Vile Hate on Campus
A USYD spokesperson told The AJN that the gathering was “in no way an official University of Sydney event, and was led by a speaker who was not from the university”.
Of all the disturbing anti-Israel and antisemitic protests seen across university campuses, few were more jarring than watching young Australian school children chant “intifada, intifada” and “Israel is a terror state,” while their parents smiled and their peers cheered.
Macquarie University academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah and the group Families for Palestine organised the “special excursion” to the University of Sydney to support the “brave students” taking part in the pro-Palestine encampments on campus.
“How many of you have ever felt a little scared to stand up to a bully?” Abdel-Fattah gently asked the children, before offering them the megaphone “to lead chants of their choosing”.
A USYD spokesperson told The AJN that the gathering was “in no way an official University of Sydney event, and was led by a speaker who was not from the university”, but failed to condemn it as hate speech.
“We have always welcomed the public, including families and their children, onto our iconic campus but parents or carers are responsible for decisions relating to their children and all visitors must abide by the law and our campus access rule,” the spokesperson said.
An explosive document from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Student Affairs unit, uncovered by Sky News, revealed that USYD views the word ‘intifada’ as “an expression of a political stance in connection with pro-Palestinian activism as opposed to being a statement in support of terrorist acts”.
Suicide bombings by terrorists targeting and claiming the lives of hundreds of innocent Israelis were a feature of the Second Intifada.
Abdel-Fattah was granted the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in 2022, costing taxpayers over $800,000.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson, along with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), have led calls for Abdel-Fattah’s research funding to be revoked.
“Australian taxpayers should not be providing $837,000 to an activist academic who has engaged in such appalling conduct,” Henderson said.
Macquarie University has not condemned Abdel-Fattah for inciting hate speech, but a spokesperson told The AJN that at this stage, “the university is working to wholly understand the facts of this matter”. “Where there is found to be a breach of policy, the university will act to address the matter under its policies and procedures.”
Education Minister Jason Clare has not directly condemned the protests on campus, including the encampments at both USYD and the University of Melbourne, prompting Henderson to further lash out.
“This is getting out of control and if you can’t do your job as the Minister of Education then please resign,” Henderson said.
“We have now seen children dragged into this fiasco, used as pawns to divide and not unite our community. Encouraging children to chant anti-Israel and anti-Jewish slogans is absolutely abhorrent. I say shame on the Minister for not directly condemning this appalling conduct.”
Allegra Spender MP said it is “unconscionable” that young children are being included in hateful chanting on campus, while Kellie Sloane MP called it “indoctrination of our children”.
AUJS NSW co-president Danielle Tischmann said it’s “heartbreaking” to see the University of Sydney allow its campus to become a safe haven for preaching hatred.
“It’s incomprehensible that students are walking to class hearing young children chanting for violence,” Tischmann told The AJN.
“But our Jewish students are doing their best to remain proud of their identity, and remain calm when faced with these unsettling scenes.
“Despite all the hatred, AUJS executives at USYD continue to organise events that bring Jewish students together, and advocate for our community with the University, at the highest level.”
The ECAJ has called for encampments at USYD and at the University of Melbourne to be dismantled, while Henderson has demanded students be expelled.
Jewish staff and students have reported feeling “afraid” to attend classes and do not feel supported by their universities.
A third camp at Australian National University in Canberra has also been established.
A Jewish staff member at USYD told The AJN she feels “stressed and anxious” being on campus, while Josh Burns MP said he knows of many Jewish students who are “frankly afraid to go to university right now”.
ECAJ president Daniel Aghion said 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,” he said.
“We call on the Federal Education Minister, state education ministers and vice-chancellors to take immediate action … 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.” Henderson said the vice-chancellors of two of Australia’s most prestigious universities “must expel students and call in the police”.
“In the face of escalating harassment, intimidation and threats of violence by pro-Palestinian activists, the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne are failing to act,” she said.
Allegra Spender MP has called on Clare to make it clear he does not support the encampments.
“I have spoken to many students who have been humiliated and frightened – excluded from university clubs, threatened online, had food thrown at them and confronted by terrible instances of antisemitism. Many are no longer coming to university.”
A USYD spokesperson told The AJN, “We are actively engaging with the protesters in a civil and peaceful manner, and support their right to express their views in a safe, respectful and legal manner.”
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