The Exec­u­tive Coun­cil of Aus­tralian Jew­ry (ECAJ) is the offi­cial nation­al rep­re­sen­ta­tive body of the Aus­tralian Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty.

We work close­ly with the Aus­tralasian Union of Jew­ish Stu­dents (AUJS), which is the fed­er­a­tion of Jew­ish stu­dent soci­eties at Aus­tralian and New Zealand uni­ver­si­ties and oth­er high­er edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tions and is an affil­i­ate of the ECAJ.

The ECAJ is mon­i­tor­ing with grave con­cern the dete­ri­o­rat­ing sit­u­a­tion on US cam­pus­es and events at Aus­tralian uni­ver­si­ties, par­tic­u­lar­ly the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mel­bourne.

The estab­lish­ment of encamp­ments on sev­er­al Amer­i­can cam­pus­es has served to mobilise anti-Israel and anti­se­mit­ic fer­vour, endan­ger­ing Jew­ish stu­dents and aca­d­e­m­ic staff and pos­ing a direct threat to the basic right of stu­dents to assem­ble and learn in peace, free from intim­i­da­tion, racial­ly moti­vat­ed hatred and sup­port for ter­ror­ism.

Unit­ed States Pres­i­dent Joe Biden referred to events at sev­er­al US uni­ver­si­ties as “bla­tant anti­semitism [which] is rep­re­hen­si­ble and dan­ger­ous – and has absolute­ly no place on col­lege cam­pus­es, or any­where in our coun­try.”

In the past few days, we have seen sim­i­lar attempts to form anti-Israel encamp­ments at sev­er­al Aus­tralian uni­ver­si­ties. We have also seen anti-Israel activists at Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty enter­ing lec­tures and pho­tograph­ing stu­dents who fail to agree with their posi­tions on the Israel-Hamas war. At Syd­ney Uni­ver­si­ty, adults open­ly encour­aged chil­dren to chant in sup­port of Pales­tin­ian sui­cide bomb­ings and to declare Israel as “a ter­ror­ist state.”

These dis­turb­ing events must be met with res­olute lead­er­ship from uni­ver­si­ty admin­is­tra­tions and gov­ern­ment. Uni­ver­si­ties must be cen­tres of learn­ing achieved through the free and respect­ful exchange of ideas. Seek­ing to intim­i­date, harass and exclude those who fail to con­form to a rigid ide­o­log­i­cal posi­tion is the very antithe­sis of this. Fore­most, uni­ver­si­ties must remain places where stu­dents and aca­d­e­mics can engage with each oth­er in safe­ty. Sup­port for pro­scribed ter­ror­ist organ­i­sa­tions, instances of racial vil­i­fi­ca­tion, intim­i­da­tion and harass­ment must be dealt with by uni­ver­si­ties and law enforce­ment.

AUJS and the ECAJ have been in reg­u­lar con­tact with the Fed­er­al Edu­ca­tion Min­is­ter, the Shad­ow Edu­ca­tion Min­is­ter and Vice-Chan­cel­lors to con­vey the expe­ri­ences and con­cerns of Jew­ish stu­dents and aca­d­e­mics.

We call on the Fed­er­al Edu­ca­tion Min­is­ter, state edu­ca­tion min­is­ters and Vice-Chan­cel­lors to take imme­di­ate action to ensure the safe­ty of all stu­dents and staff. A fail­ure to do so risks per­ma­nent­ly degrad­ing the rep­u­ta­tion of our world class uni­ver­si­ty sec­tor and turn­ing cam­pus­es into no-go areas for Jew­ish stu­dents and aca­d­e­mics. The encamp­ments must be dis­man­tled.

Read the ECAJ’s com­ments in today’s The Aus­tralian, Dai­ly Tele­graph and Syd­ney Morn­ing Her­ald.