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The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Muslim groups reject push for new Islamophobia definition at Australian universities
A coalition of Muslim and Palestinian organisations have rejected a push by universities to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia, arguing it would 'shield' the institutions from criticism of their contentious new antisemitism definition, and that a unified standard that rejects all racism is what is needed. Last month, Australia's universities confirmed they would unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after an inquiry recommended higher education providers 'closely align' with the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition. The eight organisations, which include the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (Aman), the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Muslim Women Australia and the Muslim Legal Network, are urging universities to replace the antisemitism definition with a unified anti-racism standard that would apply to all communities – regardless of race and religion. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In a joint statement, they said adopting an antisemitism definition or any separate definitions for racism – including one for Islamophobia – would 'perpetuate double standards' by leveraging groups against each other. 'The antisemitism definition, soon to be part of university education and complaint schemes, risks suppressing legitimate criticism of Israel,' they said. 'Developing such narrow definitions will result in gaps and a failure to protect all persons from racism, bigotry and discrimination.' The definition adopted by universities states that criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is 'not in and of itself antisemitic' but 'can be' when 'grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel's actions'. Chief executive of the Group of Eight (G08), Vicki Thomson, said the Go8 developed the new definition at the request of the special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, following a rise in antisemitism on campuses after 7 October 2023. 'This does not take away from the fact that our universities have been undertaking important work to address Islamophobia, as well as other forms of racism on our campuses,' she said. 'It is not a matter of either/or.' Universities have been consulting with Muslim students and staff as to whether to develop a separate definition for Islamophobia as part of their antiracism commitments, as has been done at Monash University. The University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney are seeking to do the same. The Muslim and pro-Palestinian groups strongly opposed implementing a separate Islamophobia definition, arguing it would 'shield' universities from criticism of the antisemitism definition, while also excluding Palestinian voices. Legal advisor to Aman, Rita Jabri Markwell, said it would 'make matters worse'. 'The antisemitism definition encroaches on Palestinian rights and freedom of expression, it's unlikely any Islamophobia definition could remedy that problem,' she said. 'Allowing universities to adopt different standards for different groups is not the answer. 'If there is an institutional bias that already exists, universities will be able to use whichever definition they prefer. We need one unified standard that rejects dehumanisation and promotes equality for all, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion In its place, the organisations have backed the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network's definition of dehumanisation, which has been used since the Christchurch massacre in 2019 to push back against hate speech and harmful stereotypes among any group based on race, religion or ethnicity. It defines dehumanisation as 'material produced or published, which an ordinary person would conclude, portrays the class of persons identified on the basis of a protected characteristic as not deserving to be treated equally to other humans because they lack qualities intrinsic to humans'. President of Apan, Nasser Mashni, said universities weren't responding to the 'pervasiveness' of anti-Palestinian racism. He said any separate definition of Islamophobia, if it were to be adopted alongside the antisemitism definition, would be 'piecemeal' and wouldn't address the root of the issue. 'It's Palestinian racism,' he said. 'You can experience it as a Muslim, also as a teacher who's scared to teach a class because of the antisemitism definition, or a student who decides to self-censor,' he said. 'We don't want any separate definitions, there should not be this hierarchy of hate.' The CEO for Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, said racism had 'no place' in Australia's universities. 'Sadly, university campuses are not immune to racism in all forms, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and the experience of First Nations people,' he said. 'Universities Australia wrote to TEQSA [Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency] to seek their support to assist our 39 member universities to combat racism and to ensure we have a harmonised approach to dealing with these issues, consistent with our collective efforts to address all forms of discrimination.' Some Jewish groups that had pushed for the IHRA definition to be adopted are lukewarm on how effective the new antisemitism definition will be. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which acts as the umbrella organisation for more than 200 Jewish groups across the nation, said the body hoped to see 'better identification of antisemitic conduct and more effective complaints-handling at universities' and would wait to see the new definition in practice.
