Letters call to silence interfaith Israeli voices
'A coordinated smear campaign designed to intimidate universities, silence survivors of terror, and push a radical, one-sided political agenda'
StandWithUs Australia has hit back at open letters sent to three universities demanding that a multi-faith event educating about October 7 and social cohesion be cancelled.
The organisation has partnered with advocacy group ISRAEL-is on “Shared Stories: Interfaith Minority Voices for a Cohesive Future”, which will travel to Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Melbourne.
The event features “Survived to Tell”, a virtual reality experience featuring firsthand accounts of six survivors of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre, as well as a panel discussion that includes a Jewish, a Muslim and a Christian Israeli.
But letters sent to the leadership of the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney, and Monash University have demanded events on those campuses be cancelled due to the speakers having served in the IDF.
In an open letter to USYD vice chancellor Mark Scott, signatories erroneously claimed “the International Court of Justice found that Israel’s conduct in Gaza is plausibly genocidal”.
“We fear that this event will be used to generate support for the Israel Defence Forces and its genocidal campaign in Gaza,” they wrote.
The letters to UTS and Monash management, which shared much of the same text, took offence at ISRAEL-is having been established by former soldiers, while accusing the IDF of genocide, crimes against humanity, apartheid, using starvation as a weapon, and scholasticide.
“Most recently, the UN Human Rights Council released a report documenting the widespread use of sexual, reproductive and gender based violence by Israeli security forces, including against children as a part of its ‘self defence’,” they added, in reference to a highly politicised report that has been denounced as a “blood libel”.
The letters to UTS and Monash also accused Israel of using helicopters to murder its own citizens on October 7.
“Let’s call these letters what they are: a coordinated smear campaign designed to intimidate universities, silence survivors of terror, and push a radical, one-sided political agenda,” StandWithUs executive director Michael Gencher said.
“These are not good-faith expressions of concern. They are full of provable lies, dangerous rhetoric, and blatant hypocrisy.
“This is not activism. It is academic bullying. And if university leaders continue to yield to these types of campaigns, they should expect more of the same — more silencing, more division, more threats to open discourse and academic freedom.”
Gencher said the programs have toured more than 60 campuses around the world.
“They promote education, empathy, and social cohesion. And yet, staff and activist groups are demanding they be shut down. Why? Because they dare to give space to Israeli voices,” he said.
“We urge the Vice-Chancellors of Monash, USYD, and UTS — and all university leadership — to stand up to intimidation, defend truth and facts over ideology, and reaffirm the core mission of higher education: to educate, not indoctrinate.”
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