[VERSION2.0] Submission to the Australian People's Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine
Version 2.0 updated with version history
Summary
UPDATED V2.0 submission to the Australian Universities people’s inquiry into campus free speech on Palestine.
First published: 15 April 2025
Last updated: 25 Nov 2025 (see version history)
Shortcut: Jump past contents to start reading main body of the article:
Foreword
This is my submission to the people’s inquiry into campus free speech on Palestine. I was a recent full-time student at Sydney University living on campus through 2024, the period of the Sydney University Palestinian solidarity encampment.
I have a form of autism that gives me challenges with my writing so the text may be verbose with errors and phrasing issues, so I appreciate your accomodation.
I have also published this submission as a Substack article online. It may provide an easier format to read with direct links to references. I may also update a second Substack version, however - I will keep the original version unchanged as submitted to the inquiry. Links below:
Version 1.0 - Original: Unchanged as at 15 April 2025 date of submission to the Inquiry:
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/submission-to-the-australian-peoples
Version 2.0 - Updated: Contains latest updates after the date of submission with a version history of updates:
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/version20-submission-to-the-australian
Contents
2.1 Personal statement on the Sydney University Palestinian solidarity encampment
2.5 Applicability of Sydney University Policies to External Organisers
2.8 Hodgkinson External Review of Sydney University Policies
Appendices: ⚠️ with indicative relevance to inquiry
Appendix D: Australian antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal - a history of pro-Israel bias
Appendix K: An analysis of NewsCorp media manipulation: the 2023 Voice Referendum
Appendix L: Lobbying for Israel: language and communications strategies
Appendix N: The Pro-Israel Lobby and the Australian Parliament
END PAPERS
1. Introduction
This is my submission to the people’s inquiry into campus free speech on Palestine. A few points of introduction
I am an Australian citizen, and I was a full-time postgraduate student at Sydney University during the year of 2024.
I was living on Sydney University campus and every day I walked past the Sydney University Palestine encampment when it was in operation from April 23rd to June 22nd, 2024. I often spoke with the organisers, who will be familiar with me and some research I had passed on.
I attended a number of Sydney University protest events in addition to the regular Sunday protests in Sydney CBD.
Therefore, my experience of restrictions on free speech on campus will be limited to experiences with the University of Sydney. However, my submission focuses on directly relevant broader causal effects from external sources that would impact all campuses.
I have no other declarations of interest with regards to the inquiry. I am writing in a personal and unpaid capacity. My views do not reflect those of organisations I currently work for or have worked for in the past.
1.1 Record of events
As a writer, I followed and documented events on Sydney University campus and in the broader Australian political sphere throughout the year. As an autistic person I try to be as complete as possible with checking facts and quoting references from reliable sources and can often spot trends and connections others may not.
This is why I believe I have a unique detailed and referenced record of events on campus with their linkages to external events and actors throughout the year.
I have included a summary of my articles and posts referenced in the body of this submission or otherwise relevant in the Appendices, all of which are similarly fully referenced.
I hope at least they may provide a source of historical reference and evidence assisting the broader inquiry.
1.2 Structure of this submission
I intend to structure my submission with the Terms of Reference of the inquiry in mind. I will touch on the procedural aspects of the ToR (1)-(6) but I intend to provide (7) additional matters related to the other ToR.
These are included in section 3. Other of the main body of the submission, and in Appendix A: Further questions for the inquiry.
However - the main text of the submission is in the Appendices. The reason for extensive additional information is cause and effect.
There are often external factors and external actors involved influencing the treatment of staff and students on campus which need to be called out and the reasons for this with supporting evidence to highlight the root-cause of impacts on the issue - civil rights and freedom of speech.
Furthermore - individuals and organisations directly involved in influencing the impact on free speech at universities have questions on their own credibility and biases that must be answered. These actors are University Administrators, external civil society pro-Israel lobby institutions and members of Parliament.
This is often missing from inquiries which can focus on the symptoms and not the root-cause actors up the chain external to the institution.
I provide evidence throughout with references either to primary sources or sections of articles I had previously written on the subject at the time which in turn quote primary sources.
⚠️ Note: for ease of reference throughout and particularly in the appendices I have indicated using the ⚠️ symbol why I consider particular sections are relevant to the inquiry. The panel of course may consider other items of information in the appendices relevant at their discretion.
1.3 Terminology
When I refer to “on campus” in this submission I am referring specifically to the University of Sydney where I was a full-time student living on campus during the calendar year 2024.
I refer to the events from October 7th 2023 to current day in the Gaza Strip as “the Gaza crisis” in this submission.
I am recognising international law which Australia is obliged to follow with regards to findings from international legal bodies against the State of Israel’s actions.
Note that this includes breaches of international law and human rights violations prior to October 7th 2023 which merely cast a spotlight on the history for the world to see events prior to that date. This gives context to the Secretary-General of the United Nations’ words on October 24th 2023 referring to the terrible events of the 7th - “this did not happen in a vacuum”1.
This context is important as Israel’s actions both before and after October 7th are essentially what was being protested by Sydney University students - in addition to protesting Sydney University’s direct involvement in the Israeli defence industry.2
Criticising Israel’s actions both during the Gaza crisis and before or an educational institution’s complicity are not antisemitic by any reasonable definition (Appendix G: Definitions of antisemitism contrasts some different definitions of antisemitism, including IHRA).
2. Sydney University
The following section focuses specifically on Sydney University events in 2024 regarding pro-Palestine protest. Particular attention is paid to the period of the operation of the Sydney University Palestinian solidarity encampment starting April 23rd (Semester 1 week 9) and ending:
17th June - Students for Palestine (SRC)
22nd June - Students against War / SUMSA (Semester 1 final week 13 - this later date will be used when expressing the duration of the encampment)
2.1 Personal Statement on the Sydney University Palestinian solidarity encampment
2.1.1 Encampment
During the operation of the Sydney University encampment and attending other student events after I did not:
witness any violent incidents or incidents of harassment
hear any antisemitic, racist or otherwise offensive language used by any of the protestors either students or otherwise
hear anyone glorifying Hamas or excusing or celebrating the events of October 7th . When asked - those events were universally condemned by those I spoke with, without dwelling on the day itself
I was impressed with the respectful operation of the Sydney University encampment, in particular with the respectful treatment of the ANZAC Day service in the Quadrangle Courtyard.
I was also pleased to see the professional way the organisers conducted themselves - in particular setting out “rules of engagement” for the camp ahead of a counter protest on 3rd May 2024 when Israeli counter protestors directly confronted the camp. Non-engagement and the use of legal observers were an appropriate response.
2.1.2 Muslim protestors and students
Specifically, regarding Muslim protestors and students, I did not witness any negative behaviour as listed above either. In fact, Muslims protestors were keen to clarify that the flags they were carrying with Arabic writing were standard religious flags carried at festivals and other events to avoid any confusion or concern due to demonising press reports.
They were proud of their religion, misrepresented by racist press in Australia. My understanding from discussion is that the flags they carried with Arabic writing in fact were also an anti-terrorist statement - pushing back at terrorist groups such as Islamic State who had appropriated such flags, taking back the celebration of their religion3.
The press and other has misconstrued this with images saying, “is this what we want on our campuses?” with Muslim marchers - implying they were supporting terrorist causes.
This was absolutely not the case from my experience.
When discussing Islam, I had a general discussion with Muslim students with no attempts at proselytism as has also been misconstrued. I am aware there were a number of “teach-ins” in awareness of Islam - as would be appropriate in any community to build broader awareness, understanding and social cohesion between groups and a positive aspect of the camp which should be mirrored in broader society.
2.1.3 Jewish protestors and students
I had witnessed several Jewish speakers at the encampment and spoke with Jewish students in attendance. It was a welcoming space for people of all religions. As is the constant conflation - the argument is not with Jewish people as a whole - but with the State of Israel and its constant oppression of the Palestinians. The predominant religion in that state is irrelevant.
I note the Jewish Council of Australia April 29th 2024 statement on this also reflecting my experience4.
I did note negative treatment of the Jewish protestors themselves from the pro-Israel lobby which I have detailed in 3.2 Accusations of antisemitism against Jewish speakers - quoting out of context (UTS).
2.1.4 Criticism
If I had one criticism it would be protests that “occupied” the main City Road for a period - which was dangerous to the protestors themselves, public and I did not agree with this. Whilst the protestors had been careful to remain within boundaries ensuring reputation of the protest overall, this showed poor judgement.
2.2 Contrasting Treatment
There were a number of incidents on campus contrasting treatment between the pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups.
2.2.1 Welcome Week (Feb 2024)
In welcome week apparently an Israeli flag was damaged at an AJUS stall.
However - notably a pro-Israel activist and Sydney University student Freya Leach filmed herself tearing down posters during Sydney University Welcome Week holding a speaker playing Israeli music5.
Apparently Ms. Leach had also been caught previously doing this the previous Term in an Honi Soit post6.
Ms. Leach’s own actions on deplatforming Palestinians were clearly in breach of Sydney University’s own Freedom of Expression policy specifically listing the destruction of posters as a breach7.
Ms. Leach also misrepresented the protestors at the university in a speech in May at an event launching the Women's International Zionist Organisation with an AJUS representative8.
“These protests that are there now, they’re not about creating discussion, they’re not even about convincing students that we should support a Palestinian state,”
“It’s about occupying space to intimidate and threaten other students into silence and when challenged, they don’t engage.
AUJS NSW co-president Danielle Tischmann, a USYD student, said it has been hard to articulate just why walking to class and hearing calls for “intifada” has been troublesome for Jewish students.
“To the university administration, ‘intifada’ has been labelled as revolution,” Tischmann said.
“Our work with AUJS is focused on creating a safe space for Jewish students to feel proud of their Jewish identity on campus.
“That’s where universities need to take responsibility.”
The implication here is that shutting down criticism of Israel is a necessary condition to make Jewish students “feel proud of their Jewish identity”. This makes the assumption that all Jewish people - students in this case - are proud of Israel’s actions.
This is clearly not the case and an unreasonable argument.
Contested wording is another discussion point - see Appendix H: Interpretation of language.
