More than 200 students at the University of Sydney (USyd) voted to reject the Universities Australia (UA) definition of antisemitism at a Student General Meeting (SGM) convened by the Student Representative Council (SRC) on May 14.
Students voted to support a single democratic, secular state across all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea, and against USyd’s restrictions on the right to protest and free speech.
Students against War said that by voting against the UA definition of antisemitism, students clearly rejected management’s on-campus repression.
The UA definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly all 39 Australian universities, states that criticism of Israel can be antisemitic “when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel”.
It draws heavily on the widely-condemned International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, which has been opposed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the anti-Zionist Jewish Council of Australia have both opposed the UA definition.
In the lead-up to the SGM, the USyd had threatened to cancel the room booking, unless it was given permission to film and record the meeting in full and all students presented their identification to security.
These conditions were dropped after the SRC raised its opposition.
The result is a victory against the university’s threats and shows conclusively that, overwhelmingly, USyd students support Palestine.
Despite management’s obstacles, it couldn’t prevent students from taking collective action in defiance of the new restrictions on campus activism.
This victory increases the pressure on management and exposes its new definition of antisemitism as illegitimate. Students against War will continue to campaign until USyd ends its complicity with Israel’s genocide.
On May 22, there will be a protest outside F23 against USyd’s exchange program with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ). HUJ trains IDF soldiers in its elite Havatzalot, soldiers who are committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
USyd students on exchange are housed in its Mt Scopus Campus, an illegal settlement in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Amnesty International states it makes little difference whether an illegal settlement in an occupied territory is used for residential housing or educational institutions. Both violate international law, something USyd continues to endorse.