‘Capitulation’ to campus occupiers condemned
The AJN understands there is concern at high levels within the university at the style in which its vice-chancellor and other senior management have conjoined “antisemitism”.
Jewish leaders have called for an investigation after a deal was struck between the University of Melbourne and demonstrators occupying sections of its Parkville campus, in which the university agreed to disclose ties with Israel – a move Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson called a “capitulation”.
And the university’s vice-chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell has been accused of misjudging the intensity of anti-Jewish hatred on his campus after an email he sent last month condemning “all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia”.
The AJN understands there is concern at high levels within the university at the style in which its vice-chancellor and other senior management have conjoined “antisemitism” and “Islamophobia”, when, sources said, the former was rampant on Australian campuses today, while the latter was marginal.
The university confirmed late last week that protesters would end an occupation that lasted more than a week, after it agreed to widen disclosure of its research ties with Israel.
In a May 24 email to the university community,Maskell assured the university “is committing to additional disclosure of its research grant arrangements as they relate to research projects, the parties who support that research and the quantum”.
Maskell included a link to the university’s ‘Middle East Conflict website’, which describes itself as “provid[ing] updates and advice to the University community in response to increased activism on our campuses in relation to ongoing conflict in the Middle East”.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria prresident Philip Zajac called for a probe into the mayhem at Melbourne University, and expressed “grave concerns that the university has capitulated to extremists”.
Vile language calling for the obliteration of Israel reached a fever pitch as‘unimelbforpalestine’ posted on Instagram: “Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist” – sharing a blog from a US-Palestinian activist, who added, “Israel has lost all legitimacy … No more simple calls for the end of bombs, no more calls to ceasefire, the calls need to emphasise that Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist.”
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