As a context note indicating a broader agenda - Ms. Leach is actively involved in group set up by her father, co-founder of the “Never Again Is Now” movement which organised major pro-Israel rallies through 2024 (see B.4 Never Again Is Now).
2.2.2 Complaints against non-students on campus
Notably there were complaints against non-students who joined the encampment or attended to give speeches and teach-ins.
Yet the encampment was often visited by representatives of pro-Israel organisations and a large contingent of different groups during pro-Israel rallies directly confronting the encampment.
Many protestors noted that pro-Israel people dressed in dark clothing with hoods had been walking around filming the camp from time to time, which must have been extremely intimidating.
Surely there are double standards being applied here in complaining about pro-Palestine external people? Perhaps not so much the people, but how they looked or the subjects being discussed? The inquiry should look at this.
2.2.3 Monitoring students wearing pro-Palestine clothing
I was chatting to some Sydney University security staff following exams in early December 2024. I was wearing a Palestinian T-Shirt and one of the guards confided in me that they had actually been directed to closely watch anyone wearing anything Palestinian-related in particular as it was “offensive to some people”.
The guard agreed it was a ridiculous directive - but that was the approach. This was a conversation with just one guard but if this was the direction for monitoring students it is clearly discriminatory.
2.3 Student safety and pro-Israel actors on campus
I noted that at one point there were overnight physical attacks on the encampment at Monash University.
In Sydney the AJA reported 4am harassment of the encampment on 2nd May 2024 (noting the term “Hamas camp”):
On the same day the AJA noted their intention to turn up at the Sydney University encampment for a pro-Israel rally directly confronting the encampment using the term “a bunch of antisemites”.
I was concerned for the students with these representations and intimidation.
On May 22nd 2024 the students at the encampment were harassed by three pro-Israel senior figures.
Michael Gencher CEO of the newly launched Australian branch of right-wing campus organisation “Stand With Us” (see B.2 Stand With Us for more information on the background of the Stand With Us organisation.)
Retired UK pro-Israeli soldier Richard Kemp, flown out for a propaganda tour by The Australian Jewish Association. Incidentally - Kemp was exposed by Declassified UK as having links to IDF and Israeli Government - effectively out lobbying and suppressing for Israel as a direct state extension9.
Robert Gregory CEO of The Australian Jewish Association (briefly caught on camera in Stand With Us social media post below left)
Intimidation on campus - three adults dressed in black, one a 6 ft 2 martial arts instructor harassing students who wisely didn’t engage until the group were asked to leave by campus security - and even then expressing outrage.
This direct engagement by leaders of these organisations was simply not appropriate.
2.4 Pro-Israel campus groups: backers with an agenda
There was concern at Sydney University as with other universities that operating in a counter-protesting, policing and complaining capacity are groups whose vested interest is to shut down the pro-Palestine voices.
This has been the case for many years and indeed Sydney University weekly student magazine Honi Soit published an expose of the long history of campus advocacy for Israel prior to October 7th 202310.
Students were also beginning to complain mid-2023 prior to the Gaza crisis at the lack of representation of non-Zionist Jewish viewpoints, shadowing concerns in the broader community that the traditional groups were not representative of the broader range of Jewish student views.11
Clearly there is an issue of the subjective view of antisemitism and an agenda-driven ideology to shut down criticism of Israel in play here to silence pro-Palestine voices on campus.
Stand with Us and AUJS are organisations working across all university campuses in Australia in a co-ordinated manner. They are reviewed in more detail in Appendix B: Pro-Israel campus organisations.
2.5 Applicability of Sydney University Policies to External Organisers
It is noted that organising bodies for pro-Israel protest at Sydney University were external groups Stand With Us and AUJS with a co-ordinating function across all universities and external co-ordination and backing of a much larger corporate group.
This seems an unfair balance of power against individual Sydney University groups protesting in good faith for an internationally recognised humanitarian cause.
Noting that the Sydney University students organise with clearly defined student groups recognised by the SRU and clearly bound by Sydney Universities policies - are there similar controls in place applied to events for pro-Israel Sydney University students organised by these outside bodies?
The equivalent structure for pro-Palestine would be a continuous engagement organised by say the Sydney Palestine Action Group which is clearly not the case and would clearly not be appropriate.
A question for the inquiry - are double standards being applied here or university rules being breached with the use of outside co-ordinators for pro-Israel protest activities? (including organised complaints)
2.6 Campus Access Policy
In between the end of the Sydney University encampment in last week of semester 1 2024 (June 22nd 2024) and the start of Welcome Week for semester 2 (15th July) all students including myself received an email from the vice-chancellor on 4th July announcing a new “campus access policy”12.
It was a complete surprise and with an absolutely set of draconian measures widely reported to be against free speech13 and rightly condemned by the NSW Council for Civil Liberties14.
What I did notice was that the policy almost mirrored that which was recommended by the right-wing pro-Israel campus group Stand With Us to American Universities in March 202415.
However - tellingly the Stand With Us letter to Deans is titled “best practices for anti-Israel protests on campus” rather than addressing broader antisemitic or racial vilification which is the stated intent of Sydney’s matching policy.
A comparison is below - showing it is virtually a carbon copy:
Is the introduction of such a policy coincidence with Stand With Us kicking off in Sydney? And indeed, SWU organising a counter-protest on the campus itself on May 2nd which new Stand with Us CEO Michael Gencher personally attended - in addition to later personally harassing the encampment.
The Stand With Us modus operandi has been to implement extensive law fare against individuals and institutions in the US through an in-house legal team and a network of pro bono lawyers.
It is no coincidence that law fare significantly stepped up around that time - including private class action against the University16.
The “antisemitism envoy” Jillian Segal was appointed by the Government a week later (see Appendix D: Australian antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal - a history of pro-Israel bias for more details).
I noted that Ms. Segal had frequently mentioned the US as being “the gold standard” in tackling antisemitism.
This indicates an intended trajectory in approach clearly attacking free speech and adopting policies such as the above and should be considered as context for the inquiry.
2.7 Recording of students
On 18 September I attended a panel discussion at Sydney University examining Sydney University’s role in the genocide in Gaza.
This was revisiting evidence from the beginning of the first semester looking at Sydney Universities complicity through its relationship with defence company Thales for one - whose board then Sydney University Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson sat on.17
On the day of the event the organisers received an email advising them of a move of venue including demands for ground rules:
This is unfair to students’ rights on so many levels.
practically - changing a pre-advertised event’s venue on the day of the event
enforcing recording - again advised on the day of the event. Are pro-Israel AJUS or Stand with Us events also recorded?
pointing out “no antisemitic or racist words” - by what definition is “antisemitism” defined?
must be conducted with the “highest levels of professional, ethical and legal conduct” - is it usual to provide this advice to student events and protests? Ironic advice - when the whole point of consideration is that Sydney University is not applying such discretion itself when it maintains investments and research links with companies involved in weapons manufacturing.
A more sinister note at the bottom “the recording will be reviewed later as evidence for any complaints or concerns”.
Some considerations for the inquiry.
Who would be reviewing this, and what standards applied? If external actors reviewing (such as pro-Israel lobby groups) - are there privacy concerns for them reviewing an internal Sydney University recording of an event?
Also, there is subjective interpretation - the reason given for the additional monitoring is “given the title of the panel discussion [our university’s role in the genocide in Palestine] consideration it may cause distress to some members of our community”… distress being concern that Israel is accused of genocide - as confirmed as having a plausible case to adjudicate by the ICJ on 26th January 202418.
I remember being extremely angry at the University’s attitude at this point and produced this deliberately emotive image and article to make the point.
Can you imagine if in protesting South African apartheid a similar approach was taken due to distress the protest may cause some white South African students? Or if Vietnam protests had offended American ex-service students, or the Sydney University US Studies Centre, had it existed then?
An argument could be that the University was simply following the attitudes of our Government to an ally - but that in fact is the point. Given:
the ICJ ruling on the case for genocide - and the Australian Government’s obligation not to aid the possibility of a state committing genocide in any way
This assertion is further backed up by international law with:
the 20th July 2024 ICJ ruling that Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank demonstrated Apartheid, was illegal and must cease19 (later backed by a unanimous United Nations General Assembly motion supporting this)
the fact that from March 3 2021 - the ICC was actually investigating an active case against alleged war crimes committed by Israel20. This was investigating Israel for potential war crimes from 2014 Operation Protective Edge which was a widely documented disproportionate response by Israel indiscriminately bombing Gaza killing 1500+ civilians and injuring thousands more. 10 Israeli Human Rights organisations wrote to the ICC in December 2022 offering to provide extensive evidence of Israel’s crimes for the investigation21.
the ICC Prosecutor request on 20th May 202422 - requesting arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and then living Hamas leadership23 (and later issuing those warrants24 on 21st November 202425)
The ICC would not have been so quick to consider issuing arrest warrants (as quick as the ICC can be - it took 7 years to open the case from the 2014 bombings) if they had not already been investigating Israel’s actions for two and a half years prior to October 7th. Echoing the UN Secretary General’s words of October 28th - “it did not happen in a vacuum”26.
This is not including the various human rights organisations including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issuing dozens of reports over the years saying the same thing: Israel is committing crimes and violations of international law.
⚠️ The point of detailing the above is that clearly Sydney University students were discussing the Palestine situation with international law on their side never mind general civil society opinion demonstrated by the unprecedented number of protests around the world. And yet this was still overridden by a minority lobby and pressure on the University.
Overall, I found Sydney University’s approach to this event threatening and intimidating and a clear example of victimisation. Furthermore it was:
Ironic - claiming to protect free speech, whilst monitoring and recording a discussion
Rich - “highest standards of ethical, legal conduct” - whilst the University maintains investments and research links with companies involved in Israeli weapons manufacture
an infringement on civil/human rights
The very next day…
The following day after the panel discussion on 19th September 2024 the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously 124-14 calling for the implementation of the ICJ’s ruling of 20th July demanding Israel leave the West Bank within 1 calendar year.27
What more vindication of the position of the students in this matter over “offending some members of the community”?
“Distress” is also a relative term. This is best summed up in a clip from the 2023 documentary “Israelism”28 where Jewish pro-Israel college activist Simone Zimmerman finds out that her support for Israel has been orchestrated for a cause misrepresented.
