Antisemitism policy puts freedoms on the line, says UOW academic

UOW has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, which has been criticised by main university union over its potential impact on academic discourse.

The University Council adopted the definition in April last year - but staff said they did not find out until recently and were not consulted.

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Marcelo Svirsky, who lectures in Middle Eastern politics, said something of that magnitude should have been done more transparently.

He said free discussion of Israel could be affected with the threat of complaints.

"Council's decision means that NTEU members at UOW could be accused of antisemitism because over the last couple of years the union passed a number of resolutions condemning Israel's violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, which were endorsed by a large majority," he said in the piece.

He says an opinion piece he wrote on the topic was refused for publication in the internal platform Universe.

"The bottom line of this definition is to shut down critical views of the policies of state of Israel.

"Academic freedom and freedom of expression at UOW is at stake."

The IHRA definition includes the example: "Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic."

A UOW spokesman said the decision was considered by its People and People and Culture Committee. It and the council included people from across the university, including staff and student representatives.

"A statement [is on] the UOW website and includes an invitation for further feedback from the university community; we have received no negative feedback to date," he said.

"In committing to defining antisemitism and other forms of racism and discrimination that affect our community, we are resolute in our commitment to meaningfully engage staff and students in education to prevent discrimination in all its forms."

The spokesman said Universe did not publish opinion pieces, and had a 250 word limit.

Union opposed

The National Tertiary Education Union last year voted to oppose the definition and any policies which "prohibit criticism of Israel by any Australian academic institution".

An NTEU spokesperson told the Mercury staff should always be consulted on all matters related to academic freedom and this was no exception.

"The NTEU opposes antisemitism and all prejudice in the strongest terms," a statement said.

"The union has a proud history of standing up against oppression and defending academic freedom.

"The NTEU believes adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism at universities should be opposed because of its potential to restrict academic freedom and chill free speech."

Endorsed in parliament

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark commended UOW for adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism and "urged all universities across NSW to do the same".

"The IHRA definition provides clear examples of antisemitism to educate and guide community action against it," he said.

"As Premier Dominic Perrottet has said, to fight something, you need to be able to identify it. A definition is an essential tool to do just that."

Mr Bark said the definition had been endorsed and adopted by the NSW Government, the NSW Legislative Council, NSW Labor and other universities.

"With antisemitism on the rise around the world and NSW experiencing the highest reported number of antisemitic incidents in Australia, the adoption of the IHRA definition is more important now than ever," Mr Bark said.