MEDIA RELEASE
14 December 2017

National Union of Students National Conference Resolution on Antisemitism

The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry, the peak rep­res­ent­at­ive body of the Aus­trali­an Jewish community and the national affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, warmly con­grat­u­lates the National Union of Students (NUS) for passing an historic res­ol­u­tion at its National Con­fer­ence today which expli­citly “condemns antisemitism in all its forms as defined by the… Inter­na­tion­al Holocaust Remem­brance Alliance (IHRA)”.
The IHRA Working Defin­i­tion of Antisemitism includes, among other things, “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel”, making “ste­reo­typ­ic­al alleg­a­tions about Jews con­trolling the media, economy, gov­ern­ment and other societal insti­tu­tions,” “denying the Jewish people their right of self-determ­in­a­tion, e.g., by claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavor”, and “drawing com­par­is­ons of con­tem­por­ary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”
The text of the res­ol­u­tion passed by the NUS National Con­fer­ence and the course of action pre­scribed by the res­ol­u­tion to counter antisemitism on Aus­trali­an campuses, is entirely sensible, uncon­tro­ver­sial and in keeping with the legal and moral duty of Aus­trali­an public insti­tu­tions to operate free from racial dis­crim­in­a­tion.
This res­ol­u­tion was long overdue. The ECAJ and our campus-based affiliate, the Aus­tralasi­an Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), have for a con­sid­er­able time warned of an increas­ingly toxic atmo­sphere on Aus­trali­an campuses for Jewish students, both as a result of resurgent neo- Nazi/far-right antisemitism and per­sist­ent far-left antisemitism.
The res­ol­u­tion was passed with the support of student groups affil­i­ated to both factions of the Aus­trali­an Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia, and all inde­pend­ent and unaf­fili­ated delegates.
It is shameful that the Trot­sky­ist group, Socialist Altern­at­ive, abstained on the motion. Its rep­res­ent­at­ives have acted in the worst tra­di­tions of Marxist dogmatism, giving a higher priority to adhering to the “correct” party line than to following the dictates of con­science and upholding the anti-racist prin­ciples for which they sup­posedly stand. This makes a mockery of their professed com­mit­ment to human rights and social justice and lays bare a deep prejudice and contempt for their Jewish fellow students, and Jewish Aus­trali­ans generally. Such double standards have become typical of con­tem­por­ary far-left discourse and activism. Instead of slavishly following the example of Trot­sky­ist groups overseas, it would be refresh­ing to see these young minds doing what uni­ver­sity students are supposed to do, by learning to think for them­selves.
We express the sincere hope that the leaders of Socialist Altern­at­ive will take stock of the fact that they alone have chosen to dismiss the concerns of Jewish Aus­trali­an students about racism and exclusion on campus, and have effect­ively rejected the right of an his­tor­ic­ally oppressed community to identify what racism against it consists of.
We commend the delegates at the National Con­fer­ence of the National Union of Students who voted con­scion­ably and respons­ibly to act against antisemitism in all its grotesque forms, and look forward to seeing real action against antisemitism and other forms of racism by the student community.
Contact:
Peter Wertheim AM | Executive Director
phone: 02 8353 8500 | m: 0408 160 904 | fax 02 9361 5888
e: [email protected] | www.ecaj.org.au

To download this media release as a PDF, click here.

To view the NUS motion, click here.