In this clip she discusses the pro-Israel script and methodology and quotes a truly distressed Palestinian student pointing out the dichotomy.
“Jewish students are crying about feeling silenced and marginalised - my Aunts and cousins couldn’t sleep for weeks with bombs exploding over their heads in Gaza” - UC Palestinian student
This was from a meeting at the University of California encouraging the University to divest from weapons manufacturers. This was in 2010…29
Sound familiar? (Appendix L: Lobbying for Israel: language and communications strategies discusses structured lobbying for Israel in more detail illustrated by leaked PR guides from lobbyists).
One for the inquiry to consider as a duplicate pattern of behaviour.
2.8 Hodgkinson External Review of Sydney University Policies
I noted the University published the main findings of an external review into its policies conducted after the encampment shut on 22nd June and these were published on 27th November30.
The inquiry approved all aspects of the Campus Access Policy but also suggested further measures - with a specific civility rule:
“freedom of speech does not permit the use of hate speech or vilification … but difficulties arise when different parties have different views on the legitimate use of words or phrases because the intended meaning of the speaker has not been made clear”
“propose a new civility rule that requires a speaker to make the meaning of contested words and phrases clear to the audience”
This is entirely subjective … who is to judge what is “contested”?
In the context of free speech and humanitarian protest are words meant to be censored real-time? Will discourse be reduced to coded words like Chinese people on WeChat substituting certain phrases for the names of Chinese officials, or the use of symbols - the watermelon flag in Palestine replacing the actual flag banned 1967? Does every presentation need to have an extensive standard preamble read out prior to commencement on the off-chance a “contested” phrase is spoken?
The implications of this are ridiculous never mind the subjective nature.
Clearly the “contested” words - subjectively - are “from the river to the sea” and “intifada” (see Appendix H: Interpretation of language ) expressed as generically as possible.
This is clearly a capitulation to a minority pro-Israel lobby who have tried every other avenue to shut down free speech here through interpretation of phrasing.
This rule is still under consideration, and I strongly recommend it is not implemented for the reasons above.
2.9 Objections to speakers on campus
The pro-Israel lobby had been extremely vocal criticising speakers on university campus.
However, on the 9th of April a group of IDF soldiers were hosted as part of a publicity tour across Australian Universities at Sydney University.
The event was organised by two groups:
Stand With Us - already discussed extensively in this submission (see Appendix B for more details)
Israel-IS - an organisation which has structured PR training for IDF soldiers to utilise in events such as these. Israel-IS also has an existing connection to Australian lobby groups (see B.3 Israel-IS for more details).
The objection was fairly simple. A continuation of demands of Sydney University to cut ties with Israeli companies and interests including research partnerships and pairing with Israeli Universities.
But also, a fundamental objection to hosting serving IDF soldiers on university grounds - seeking to normalise their activities in Gaza as a PR exercise for Israel which was wholly inappropriate.
This is a broader objection of course than just from university students. The Australian Centre for International Justice sent a letter the Australian Government in December 2023 noting that Australian citizens were serving in the IDF and Australia would not be meeting its obligations under international law if there was a suspicion of war crimes and they did not investigate31.
Some press had attempted to deflect accusations of Israel’s apartheid by noting that the soldiers were not just Jewish but in fact multi-faith32. This is of course irrelevant since:
the objection against Israel’s IDF serving in Gaza - no matter the religion, gender etc. of the serving soldiers
apartheid absolutely does exist in Israel documented by multiple groups and established in a legal judgement by the ICJ in July 2024. Israeli citizens of all races have greater rights than Palestinians, and ex-IDF soldiers access various benefits and opportunities.
racist in itself - implying the protest was driven by antisemitism which is not the case at all
Why did Sydney University allow such a presentation? (Monash actually cancelled an earlier one due to objections).
Again, this is clearly double standards - in particular hosting Israeli soldiers and given the background of the organisers and not simply controversy over a protest as presented by the media.
The inquiry should consider this particular event in contrast with those objected to hosted by Sydney University Palestine groups.
2.10 Independence of Executive Management
A noted concern is that Chancellors of the University have concerning potential conflicts of interest as regards Israel which:
could influence partnerships the University has with Israeli companies and companies supplying the Israeli military
could influence their approach to addressing protest against Israel
This could have impacted Sydney students and staff protesting. There follow some observations and suggestions for ways to address in future.
2.10.1 Conflicts of interest
The previous Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson sat on the Board of Thales (Chair 2015-2023, NED from 2023 to current) - a weapons company supplying Israel which also sponsored research positions at the University and extended its research partnership in 202233.
The new Chancellor from July 2024 David Thodey has had direct relationships with Israeli companies and interests over a number of years.
2014 then CEO of Telstra said at an Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) event that “Israel is the epicentre of world innovation” and praised then Prime Minister Netanyahu for his articulation of Israel’s innovation entrepreneurship34.
2015-2022 was a member of the Advisory Board of Square Peg Capital with James Packer, a venture capital firm investing in tech companies in Israel35
2021 keynote speaker at the Australia Israel Innovation Summit36
September 2023 directly indicated his views on Thales expressing his full support in a LinkedIn post37 for a strategic agreement between UTS and Thales38
Thodey’s comment was just six months before his position as the new Chancellor was announced.
It is clear where Thodey stands on these defence company partnerships.
Many Israeli tech companies work in the military supply chain (such as the AI targeting tech for the Lavender Drone Program39) and many partners directly (Thales via Elbit/U-Tacs - the drones themselves40).
With Thodey’s view on partnerships such as Thales and his background working closely with Israeli tech companies, it seems likely there would be bias towards an even closer partnership between the University and Israeli industries under Thodey’s stewardship.
2.10.2 Recommendations to address
It is recommended that in these matters University staff apply full disclosure in conflict of interest (as would a Company Director in a corporate financial regulatory regime for example):
personal holdings in particular assets (they can be disclosed to a third party for confidentiality, confirming asset classes and industry sectors the holdings belong to)
external Directorships
external group membership that undertakes certain types of lobbying
Regarding external lobby membership - it would be wholly inappropriate for a senior member of staff taking decisions on protest against Israel on campus being a member of an organisation with Zionist beliefs at its core. By definition - Israel holds a sacred position and would be above reproach and highly likely this belief would colour judgement in these matters.
These disclosures should be ongoing - but also as part of consideration for senior roles at the University.
Should a Governance structure involving a student executive representative on the board be implemented such as Glasgow University then a measure of confidence would be given in student representation in selection of senior staff.
3. Other
3.1 University Governance best practices
Australian Universities have challenges engaging with student groups through the Governance structure of most universities. By way of example with recommendation for best practice I’d like to show Glasgow University in Scotland.
Glasgow University:
Has a direct non-student representative on the University Court with management duties at the University - known as the “Lord Rector”
The Lord Rector is directly elected by students for a four-year term.
Have full ongoing disclosure of their investments as standard practice41 - which was seen as a major “concession” by Sydney University in ending the encampments - but this should be standard practice and simple to do.
Has a published socially responsible investment policy42. In 2015 the University Court agreed to reduce fossil fuel holdings by 25% over 4 years.
Disclosure of fund managers used.
These best practices for disclosure and transparency would greatly increase confidence in the University Governance system.
3.2 Accusations of antisemitism against Jewish speakers - quoting out of context (UTS)
A point of order on a speech that took place on university grounds recently at UTS which the university is investigating.
Jewish UNSW academic and pro-Palestinian protestor Peter Slezak was quoted out of context in the press at a speech at UTS on 26th March43. This was as reported:
This is edited and without context.
The missing context:
the Jewish student acknowledged by Slezak was wrapped in an Israeli flag - as a symbol of his very point - blind support. On that point, imagine if at a pro-Israel rally a sole protestor turned up wrapped in a Palestinian flag? And note how similar has been represented by more extreme elements in the pro-Israeli lobby:
regarding his comment “make Jews feel uncomfortable” - The root message spoken by this Jewish academic is an appeal to community conscience to speak out rather than having “representative” Israeli State extension organisations parroting Netanyahu and claiming to speak for them. The “discomfort” is no longer being able to stomach that from “community leaders”
This very point was echoed by Australian Jewish actress Miriam Margolyes in a video message on 6th April 2024 where she appealed directly to the feelings of discomfort in The Australian Jewish community with Israel’s actions:
Furthermore - this is not new. Slezak made similar comments in that context at a rowdy UNSW General Student meeting in October 2024 - with the point holding in getting the Jewish community to question their conscience44.
I note that there is a broader trend in recent months from the pro-Israel lobby to demonise Jewish people protesting against Israel’s actions, such as the continued harassment of Sarah Schwartz of the Jewish Council of Australia.
With the above context it is recommended that protest groups have a policy and position statement ready in the above vein to protect such speakers without having to continually reinvent the wheel.
However - I am also conscious this goes to addressing the “civility rule” proposed by Sydney Universities Hodgkinson Policy review - and where do you draw the line?
Some considerations for the inquiry.
4. Conclusion
President Nixon vilified Vietnam protesters in America culminating in the awful events of 4 May 1970 with the Kent State shootings.
At Sydney University there were open protests at the war with Australian troops on the ground with an ally in America - but the protests were still allowed. The historic graffiti tunnel was created out of Vietnam protest now allowed to remain for student graffiti to this day45. However pro-Palestinian graffiti has been removed at the direction of University management, an example of censorship in itself46.
So, pro-Palestine protest silenced - Vietnam protest allowed, despite the presence of Australian troops in Vietnam.
And who was on the right side of history then?
Integrity and consistency
The key theme in the Terms of Reference of the inquiry is the infringement of civil rights by targeted victimisation of protestors relative to other groups - on the issue of Palestinian rights.
All issues should be treated equally with the same lens, protecting freedom of speech at universities and not providing specific exceptions or particular treatment for specific cases.
In closing - the words of a man on this very topic - principled consistency of approach with regards to matters dealing with Israel.
Nelson Mandela interviewed on US TV June 1990 in his first visit to the US since being released from prison just four months earlier47.
“We have many members of the Jewish community in our organisation, and they have occupied very top positions. But that does not mean to say that the enemies of Israel are our enemies. We refuse to take that position.
