“Jewish students, staff and academics continue to be targeted on campuses, and this abusive and bullying conduct is rarely called out publicly or met with consequences. Even when universities take action against perpetrators, they tend to do so quietly and only after a protracted process.
“There is no transparency and no institutional or individual accountability, and no public censure of the perpetrators or their conduct. Universities have too often become captive to fringe extremist groups who monopolise elections, dictate where student fees go, and frequently abuse the very structures that are meant to protect all staff and students.
“In recent times we have seen university academics who have participated in Hamas rallies abroad, called for the execution of ‘Zionists’ and displayed slides of Nazi propaganda, yet they have faced zero consequences. There has been no visible disciplinary action, as there would be in any other workplace.
“We hope that the Royal Commission examines this and other types of conduct in order to make significant recommendations to address the problem across areas such as harassment and vilification, student staff and safety, Jewish exclusion from university life, foreign influence and strengthening university standards and responses. Change must take the form of legal, educational and policy responses.
“The Universities have become so enmeshed in their twisted interpretations of academic freedom and freedom of expression that they will not publicly condemn or even dissociate themselves from these overt expressions of racism, even when they so clearly infringe on others’ academic freedom and freedom of expression.
“This is a betrayal of fundamental standards of intellectual integrity, and a shameful abandonment of the duty of care owed by universities to their students and staff. We want universities to be places where students and staff are safe and feel safe, where critical thinking is encouraged, and where there is zero tolerance for racial hatred and abuse.”
Simone Abel
Head of Legal, ECAJ
