Students at the University of Sydney turned their backs on Jewish students addressing antisemitism and hate crimes against Jews on campus.
As reported by the Australian Jewish News, the Jewish students were speaking against motions at a Student Representative Council (SRC) General Meeting held on May 14.
The meeting had been convened by group “Students Against War” to reject the university’s newly adopted antisemitism definition—endorsed by almost all Australian universities—and formally call for the elimination of Israel.
When Jewish postgraduate student Kovi Rose condemned Hamas, a large majority of the 200 students present stood up and physically turned their backs on him.
Jewish student Kovi Rose. Photo: Honi Soit/Instagram
He said: “Anti-Zionism currently takes all of the evils of the world like colonialism, white supremacy, and genocide, and projects them onto the Jewish people. All that Jewish students are asking for is the right to determine for themselves and not be told by their detractors what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be discriminated against and what it means to be anti-Semitic.”
Anti-Israel activists claimed Israel had “no right to exist” and declared there was “no such thing as Jewish self-determination in Israel.”
Additional motions demanded the university revoke its anti-protest Campus Access Policy, end exchange programmes with Israeli universities, and commit SRC resources to campaigns against the university’s ties with Israel.
Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) public affairs coordinator Jack Mars said: “We need your help… you’re meant to stand for solidarity for minority groups on campus. Quite frankly, we feel abandoned. You turn your back on us… You say it’s all some sort of conspiracy to silence criticism of Israel. That’s ridiculous.”
He described the meeting as “emotionally draining” where “many comments made cut to the core of our identity”, adding that “at every stage where there has been an opportunity to engage, and listen to us and take us seriously, they prefer to claim that we’re making it all up… That it’s all part of some conspiracy to attack free speech.
“There’s clearly a culture problem on campus that’s been allowed to develop which has allowed things like this to blossom… It’s going to take a lot of work to correct that culture.”
Michele Goldman, chief executive of the Jewish Board of Deputies, said: “The core purpose of the meeting was to vote on motions that were inherently racist.”
David Knoll, a director of the Australian Academic Alliance against Antisemitism (5A), called it “profoundly racist to deny the right of self-determination to the Jewish people and only the Jewish people”.
A University of Sydney spokesperson told Australian Jewish News that student representative and student-led groups operate independently and do not represent the views of the University.