You can call it being political or a moral question, but for anybody who changes his principles depending on whom he is dealing, that is not a man who can lead a nation”
Ironically Mandela was released in some part by pressure from civil rights groups and protests worldwide against the apartheid regime in South Africa he was imprisoned under.
Including protests from Sydney University48.
Epilogue
As at 16th June the People’s Inquiry has released an interim report outlining some of the 150 submissions from staff and students.
A statement from Patron Senator Mehreen Faruqi is here49 and the report can be downloaded at this link ➡️ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oDvEgexZxGzdBAy1euUiKuDyoXjn_4D_/view
Also this month the NSW Parliament Antisemitism inquiry continues with evidence from Sydney University Students for Palestine:
Both these events are overshadows by fast-moving events.
The NSW Antisemitism Inquiry was setup during the hysteria around NSW Antisemitic attacks in the run up to the General Election - which turned out to be hoax attacks on property by paid criminals with no ideological driver orchestrated by an unknown overseas actor. It looks at this stage the Adass Synagogue attack in Melbourne is also by paid criminals.50
It’s a witch hunt about a witch hunt.
The broader question of Palestine has almost faded away to the background for now.
In the face of exponentially growing world opinion moving against Israel, open reports in mainstream media, sanctions on Israeli Government Ministers - at this very point Netanyahu announced some damning information and launched missile attacks on Iran under the pretext of a pre-emptive strike on nuclear facilities51.
And so … as the pro-Israelis are being called out in Australia … the narrative has shifted.
For now.
Appendices: ⚠️ with indicative relevance to inquiry
The following appendices are supplementary information to the main submission for reference.
⚠️ Note: In the body of the Appendices, I use this symbol at various points to point out specifically why I consider the additional information is relevant to this inquiry. Other parts of the submission I have not called out may also be specifically relevant in the context of the Panel’s review.
Appendices: ⚠️ with indicative relevance to inquiry
Appendix D: Australian antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal - a history of pro-Israel bias
Appendix K: An analysis of NewsCorp media manipulation: the 2023 Voice Referendum
Appendix L: Lobbying for Israel: language and communications strategies
Appendix N: The Pro-Israel Lobby and the Australian Parliament
Appendix A: Further questions for the inquiry
The following are a summary of suggested further questions for the inquiry to consider.
A.1 Sydney University Chancellor David Thodey: does he have a conflict of interest with his past associations with Israeli industry outlined in this submission?
FOI revealing actors?
A.2 How did the June 2024 class action threatened to be brought against Sydney University impact the actions against protestors?
The action was taken by Barrister Adam Butt and law firm Levitt Robinson using the services of agency ClassPR to garner signatures52.
It seems the action was not filed on review in late July 2024 with former Judge Ron Merkel joining the legal team53.
A.3 What are the implications of an organisation publishing a policy that appears to call for breaking Australian or international laws?
As an example - the Executive Council of Australian Jewry publishes a policy platform on its website54 including its bespoke definition of antisemitism referenced in Appendix G.3 Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) - using expanded definition of antisemitism over IHRA. The policy contains an extensive clauses on international policies on Israel, which appear to parrot Israeli State policy - including rubbishing the UN and all investigations against Israel’s conduct.
The platform also appears to take a position lobbying for The Australian Government to break international law on at least two counts.
The Rome Statute 1998 - encouraging Australia to disregard the arrest warrants issued by the ICC for Netanyahu and Gallant (40A.6 - which was updated in November 2024 after the ICC issued the warrants). Australia is obliged to provide all assistance in executing those warrants by Article 89 of the Statute55 (which makes the visit of Australia’s top legal officer Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to Israel on January 14th 2025 highly inappropriate to say the least56).
The Vienna Conventions on location of Embassies 1961 - encouraging Australia to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (34.3). This very point is currently being ruled on in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) challenging Trump’s 2018 US Embassy move to Jerusalem57.
If an Australian University or even Sydney University clubs and societies were to promote such policies - what would be the implications v. a not-for-profit in this case? (if any)
Appendix B: Pro-Israel campus organisations
It is noted that there a number of pro-Israel organisations involved in counter protesting and complaints at Sydney University that operate on all campuses.
These groups have a built-in conflict of interest - their stated goals as organisations and the goals of their financial backers.
By definition their interest is to shut down criticism of Israel which would be more likely to lead to activities misrepresenting pro-Palestine student protestors as is the examination of this Tribunal.
Two groups to focus on:
Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS)
Stand With Us
Also included are some other periphery groups linked to campus protest.
B.1 Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS)
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) (Founded 1948 at the University of Sydney - affiliated with the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) in Israel) is the central body representing Jewish students across multiple University campuses across Australian and New Zealand Universities.
In addition to a central function the group also has various State bodies co-ordinating AUJS activities across university campuses in the State.
The organisation is explicitly Zionist with a policy platform pillar58 stated to be aligned with the World Zionist Organisation Jerusalem Program.
B.1.1 Funding
The organisation operates as a not-for-profit and from 2022 filed accounts59 had revenue of $880,773 the majority funding coming from:
75% from sponsors including the Zionist Federation of Australia, Zionism Victoria and the United Israel Appeal.
25% from the Macabee Task Force
The Macabee Task Force is a US-based not-for-profit with similar goals on US campuses. This NFP is funded by the Adelson Foundation a family foundation to “strengthen the State of Israel” run by late Jewish business magnate Sheldon Adelson and his now widow Miriam Adelson, a multi-billionaire who is the world’s richest Israeli and runs the Foundation.
In October 2023 Adelson called for anyone seen to be supporting Hamas (now defined as protesting against genocide) as
“…we must disavow and shame them, deny them employment and public office, defund their colleges and political parties…”60
Clearly an agenda attached to funding in-line with AUJS Zionist alignment.
B.1.2 Campus activities
The AUJS runs a number of programs, but the flagship is “Accelerate” which is explicitly designed for student campus advocates for Israel with studies of Zionism utilising the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism as its benchmark for reporting incidents on campus61.
If Accelerate advocates and broader AUJC leadership are calling out antisemitism on campus utilising this IHRA Definition - then valid criticism of Israel in particular in the current conflict clearly is not antisemitic with a clear agenda-driven conflict of interest here.
B.1.3 Political activities
The AUJS programs are extremely focused on building contacts with Government offering leadership programs sponsored by politicians in Canberra.
This includes the:
Political Training Seminar (PTS) program for young political leaders sponsored by various MPs aligned with pro-Israeli causes - the 2023 program sponsored by Simon Birmingham, Jacquie Lambie and Mark Dreyfus62.
Leadership Training Summit (LTS) young leadership program
It would be fair to assume that the next generation of Israel student advocate leaders would be selected from AUJC leaders (and the broader community of non-Jewish student leaders) for invitation to AIJACs funded Rambam Israel Fellowship Program visits to Israel.
Indeed, AIJAC has been targeting trips for student leaders over many decades, noting former Treasurer Peter Costello then a student leader was also a graduate of the Rambam program.
A 2005 student leader funded trip to Israel included Varun Ghosh, now Senator for Western Australia.63
B.2 Stand With Us
The second group relatively recently established in Australia is “Stand with Us” (SWU) - an offshoot of the global organisation based in the US.
Interestingly SWU was found to be one and the same as the global entertainment industry pro-Israel Lobby the generically named (as always) Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) that lobbies for Israel and cancels voices of dissent in the entertainment industry globally64.
In 2022 after a decade of working remotely with youth and student groups in Australia Stand with Us announced they would be opening a local office65.
Stand with Us is in Australia a registered Australian Charity which has basically sat as an inactive shell company for many years. It lists Richard Balkin as a Director, a former President of the Zionist Council of Australia. The recently filed constitution in January 2024 was prepared by Arnold Bloch Liebler, law firm of the Mark and Jeremy Leibler (Chair of AIJAC and President of the Zionist Federation of Australia respectively)66.
The Constitution notes a standard way of dealing with donations tax-free by holding in a “Harm Prevention Fund” (similar to that of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies67) to disperse salaries and other expenses of the organisation in achieving its mission of:
“…harm, intimidation, bullying, harassment, vilification and discrimination associated organising as a consequence of anti-Israel and antisemitic advocacy … “ [comment: noting antisemitic as determined by the group - meaning IHRA Definition]
SWU is also strongly pro-settlements referring to “disputed” rather than occupied territories and referring to them as “Judea and Samaria”. Some of the campus activist “training materials” produced by the group are revealing and tasteless- Oct 7th booklet together with “no way to treat a child” on Palestinian child soldiers:
Some quotes from the materials:
“disputed territories v occupied territories” - drawing into question the status, internationally recognised
“Judea and Samaria” rather than west bank
“in Israel all citizens are treated equally under law” - trying to explain right to return
“Israel is the opposite of apartheid”
“We do not take political prisoners”
The ideology contained in these booklets is clearly Israeli State Propaganda an indicative of the motivations and ideologies behind the group explaining their interpretation of “antisemitism” and the campaigns taken on campus to counter.
B.2.1 Contracted by the Israeli Government to orchestrate student volunteered propaganda
StandWithUs was previously funded by the Israeli government — “to run ‘interactive media war rooms’ manned by students who trained to disseminate Israeli hasbara [propaganda] on social media platforms.”
“The project [was] based on a model that was tried during Operation Protective Edge and previous military operations — in which ‘hasbara war rooms’ were established in academic institutions across Israel in order to disseminate IDF and government messages.”68
B.2.2 Lawfare
The organisation places emphasis on reporting, escalating and in particular legal action. SWU in the US has a dedicated legal centre with permanent legal staff and a US-wide network of 250 pro-bono lawyers dedicated to pursuing reported action on behalf of students.
Perhaps this explains the increase in legislative action against students across Australia in the wake of campus protests in 2024. Notably there is co-ordinated pro-bono legal action against prominent pro-Palestinian voices that stepped up from June 2024.
At Sydney University a private law case was brought against the University in June 2024 for “failing to take action against antisemitism”.
B.2.3 Executive Director and Launch
In March 2024 Stand With Us announced the appointment of a new Executive Director, Michael Gencher.69
March was also the inaugural year for a group of Australian students to attend their International Training Centre in Los Angles to be trained in use of its controversial materials.
