.
In a letter dated August 10, La Trobe Vice-Chancellor John Dewar said that in addition to the IHRA definition, the university would also adopt the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) guidelines, “which the university considers will best support academic freedom and reasonable political debate”.
The Jerusalem definition also contains examples of Israel statements considered antisemitic but also specifically excludes criticism of Israel or calls for boycotts as examples of antisemitism.
