A pandemic of antisemitism and indifference
It is the Jewish students and staff who have to walk through the campus and see threatening and offensive banners and posters and hear chants calling on the destruction of their homeland.
I have worked as an academic at Sydney University for over 16 years.
Over the past months, since the massacres of October 7, I have witnessed a disturbing change on campus. A once peaceful and safe learning environment has been hijacked by pro-Palestinian activists, many of whom are supporters of the unimaginable violence perpetrated on October 7.
These pro-terror supporters have been allowed to intimidate and harass members of staff and students with impunity, all in the name of “free speech”. I can only imagine how it feels to be a Jewish student on campus. I am not even Jewish and I feel the hostility and threat. I honestly do not think Sydney University is a safe place for Jewish students anymore, and this is totally unacceptable and shameful.
The encampment in the very heart of the university, on the lawn of the Quadrangle is a symbol of the lack of leadership at the highest levels of the university. If this encampment was set up as a protest against any other minority it would have been dismantled long ago. Can you imagine a protest taking place in the Quadrangle stating “Death to Gays” or even “The Chinese government is genocidal”? No doubt the university would have zero tolerance for it. Yet when chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, a clear call for ethnic cleansing of Israel’s population are chanted, this is accepted by the university. It is a shameful double standard.
The university has repeatedly stated to staff that it has “zero tolerance for any form of racism, threats to safety, hate speech, intimidation, threatening speech, bullying or unlawful harassment, including antisemitic or anti-Muslim language or behaviour”. I have not seen a single example of intimidation or harassment against Muslims, so to keep stating that there is some sort of threat to the Muslim students is disingenuous and belittles the experience of the Jewish students and staff who are genuinely being impacted by this phenomenon.
It is the Jewish students and staff who have to walk through the campus and see threatening and offensive banners and posters and hear chants calling on the destruction of their homeland. I personally witnessed “so-called” students walking around the Quadrangle with their faces covered with scarves in what is clearly an attempt to disguise their identities and intimidate non-supporters. This is both threatening and a complete breach of university security and the university’s Code of Conduct.
How is it acceptable that Jewish students feel so unsafe, they have been forced to study online as though we are still in the middle of the pandemic. They are right: this is a pandemic. A pandemic of antisemitism, hate and indifference!
Furthermore, it is not only the Jewish community of the university that are impacted. The pro-Palestinian activists are so emboldened by the complete lack of leadership at the university, they are now disrupting lectures, intimidating staff and threatening normal events on campus, such as graduations which are due to take place next week. How can it be acceptable to have aggressive chanting and a tent city erected in the Quadrangle while students are celebrating their graduations?
Enough is enough! It is time for leadership to be shown and for this outrageous behaviour to be ended. We all know that freedom of speech is a basic tenet of our society. But when this “freedom of speech” results in the intimidation, harassment and disruption to thousands of students and staff on campus, it should not be tolerated. The senior management of the university has deliberately taken this weak and morally vacuous position and must urgently reverse it to avoid further damage to the institution’s reputation.
I used to say I was proud to work at Sydney University. I am now ashamed.
The anonymous professor at the University of Sydney would have proudly signed this letter with his name, but due to the threats from the toxic culture on campus, has been forced to sign it anonymously.
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