Gencher is originally Canadian and was a former Northern Beaches Councillor who defected from the Independent Bloc to the Liberals in January 2024. Incredibly all Liberal Councillors were removed from the ballot at the August 2024 local elections after a Liberal administrative error at party HQ which did not register any of the candidates70.
In 2023 was also the acting CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.
His harassment of Sydney University students with the CEO of The Australian Jewish Association is documented in the body of the submission.
B.3 Israel-IS
This organisation is not a campus organisation based in Australia per se but was hosted at Universities in Australia in April 2025 at PR events with serving IDF soldiers, co-hosted by Stand With Us. The background of this organisation is revealing and reinforces the view that the presentations were simply PR normalising the IDFs unconscionable actions in Gaza.
B.3.1 IDF soldier/Israel-IS CEO visit December 2023
The CEO of Israel-IS is serving IDF Major Nimrod Palmach. Palmach was taken on a publicity tour to the Opera House for a photoshoot with various other fundraising appearances on December 7th by the pro-Israel lobby, with some offensive and exclusive language printed in The Australian. The follow up tweet by the pro-Israel lobby had some revealing responses.
Some points here - clearly not a consideration of the organisers who do not consider Palestinian civilians:
Offensive to pro-Palestinians: an IDF Major in Australia directly involved in the conflict waving the Israeli flag: Inflammatory and offensive to the Australian pro-Palestinian community. Incredibly insensitive to Australian Palestinians, many of whom would have relatives in the [then December 2023] 18,000 dead. It is one thing for fellow Australians to democratically protest a different point of view - but can you imagine if a Palestinian visitor or official was to do the same?
Offensive to Australians: a member of the military from a foreign nation - who international opinion and the Australian Government themselves had just voted in the United Nations in a motion calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to stop indiscriminate slaughter of civilians71 - waving the national flag at an Australian icon. Appropriate?
B.3.2 Israel-IS activities
Israel-IS an Israeli Advocacy NGO formed in 2017 by three ex-IDF soldiers with “the goal of improving Israel’s global image”.
The focus of the organisation is techniques to structure communication to change the narrative on Israel, focusing on young people.
There are a number of videos on the YouTube channel - all over a year old - describing some of the operations and approaches72.
They have a social media influencers program targeted at selected young Israelis that share Israel-related content targeting specific interest groups utilising what is called “Israel-IS methods of engagement”.
There is also a program for IDF soldiers educating them on talking positively about their service on returning to their overseas communities - actually using an example in the video “Israeli Airstrikes kill pregnant woman and baby”…. so how to spin that?
The objectives and approach of the program appears to be:
Adopting the same narrative on Israel - no criticism
Learning Israel-IS defined methodology and techniques to shape discussions
Changing the conversation - from these very serious issues to light-hearted social side of youth Israeli life.
On that last point - of course people the world over have social and cultural subjects and discourse to connect on.
But you have to credit young people in the international community who have priorities and awareness.
When talking to an Israeli of any age who blindly supports the actions of the State - breaking international law, conducting indiscriminate bombing - this is a more serious issue to broach first rather than trying to apply a conversation technique to obfuscate discussing the wonderful scuba diving off Israel’s coast….
⚠️ Relevant to the Inquiry as Stand With Us and Israel-IS hosted a series of propaganda tours across Australian Universities in April 2025 featuring serving IDF soldiers73. It is important to understand the ideologies of these organisations, purpose and backers in assessing the presentations, relative to pro-Palestine presenters so strongly objected to.
B.4 Never Again Is Now
Another pro-Israel group with links to the campus protests is Never again is Now a self described “Christian grassroots movement” set up by pro-Israeli former pastor Mark Leach. A few items of background.
B.4.1 Family connection: Sydney University activism
The daughter of Mark Leach is Sydney university student Freya Leach, a former Liberal Party candidate and Director of the Centre for Youth Policy at the Menzies Research Centre hosted at Melbourne university. There is some controversy over why this institute is hosted at the university after being a blatantly political institution - self-described as “a think tank championing Liberal principles, aligned with the Liberal Party of Australia” and also receiving $7M in Federal Funding74.
Ms. Leach is mentioned in the body of this submission for pro-Israel activities at Sydney university filming herself tearing down pro-Palestine event posters and other campus activities. She has also been involved in other controversial pro-Israel activities.
In December 2023 Leach made a statement as a witness for the right-wing Australian Jewish Association (AJA) that she heard the term “gas the jews” said by a number of individuals (not connected to any official protest group) at the Opera House (unclear if this was just for the AJA article or an official police statement)75.
After police forensic examination of the recordings they found no evidence this was actually said and that the chant was simply “where’s the Jews”?76
This is not condoning the inciteful language and antisemitic phrasing that was still used by those individuals (who should face appropriate justice) but there is a significant legal difference between the two phrases and clearly it was never said.
The alleged use of such a vile Holocaust-evoking phrase in front of an iconic Australian building went on to trash Australia’s reputation globally, with significant other impacts, in addition to constant media attempts to tar all pro-Palestine protestors with the same brush77.
Notably, the following day after the Opera House chants, Mark Leach went to a Palestinian rally to deliberately confront by waving an Israeli flag78.
B.4.2 Forming Never Again is Now
Mark then went on to form the “Never Again is Now” group with co-founder Wayne Zwar.
“Never again is Now” is a right wing pro-Israel group who organised pro-Israel supporting rallies across Australia in February 2024. It was thinly disguised Liberal/pro-Israel lobby set of rallies with right wing speakers and content79.
There were some appalling scenes - with an Aboriginal person giving a “welcome to country” address being booed by the crowd, as an early taste of Dutton’s later stated attitude to the address and even use of indigenous flags at Government occasions.
Also called out was the conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel and the unconscionable weaponisation of the Holocaust, in a press release by the Jewish Council of Australia80.
Indeed - the very name of the group calls out exclusivity and ownership of genocide exclusively by the Jewish people - on behalf of Israel. A point not lost on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum who has a different view:
Furthermore in all protests against Israel’s actions globally there is always a large Jewish bloc of protestors. The call is to correct with:
“Never again means never again FOR ANYONE”
This is Sydney Hyde Park 5th May 2024 where a Jewish speaker Vivian Porzolt talks to the crowd:
“My parents escaped the Nazi Holocaust and found refuge in New Zealand Aotearoa. Many of my relatives were murdered by the Nazis. For me never again means never again for anyone.
It is greatly horrifying for me to see this never again for us this mental ghetto of horror I just can't bear it. The current horrors of been bringing more and more people young people into the streets including young Jews by Jewish groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now was held near the home of Senator Chuck Schumer in Brooklyn New York. It was to remind him that in supporting the genocidal slaughter by Israel he did not speak for all Jews. Not in my name was the cry.”
On appropriating the holocaust - ironically Mark’s daughter Freya Leach sparked outrage in September 2023 after referencing her grandmother’s experience as a Holocaust survivor in a video about the Voice debate. She was an avid “no” campaigner and was attempting to use this as an illustration that she was “not racist”81.
B.4.3 Never Again Is Now Events
Events and key speakers - notably almost all Liberal and Alumni of paid pro-Israel lobby flights to Israel:
Sydney Feb 18th 2024: former PM Scott Morrison as speaker
Adelaide Mar 3rd 2024: Simon Birmingham
Melbourne May 19th 2024
Brisbane June 9th 2024
Perth Oct 2024
B.4.4 Mark Leach: leaving the church after open argument on call for ceasefire
Mark Leach eventually left the Church “to focus on Never Again Is Now” mid-2024.
Essentially - his pro-Israeli position as with the Liberals and the pro-Israel “Never Again Is Now” crowds - excused Israel’s behaviour no matter what, and insisted on no ceasefire. Church leaders took a different view, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire reflecting broader societal views.
On 28 March 2024 Church Leaders across Australia organised by Christian Social Justice movement Micah wrote an open letter on the Israel-Gaza conflict calling for a ceasefire82.
Included in the 106 signatories in the letter were:
highest ranking Anglican, Archbishop Geoffrey Smith
Uniting Church in Australia President Rev Sharon Hollis
Micah Australia Executive Director Tim Costello
On May 29 2024 Leach wrote his own open letter response83 in which:
accused them of understating events of October 7th
accused them of overstating the death figures in Gaza (then 36,294 Palestinians dead and 82,057 injured as at 31st May 202484)
takes umbrage at a description of the Holocaust as “attempted genocide” and use of the term “genocide” associated with “Israel’s defensive war”
He also applies a purely Israeli narrative to points on history of the conflict and parrots IDF status updates since then.
Twice he actually accuses the Church leaders of antisemitism.
A footnote in the article reveals the IHRA working definition of antisemitism was applied in Leach’s response.
Leach then resigned from the Church.
Appendix C: The introduction of the University Australia (UA) definition of antisemitism to uiniversities: a chronology
With reference to ToR (6): the nature, role and effectiveness of International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in a University context.
On Monday 24th February Universities Australia (UA) met to agree to adopt and implement the definition of antisemitism drafted by the Group of Eight (GoE) Universities Chaired by Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott85.
This definition- referred to the “UA Definition” - is in turn based off of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism.
The outcome here has been a long-held goal of various parties in Australia for many years, accelerated during the Gaza crisis.
I would like to reflect on some historical events regarding the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism by the Universities in February 2025.
In particular there is evidence to show:
strong bias and pushback against a key ally in the fight against the weaponisation of antisemitism the moderate Jewish group the Jewish Council of Australia whom I am aware fully support this inquiry
a pattern of pro-Israel biases by the person chosen to be the antisemitism envoy for Australia as a key actor influencing the introduction of the definition and broader societal changes stifling freedom of speech
C.1 Australian government adopts IHRA definition of antisemitism (October 2021)
On 13th October 2021 the Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Government will adopt the IHRA Definition of antisemitism86
The 2018-2022 Morrison Government had been perhaps the most pro-Israel Australian Government in history (coinciding with US President Donald Trump’s first term, taking a similar approach) introducing a raft of measures to benefit Israel.
Of note the same people lobbying the Australian Government for antisemitism changes were also the same people lobbying for business community related changes87.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry as it shows the start of the Government’s push for IHRA to publicly funded bodies - during the tenure of an extremely pro-Israel Government. It also shows the overlap in responsibilities between actors lobbying the Government on behalf of different parties which should be reviewed for appropriateness.
