Jewish MPs are calling on all Australian universities to adopt a politically contested definition of antisemitism that some of the nation’s major academic institutions rejected months before the Gaza conflict broke out.
The definition lists several examples of antisemitism, including “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”.While the Alliance does go on to say that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic,” the definition has been contested in several countries by those who argue it enables institutions to shut down criticism of the Israeli government.
A University of Melbourne spokesperson said the development of a definition of Islamophobia “in consultation with our Muslim students and staff” was also in train. An ANU spokesperson responded to questions by citing a March 2023 statement from the university saying the institution had examined the Alliance definition before making its decision.“After extensive due diligence, the university’s view is that it has sufficient protections and measures in place to help prevent and respond to any form of discrimination within its existing policies and procedures,” the statement said.
The National Tertiary Education Union told this masthead that while it strongly opposed antisemitism and all forms of racism, “NTEU believes the IHRA definition of antisemitism at Australian universities has the potential to be misused to restrict academic freedom.”
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