Zionists need to show how they fit into progressive agendas

Student politics reveal tensions between the Australian Left and Jews, but PHILIP MENDES argues the relationship is not irreconcilable.

During 2022, three student unions from leading universities – University of Melbourne, Australian National University and University of Sydney – have passed extreme pro-BDS, anti-Israel motions.

The inflammatory and binary language (for example, all Israelis and Zionists are evil oppressors and conversely all Palestinians are innocent victims of oppression) typically used in these motions can be highly intimidating and alarming to Jewish students, but do they matter?

On the one hand, student unions have little real power or influence, and most student politicians quickly disappear from the public eye once they graduate. But there is no doubt that the BDS movement targets students because they are more likely to be progressive in their politics and sympathise with the perceived underdog. This targeting is strategic because university students are likely to form the next generation of opinion leaders in significant professions, plus the media, business and politics.

It seems, however, that the demographic of radical student politics is changing. For many decades dating back to the mid-1970s, small radical Left (often Marxist-influenced) groups led anti-Israel campaigns. Those groups are still active, but in many cases, are now aligned with students from Arab and North African backgrounds. Some of the latter cohort are informed by Islamist perspectives, and have no inhibitions in expressing racist and religious-based bigotry towards Jews as well as political anti-Zionist perspectives. Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are increasingly converging.

Another influential factor is that Jewish student politics has shifted in recent decades towards greater engagement with progressive movements. Most Jewish students used to either be politically non-committed or alternatively lean to political conservatism, and largely ignored the anti-Israel views expressed by some radical Left groups. But today, many younger Jews are attracted to progressive causes such as climate change, and support for the rights of First Nation Australians and refugees. Jewish millennials want to actively integrate their Jewish values (i.e. their commitment to concepts such as tzedakah and tikkun olam) and their broader social justice activities. But they often hit a roadblock because some progressive groups, informed by intersectionality and so-called hierarchies of oppression, explicitly exclude "Zionists" from their ranks.