C.2 Friends of IHRA Parliamentary group launch (Oct 2022)
Three MPs formed a Parliamentary Friends of IHRA group announced in Oct 28 202288. The Chairs are two Jewish MPs (Josh Burns ALP, Julian Leeser LNP) and Independent Allegra Spender MP for the constituency of Wentworth with a large Jewish community.
The group had written to multiple universities to ask them to sign up to the definition but as of November 2023 only six had signed up89.
Six months later Leeser would introduce a private members Bill to force an inquiry into antisemitism at universities citing his pro-Israel interpretation of campus protests as “antisemitic”.
C.3 US House bill imposes IHRA definition of antisemitism on publicly funded universities (October 2023)
In October 2023 Bill H.R. 609090 was introduced in the House which contributed to shutting down freedom of speech on campus.
The Bill would impose the IHRA Definition of antisemitism on publicly funded universities in applying their disciplinary procedures on campus.
The Bill passed in the House and has been sitting with the Senate - but now superseded by the “nonprocedural” approach by the Trump administration.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry as the wording of the Bill shows a template for the alternative for the Australian Government - legislative implementation of IHRA to publicly funded bodies.
C.4 Parliamentary inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia (17 June 2024 hearing)
On Jun 17th 2024 there was a Parliamentary Committee on Extremism at which amongst other groups both the pro-Israel lobby groups and Jewish Council of Australia presented at.
The JCA presented first followed by the pro-Israel lobby who took the opportunity to attack them – and the Chair had to intervene three times with pro-Israel Senator Henderson’s line of questioning which was primarily to rubbish the organisation.
C.4.1 IHRA Definition Appropriateness
The JCA had questioned the pro-Israel lobby proprietary statistics - noting that the IHRA definition was used which can include criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
“Our concern is the way antisemitism has been portrayed by some organisations and the media, relies on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which includes criticism of Israel and stifles freedom of speech” - Sarah Schwartz, Executive Officer, JCA
One of the Directors of the pro-Israeli lobby following opened with “we don’t use the IHRA definition in any of our reports, so the JCA evidence and their whole argument does not hold”.
Which is patently untrue.
On the very first page of antisemitism reports produced by the pro-Israel groups they specifically state that the IRHA is applied (I was listening live and pointed out to the JCA over social media during the hearing and they duly corrected ECAJ right after).
C.4.2 Independent statistics
A second point made by the JCA was not just problems with the IHRA definition of antisemitism itself - but the opaque nature of the statistics being quoted by organisations such as ZFA and ECAJ.
Dr. Stillman from the JCA noted91:
“I think that the current surveys are deeply flawed. You've heard some of the kinds of reasons why. They tend to take a partisan view of hate crime. It's easy to collapse everything into being anti-Jewish when there may be a political element involved. We have seen that in terms of IHRA. A lot of the opponents of the IHRA are Jewish academics, not non-Jewish leftists. So there's that whole area.
These surveys, because of the methodologies used, are very, very sloppy. They basically serve the political agenda of those who are organising it.”
Dr. Stillman went on to recommend:
survey work and statistics for hate crime databases should be handed over to an independent academic source which can deal with conflicting world views
example OHPI - Online Hate Prevention Institute of Dr. Andre Obler92
Stillman closed:
Compare that to some of the work done by some of the other organisations, which wouldn't even pass a first-year stats test. It's extremely sloppy. It's not transparent. They are playing monkey numbers and claiming huge numbers, and the media hears them. That's what you're asking about. They'll claim there's been a 500 per cent increase in antisemitism, and, once you drill down, they're playing a numbers game. Yes, there's some increase, but it's a percentage of what? It's not social science. So it really needs to be handed over to those who are more expert.
In the US the ADL is periodically called out on their opaque antisemitism statistics93 - quoted unquestioningly by politicians and taken as fact when it is far from the truth and entirely subjective as Stillman notes. The ADLs own staff complained and many resigned in early 2024 after they changed their methodology to include criticism of Israel after October 7th94.
The key points in the JCA testimony is that the IHRA definition is not suitable when a political context is involved and that there needs to be transparency of data collection and analysis by a central authority to provide confidence in the impartiality of data gathering.
In the US the only impartial source of hate crime statistics is that produced by the FBI95. It is standardised, legislated and consistent - and importantly statistically comparable with other population groups. The table below shows the comparison between FBI and ADL data and the issues in using the ADL methodology96.
For Australia, the key point in the Jewish Council of Australia’s testimony - we need to place the responsibility of gathering data on antisemitism and racism into the hands of an objective authority.
The full transcript of the JCA testimony to the committee is listed in Appendix E: Part Transcript of JCA Testimony (inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia (17 June 2024 hearing) - on antisemitism statistics which gives good insights into practical difficulties with the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
C.5 Appointment of Australian antisemitism special envoy - Jillian Segal (9 July 2024)
The Government announced the appointment of an antisemitism envoy on 9th July 202497. The appointee was Jillian Segal - a recent President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry - and was extraordinary due to her extreme pro-Israel bias (for more detail see Appendix D: Australian antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal - a history of pro-Israel bias ).
One week after her appointment, Ms. Segal attended the World Antisemitism Envoy Conference in Argentina on July 18 2024. She met the US Antisemitism Envoy Deborah Lipstadt and has called the US approach “the Gold Standard” in combatting antisemitism regarding Congress Bills such as above (C.3 US House bill imposes IHRA definition of antisemitism on publicly funded universities (October 2023) ) and the approach to American Universities - after a series of McCarthy-style hearings and brutal crackdowns over the Spring of 202498.
The US approach will be the relative model for Australia.
This is particularly concerning as the Trump Administration has just appointed a radical right-wing Israeli Yehuda Kaploun, a Trump campaign donor described as a “Miriam Adelson ally” into the role of US Antisemitism Envoy99.
Miriam and her late husband Sheldon have a long history of pro-Israel activities and directly fund multiple organisations including pro-Israel campus groups operating in Australia. The Adelsons were the largest funded of Trump’s first term and the second largest funder behind Elon Musk for his second term, with Miriam attending Trump’s inauguration. For more on the Adelsons see here.100
C.6 Senate hearings into Julian Leeser’s Bill to establish a Judicial Inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities (Sep 2024)
Liberal MP Julian Leeser introduced a private member’s bill in May 2024 to Parliament to legislate for a Commission of Inquiry into alleged antisemitism at Australian Universities.
Leeser discussed the issue with the extremist right-wing pro-Israel group the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) prior to introducing the Bill to Parliament a few weeks later101. The Sydney Morning Herald called out the same group as “the far-right Israel group disavowed by other Jewish associations” - and revealed that Liberal Senator Dave Sharma (former Ambassador to Israel) had hosted them also102.
The Bill had been pushed initially by Leeser but was taken to the Upper House by Senator Henderson. Tellingly this was Senator Henderson’s tweet on appointment of the antisemitism envoy.
The Bill for an inquiry into “antisemitism” at Universities had provisional hearings Friday 19th September as initial stage to determine if the Bill would be presented for debate in the Senate103.
Called before the Committee were University vice-Chancellors and also presenters from other groups such as ECAJ, ZFA, Jewish Council of Australia.
Despite the Chair Senator Nita Green restating the Terms of Reference of examination of witnesses as “ensuring discussion related to the Bill itself” the commission turned into a witch-hunt. Senators Henderson and Scarr attacked the presenters, and the Chair had to intervene several times.
In particular during the evidence from the Jewish Council of Australia Henderson and Scarr tried to rubbish their reputation as an organisation with clear biased treatment not given to other presenters.
Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott in his evidence noted that the Campus Access Policy had been specifically created to crack down on protest and put in between terms.
The antisemitism envoy was given a full separate day presentation. Throughout her presentation she constantly referred to the US as “The Gold Standard” in tackling antisemitism - quoting policies written by a few select US universities. These policies were written by the pro-Israel lobby for the universities and duplicated almost word for word104.
Similar to Sydney University’s Campus Access Policy.
In August 2024 Columbia University had just suspended due process for student protestors charged with violating their definition of antisemitism - so never mind the definition, how could the removal of a fair trial be “the Gold Standard”?105
Relative to the Trump administration’s procedural override at the time of writing (April 2024) this is a relatively small point - but relevant nonetheless at the time of the commission.
It also indicates the envoy’s worrying attitude of following the US hardline stifling protest dressed up as addressing antisemitism.
It was of course recommended that a full Judicial Commission into antisemitism should not go ahead to much faux outrage from the committee. The commission itself had formed a very public mini hearing with appropriate humiliations from Senators Henderson and Scarr.
The report was issued in October 2024106 with the recommendation not to proceed with the Bill for a full judicial hearing, but to refer an inquiry to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. In the dissenting comments in the report Senator Henderson made her own recommendation:
“we should amend law so Australian unis adopt IHRA definition or publish detailed reasons why not 1 Feb and 1 Aug each year on their website"
I wrote at the time what a ridiculous entitled demand that was demonstrating the level of control on our politicians.
And yet IHRA was adopted by the universities on February 25 2025…
Appendix D: Australian antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal - a history of pro-Israel bias
The following section gives examples of some of the history of pro-Israel bias from the antisemitism envoy giving insights into her views which may explain some of the pushes to action by University Vice-Chancellors.
D.1 Conflating anti-zionism and antisemitism whilst defending Israel’s Operation Garden of the Walls (May 2021)
In May 2021 the current Government antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal, then President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, makes a speech in which she equates anti-Zionism and antisemitism107.
"we are Zionists… we must drive anti-Zionism and antisemitism back into the darkest and most disreputable corners of our society from where they emerged"
This was at a “peace rally” for Israel during the 2021 Operation Guardian of the Walls strike on Gaza, another asymmetric strike killing 274 Palestinians and injuring 7000.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights delivered a damning report on Israel’s behaviour in 2021 in September 2023 - the month before the Gaza crisis.
As an aside - the rally Ms. Segal spoke at in 2021 was similar to other such rallies protecting Israel’s reputation during the Gaza crisis such as the “Never Again Is Now” rallies organised across Australia which essentially defended Israel’s actions and demonised pro-Palestinian protestors.