The Guardian
27-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australian universities' new antisemitism definition has some academics worried. Here's why
Australia's universities have confirmed they will unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after an inquiry recommended higher education providers 'closely align' with the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition. The working definition, developed by Group of Eight (Go8) institutions, was unanimously endorsed by Universities Australia's 39 members this week and made public on Wednesday, based on close work with Jillian Segal, the special envoy to combat antisemitism. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Here's what you need to know. The adoption of a sector-wide definition emerged as a key recommendation of a report on antisemitism on Australian university campuses, which found there was an 'urgent need for reform' to ensure the safety of Jewish students and staff. The report, tabled this month by the chair of the parliamentary joint committee on human rights, Labor MP Josh Burns, found the reluctance of university leaders to enforce 'meaningful consequences' had allowed a 'toxic environment to escalate', resulting in a 'lack of trust' between the Jewish community and universities. The committee received more than 600 submissions, many from Jewish students and staff detailing their experiences of antisemitism since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Universities were criticised by the opposition and some Jewish groups for their handling of pro-Palestinian encampments, which were disbanded largely peacefully last year. The definition states: 'Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, harassment, exclusion, vilification, intimidation or violence that impedes Jews' ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life.' The definition states that criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is 'not in and of itself antisemitic' but further reads: Criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel's actions … All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word 'Zionist' for 'Jew' does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic. Thomson said the Go8 consulted widely with various stakeholders, including 'select eminent members of the Jewish community', to craft a definition that addressed 'practical concerns'. It was endorsed by the Group of Eight (Go8) board in December, and will be reviewed after a 12-month period. The IHRA's definition of antisemitism has been adopted by many countries and organisation around the globe, including the US state department, several European governments and the Australian government. It has also been contentious due to concerns it could be used to shut down legitimate criticism of the state of Israel. It defines antisemitism as 'a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.' It lists 11 specific examples of antisemitism in public life, including: 'Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor' and 'targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity'. The definition agreed to by universities does not include some of the IHRA's specific examples of antisemitism, but it does refer directly to criticism of Zionism as potentially being antisemitic, unlike the IHRA definition, which does not mention Zionism. The chief executive of the Go8, Vicki Thomson, said 'consistent and clear advice' from members was that the IHRA definition was 'not workable' without adaptation to the Australian context, acknowledging concerns raised over the IHRA's potential limiting of academic freedom. Critics have cited 'unreasonable' accusations on campuses after many UK universities adopted the IHRA definition. Australian universities have been split on whether to adopt the IHRA definition. In January 2023, the University of Melbourne became the first institution to announce it would adopt it as part of its broader anti-racism commitment. The university definition will act as a non-legally binding guide for individual providers to interpret when determining antisemitic conduct. It will not change freedom of speech policies, and is unlikely to apply to contested phrases such as 'from the river to the sea' because there is no clarity about when or whether using them would be against the law. But it will factor into how universities make rulings on allegations racial discrimination, harassment or vilification that could lead to disciplinary proceedings against individual students and academics. A report into the application of the IHRA definition in a UK context found 40 cases between 2017 and 2022 where staff or students were accused of antisemitism based on the definition. Almost all the claims were ultimately rejected, but the report found many led to long disciplinary processes, two led to threats of legal action, and 11 prevented events, student activism or scholarship on campus. Some academics at Australian universities have warned the definition could have a 'chilling' effect and limit the scope of what could be taught on the Middle East. Naama Blatman, a Jewish-Israeli academic of settler-colonialism and Israel/Palestine, said she believed the definition could be 'weaponised' to silence her work. She said on a practical level, funding could be removed for research that applied critical theory on Israel/Palestine, while promotion applications could be delayed or rejected and 'entire literature' would be excluded from courses. 'There is a genuine risk in terms of academic freedom and rigour to have an entrenchment of cultural intimidation,' she said. A sessional academic at the University of Sydney, Fahad Ali, said he would not comply with the direction and 'looked forward' to a court challenge if he were disciplined. Ali posted on social media that universities would 'not seek to prohibit First Nations from criticising Australia as a state built on anti-Indigenous bloodshed and prejudice'. Some Jewish groups that had pushed for the IHRA definition to be adopted are lukewarm on how effective the new definition will be. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), which acts as the umbrella organisation for more than 200 Jewish groups across the nation, said the body hoped to see 'better identification of antisemitic conduct and more effective complaints-handling at universities' and would wait to see the new definition in practice. Late last year, the ECAJ wrote to Thomson expressing 'disappointment' that it hadn't been consulted on efforts to develop the definition. The Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, a coalition of members across universities and medical centres, said unlike the Universities Australia definition, the IHRA 'does not set a high threshold requiring proof of a particular adverse impact'. 'Conduct or accusations, such as 'Israelis/Zionists are the new Nazis', which … do not actually impede a Jewish student's ability to attend classes or a Jewish academic's ability to attend a staff meeting, can easily be antisemitic yet still pass muster under the Go8 definition,' they said in a statement. Sarah Schwartz, a human rights lawyer and executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said Zionism, as a political ideology, 'should be subject to debate, not insulated from critique'. 'This definition risks increasing antisemitism by suggesting that all Jews support the state of Israel, and can be held responsible for Israel's egregious human rights abuses.'