D.2 Protests Australian Labor government change in terminology of occupied territories to the international standard
In August 2023 the Albanese Labor Government re-affirmed that it opposed settlements in the “West Bank” and changed terminology to “Occupied Territories” adding the term “illegal” to settlements108. This was fully in-line with the legally binding UN Security Council Resolution 2334 from 2016109.
Regardless Ms. Segal made a joint statement opposing the change in terminology with the Zionist Federation of Australia110.
A few weeks later and a month before October 7th the Labor Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles gave an “off the record” Q&A on the Labor Government’s announcement they would be (correctly) referring to Gaza and the West Bank as “occupied territories” - revealing his personal opinions and affiliation.
D.3 Demand for universities to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism (Sep 2023)
At the Zionist Federation of Australia Plenary Conference, Ms. Segal still in her role as President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry stated:111
“university campuses must adopt the IHRA Definition of antisemitism”
Clearly noting an agenda prior to her appointment.
D.4 Controversial comments on the Gaza crisis (Nov 2023)
As the Gaza crisis unfolded - Ms. Segal made controversial statements with Zionist Federation of Australia112.
D.5 Summary
⚠️ This history is relevant to the inquiry as it shows the bias of a key actor in the introduction of the IHRA definition to universities, the government antisemitism envoy as:
conflating anti-zionism and antisemitism - a blatant conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism
disputing legal terms for the Palestinian occupied territories and a view on settlements
indicates a bias to supporting Israel’s actions unquestioningly. The 2021 report shows the appalling behaviour of the IDF during the operation - unquestioned at the time.
In the current Gaza crisis Ms. Segal gave unquestioning support to the IDF taking all reports at face value prior to her antisemitism envoy appointment in July 2024. Many of her statements parroting the IDF have since then been shown to be completely untrue.
All of the above statements were made prior to her appointment as antisemitism envoy on 9th July 2024.
Clearly a biased agenda and an inappropriate choice that would please a minority of pro-Israel lobbyists.
This would not have stood up to scrutiny by an independent selection panel to an influential role which now has a department of staff and large taxpayer funded budget.
A press release by the Jewish Council of Australia at the time of Ms. Segal’s appointment summarised concerns113.
Appendix E: Part Transcript of JCA Testimony (inquiry into right wing extremist movements in Australia (17 June 2024 hearing) - on antisemitism statistics
This is part of the Hansard transcript from a segment of the JCA evidence before the Parliamentary Committee into extremism on April 17 2024 where they called for independent statistics to be gathered by a central authority on all forms of racial and antisemitic hate crime114.
Dr Stillman : I've written about that, in fact, and you're on a great point. At least from a Jewish community point of view, I think that the current surveys are deeply flawed. You've heard some of the kinds of reasons why. They tend to take a partisan view of hate crime. It's easy to collapse everything into being anti-Jewish when there may be a political element involved. We have seen that in terms of IHRA. A lot of the opponents of the IHRA are Jewish academics, not non-Jewish leftists. So there's that whole area. These surveys, because of the methodologies used, are very, very sloppy. They basically serve the political agenda of those who are organising it.
My argument is that such survey work and all those sorts of hate crime databases and so on need to be handed over to an independent academic source which can deal with these conflicting world views—and they exist. For example, I greatly respect the work of OHPI, the Online Hate Prevention Institute of Dr Andre Oboler. It's excellent. He and I don't agree on many things, but, at least in terms of online hate measurement, he does an excellent job. Compare that to some of the work done by some of the other organisations, which wouldn't even pass a first-year stats test. It's extremely sloppy. It's not transparent. They are playing monkey numbers and claiming huge numbers, and the media hears them. That's what you're asking about. They'll claim there's been a 500 per cent increase in antisemitism, and, once you drill down, they're playing a numbers game. Yes, there's some increase, but it's a percentage of what? It's not social science. So it really needs to be handed over to those who are more expert. I know of certain academics in Australia who are very interested in this kind of work and who offer a much more dispassionate and empathetic view, rather than a subjective and political view of these things.
Ms Schwartz : I concur with what Dr Stillman said in relation to the broad methodology and statistic-gathering in regard to antisemitism. If we could provide one example: one issue is that there is only one Jewish communal group which collects statistics in regard to antisemitism. That group, as Dr Stillman mentioned, uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. We have seen, reading their recent reports on antisemitism, things that would be classified as legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel, including calling Israel a racist endeavour, things that, although some people may find them uncomfortable, we say clearly don't go into dehumanisation or racism against Jewish people as Jewish people.
The issue with that is that we have subjectively noticed a rise in antisemitism, but we don't have any objective data in regard to what that rise means and where that rise is coming from. I think that's a major issue, because when you have data that captures so much content that is not antisemitic, it does a few things. Firstly, there has been a real push by pro-Israel organisations to place antisemitism in a category of its own outside of other forms of racism. We say that antisemitism, like other forms of racism, should be tackled together in relation to focusing on this dehumanisation framework that other people have given evidence about.
We also think that those trumped-up statistics mean that many create a lot more fear and division within the Jewish community. People are terrified about antisemitism, and they are being told that stickers saying 'Free Palestine' are anti-semitic. That creates a lot of fear amongst the Jewish community. When those lines are repeated by the media and in political discourse, that creates further fear and feelings of division and segregation. We have real concerns about that definition. It should be mentioned that even the drafter of that definition has said that this was never intended to be used as a means of curtailing free speech, and has concerns about the weaponisation of that definition to curtail free speech.
So we are incredibly concerned because we have seen, in parliamentary bills that have not got up, attempts to place that definition into parliamentary bills. We think that is based on a political objective, not based on a solid definition of racism. So I absolutely support what Dr Stillman said about placing responsibility for gathering data around racism into the hands of objective bodies who have really robust definitions of what is racism and what is not, and focus on those frameworks of dehumanisation.
Appendix F: Tarred as “antisemitic”: reputational pressure
What public figure can afford a slur on their reputation to go unchallenged? And what worse slur than that of racism or discrimination of any sort.
False accusations are defended - but antisemitism is presented as a complex grey area when in fact it is not (see definitions appendix below).
The average person will not be equipped to see the harm on free speech that adopting this definition of antisemitism will cause and the less than honourable motives behind it of shutting down criticism of Israel.
However, what they will see on questioning this is a member of an institution being accused of “antisemitism” themselves for pushing back on what on the surface seems to be further protections of a minority of students.
Who wants to be seen to be doing that?
An example of this was in the US Congress on November 28 2023. Resolution H.RES 894 was introduced115 - a motion (non-legally binding) cracking down on antisemitism - in the content of the motion was a statement that “anti-zionism is antisemitism” and a statement that “from the River to the sea” is antisemitic and wording implying “free Gaza”, “Palestine will be free” are antisemitic slurs.
This would also be a reference point for condemning others using that terminology - despite the fact no legislation was associated with it - just a motion. But again, who’s paying attention?
Some comments from Members of Congress quoted in a Forbes article116:
The motion has been described as “a gotcha”, “GOP playing games”. There are good reasons outlined below why the declaration is dangerous for free speech (and quite frankly accuracy), but this sums it up:
Representative Hayley Stevens (Democrat, Michigan)
“They [GOP] do this because it confuses constituents, I don’t know how you would explain coherently why you wouldn’t [appear to be] condemning antisemitism” (COMMENT: 🗳️🇺🇸 in particular in an election year)
Representative Jan Schakowsky (Democrat, Illinois) - who happens to be Jewish, noting the day before vote on the motion:
"Any kind of criticism of Israel at all could be deemed antisemitic…. I’m hoping we're not going to get any Democrats who are going to vote for that."
Representative Steny Hoyer (Democratic, Maryland) - most senior Democrat in the house:
"it's pretty clear that Hamas and others have made anti-Zionism a catchword for antisemitism, because they equate the two."
⚠️ This is a relevant example to the inquiry as you can imagine University Chancellors and other public institutional figure being under similar pressures to adopt what are portrayed as “antisemitism measures” and the reputational implications if they do not. In particular in high pressure situations.
The high-pressure situation around the time of the IHRA adoption by Universities in February was pressure from politicians and pro-Israel lobby groups:
in the run-up to an election
in the middle of what was portrayed as “an antisemitism explosion” … which was acted on prematurely across the board (law changes in NSW and Federal Governments for one) before being revealed as a criminal hoax on March 9th
It is not difficult to imagine University Chancellors in a similar quandary.
Indeed, such is the rush in Sydney University that premature statements were made about adoption by the Academic Board of Sydney University, since rolled back for due consideration.
Appendix G: Definitions of antisemitism
There are various different definitions of antisemitism in use today. The below lists just a few with comment and local interpretations117.
G.1 IHRA Definition
Drafted in 2016 and controversial as criticism of Israel can be considered antisemitic.
There is some simple logic here and assumptions made by the pro-Israel lobby.
Firstly - it is very clear that the protests against Israel’s actions are NOT against all Jewish people - logically:
Still the protests are conflated with antisemitism - it is not it is anti-Israel’s actions.
Some may call this anti-Zionist where the Zionist elements support Israel’s actions no matter what they do. An example of this from non-Jewish groups would be Christian Zionism - which is the largest group of supporters of Israel in the US - for purely ideological reasons.
Let’s call those who support Israel’s actions “pro-Israel”.
The IHRA definition gives “contemporary examples”. To see what this definition is really talking about suppressing, in the language of IHRA substitute the word “Jew” (since any argument is not with Jewish people as a whole) for “pro-Israel”.
By definition - if you support and excuse Israel’s actions in Gaza then you may be argumentatively opposed by someone protesting against Israel’s actions.
This is not antisemitic - in fact it is freedom of speech - and freedom to disagree.
In fact - with Jewish “representative” organisations in Australia claiming to represent the whole community when they support Israel’s actions unquestioningly - they are in fact committing an antisemitic act themselves":
“holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” - through implied collective support.
This point has been made time and again by the Jewish Council of Australia, and similarly in other countries by other groups.
G.2 IHRA Definition of antisemitism: Impact on European universities
In 2023 the European Legal Support Centre - an NGO monitoring the legality of free speech on Palestine in the EU - produced two reports on legal violations of free speech and right of assembly, citing generalisations of interpretation of the IHRA definition.
Violating the rights to freedom of expression and assembly
in the European Union and the UK (June 2023)118
Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in UK Higher Education: The Adverse Impact of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism (Sep 2023)119
Both reports look at 96 cases studies between them over a 5-year period between 2017 and 2022 and conclude adoption of the IHRA definition leads to suppression of freedom of speech in its “catch all” phrasing.
This is off the back of an open letter to the UN General Secretary in April 2023 from 104 human rights organisations, raising concerns on the IHRA definition and possible use by the UN making it more difficult to call out human rights violations.120
A contributing factor in creation of the 2016 IHRA definition
Note all of this was prior to October 7th. A major contributing factor to the push for the tighter IHRA definition conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel from 2016 was in response to global protest.
This was public outcry at Israel’s violation of human rights in the 2014 Operation Protective Edge which then caused an unprecedented 2000 Palestinian deaths and invoked international outcry.
Such was the impact of Israel’s operation that this made precedent by being the first case opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC) prior to October 7th121 despite attempts to block by the then Mossad Chief who actually threatened the ICC Prosector.122
The push of the IHRA Definition was just one response to try to shut down future criticism of Israel.
G.3 Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) - using expanded definition of antisemitism over IHRA
I note that ECAJ in their own policy platform123 use not just the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism - but an expanded definition of antisemitism.
It is unclear if this Australian definition is their yardstick for counting statistics on reported incidents - hence for their own statistics presented to the Government.
The ECAJ policy adds an additional bullet point (32.6) to define the boycotts of Israel (effectively the BDS movement and all actions) as antisemitic also.
This is not in the 2016 IHRA definition of antisemitism nor even the US State Department definition124 despite BDS being founded in 2005.
This self-declared position in Australia would give free rein to smear targeted consumer campaigns by BDS Australia for example or of Government policy which might justifiably sanction Israel by international law.
G.4 Nexus definition: to address the conflation between anti-zionism and antisemitism
The Nexus group considers specifically the difference or nexus between criticism of Israel and antisemitism for the avoidance of doubt and from dissatisfaction with the 2016 IHRA Definition125.
The group, formed of 100 prominent US Jewish leaders from the Israel & Antisemitism Task Force met in 2019126 to discuss the intersection between Judaism and Zionism to help clarify the issue - the “Nexus Task Force”.
The result was an advisory paper presented to Joe Biden’s US Administration entitled “Understanding antisemitism at the nexus with Israel and Zionism” which clearly states127:
“criticism of Zionism should NOT be deemed antisemitic”
Furthermore, the group went on to note that Israel can attract “special attention” for a variety of reasons - not necessarily antisemitic - so a comparison between Israel’s scrutiny as a supposedly democratic state in a strategic region and a smaller less critical backwater is clearly not appropriate.
The US President welcomed the document informing the publication of the US’s first formal antisemitism strategy augmenting the IHRA definition.
With the advice of the Nexus Task Force - at its most basic and logical level:
not all Jewish people are Zionists
to collectively make comments about all Jewish people IS antisemitic (IHRA definition)
therefore - taking an anti-Zionist position cannot be antisemitic
G.5 Australian Pro-Palestine leaders calling out antisemitism in public with specific examples
The pro-Palestinian groups - underscoring the inclusive nature of the protests extending to encampments despite portrayals to the contrary - made public statements on antisemitism.
Rather than glib statements these were impassioned, specific and publicly stated live. This is best summarised in a speech given by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) President Nasser Mashni in Sydney on November 10th 2023.
This is the nature of calling out true antisemitism, with specific examples and entreating the crowd NOT to partake in these activities
Very clearly laying down rules of engagement.
Appendix H: Interpretation of Language
There are subjective and interpretive complaints of “antisemitism” based on the use of certain words.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry with the university’s consideration of the “civility rule” requiring explanation by speakers of what some people would subjectively call “controversial language”.
Practically - offering an explainer and history of these terms prior to any presentation with a few minutes is just not possible apart from anything else.
H.1 “Intifada”
The word “intifada” - Arabic for uprising, applied in many countries during the Arab Spring in 2010 (Tunisia, Egypt) for example as a standard term for throwing off oppression.
Yes, the events of 2000-2005 in the second Palestine “Intifada” were terrible on both sides - but it is a generic term, and you can’t just ban an Arabic word because you don’t like it.
For subjective complaints of “not feeling safe” when hearing the word - by that logic every time an Israeli flag is waved in the face of a Gaza survivor or those with Palestinian relatives violently killed by the IDF have just cause in PTSD and seeing a symbol of fear.
Another example of literal use of a famous and terrible “uprising” - the United States Holocaust memorial Museum in Washington has a page on the Warsaw Uprisings against Nazi oppression in the ghettos128. The Arabic page translation literally has the same term for “uprising” as the common term129.
H.2 “From the river to the sea”
The use of “from the river to the sea” - meaning - as MANY Jewish groups have said never mind global opinion - peace and equality in the Holy Lands. Nothing about borders, final state setup etc.
The collective island of Ireland (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland - part of the UK) enjoy a peace and freedom of movement whilst remaining separate countries.
The Irish Republicans want union long term just as Scottish Nationalists want independence but that’s a separate thing from peace and equality. So again - the interpretation is entirely subjective.
The call is for equality in a demonstrably apartheid state - as confirmed by the International Court of Justice ruling of 19th July 2024 considering years of evidence never mind multiple reports from human rights organisations such as Amnesty International (2022)130 and B’Tselem (2021)131.
Conversely - the term has been used by Israeli leaders for colonial affect.
the original Likud Charter used this terminology132
the right-wing UK Israeli Ambassador used this terminology
Netanyahu used this phrasing
Netanyahu presented a map “from the river to the sea” at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023 which had no mention of Palestine on it and a continuous representation of Israeli territory from the river to the sea133.
There were complaints from the US and German Ambassadors, with Germans Foreign Minister noting it was of no help regarding the efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution.
This was just over a week before October 7th.
YNetNews Israel 26 Sep 2023 “Germany, U.S. slam Netanyahu's Middle East map presented at UN: New Middle East map omits Palestinian territories; German Foreign Ministry says it is of no help with regard to the efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution“ here
H.3 In public life
In November 2025 a pro-Palestine Muslim left wing candidate was voted - against all odds - to be mayor of New York a city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Over 33% of Jewish voters voted with him.
He had made comments on the two contentious phrases134.
One - he did not endorse - “globalise the intifada”. But not for reasons of disagreeing with it - indeed when the US Holocaust Memorial Museum spoke out on him as a candidate he politely pointed out the “Warsaw Uprising” dichotomy on their website.
He did however agree to stop using the term - explaining his reasoning and noting the discomfort of many of his future constituents with the connotations of the term, even if that is not the intention.
“the role of the mayor is not to police language.”
“That distance between what some intend and what others hear is a bridge that is too far,” he said. “It is why I have not used the phrase, and it is why I discourage its use.”
In the moment - too difficult to explain.
The second - “from the river to the sea” - he has implicitly answered by clarifying the position on Israel’s right to exist … with conditions.
Israel has the right to exist - as a state with equal rights for all
“I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else.” (June 2025)
Appendix I: Vilification of protestors
There has been a tendency to tar all pro-Palestinian protestors with the same brush - using generalising language and slurs that are often later found to be untrue.
The below gives just some examples of the vilification of pro-Palestine protestors.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry as students exercising freedom of speech to protest on campus would have been generically targeted - as with all pro-Palestinian protesters in Australia - with these generic and unfounded slurs.
I.1 Palestinian humanitarian protest v “pro-Hamas” generalisation
There is a difference between supporting people’s right to defend themselves against an occupation (protected by international law135) and condoning the events of October 7th.
If you are supporting the rights of Palestinians in an asymmetric conflict you can still condone the events of October 7th (without getting into details of Hannibal Directive etc.) without being “pro-terrorist”.
Eloquently put by John Oliver - pro-Palestinian is not necessarily pro-Hamas136:
I.2 Pro-Israel “terrorism” language vs. criticism of an ideology
On pro-Terrorist slurs - a pro-Israel protestor was seen on the steps on the Victorian Parliament on Feb 23rd 2025 carrying a sign reading “all Palestinians are terrorists or terrorist supporters”. No action was taken against this man137 or attempt to trace later.
As a point of note - Liberal leader Peter Dutton as a 2025 pre-election pledge has promised to follow up on all “cold case” cases of potential antisemitism that were not prosecuted or investigated138. Will he be taking the same approach here for this slur?
A month later at a pro-Palestine protest a prominent pro-Palestinian protestor Burgatory owner Hash Tayeh was charged in Melbourne for “using insulting words in public” for saying “all Zionist are terrorists”. He will be mounting a defence of his words citing free speech and challenging the designation of Zionism as a slur.
The distinction of anti-zionism being political speech is even made in an article in The Australian Jewish News noting any charges would be precedent139:
The case marks what is believed to be the first instance where political speech has been deemed a criminal offence under the “insulting” law, which is typically applied to cases involving abusive language directed at police officers.
Hardly seems fair treatment or equivalence noting this is comment on a political ideology rather than a racist comment.
I.3 “Pro-rape” vilification of protestors
There are more vile slurs around calling all protestors “pro-rape” for alleged mass rapes committed on October 7th. This is offensive on so many levels to humanitarian protestors - but over time the allegations have been found to be patently untrue.
All this after maximised PR with huge NY Times expose and even a film of this, shown in venues all round the world impacting opinion with the vilest association.
The New York Times themselves pulled a later piece on the December 2024 rape story from October 7th when it became clear there was no evidence to back this up and what had been provided was false140.
Do people really think everybody protesting for the upholding of international law and human rights in a genocide in Gaza are “pro-rape”? Or that it is even appropriate to make that assertion publicly?
Appendix J: Media misrepresentation
The following is a collection of some images of media misrepresentation of Australian university protestors and the broader movement.
This gives an idea of the biased narrative being driven by the press to back up false accusations of antisemitism levelled at the protestors, increasing the pressure on universities to be seen to be taking firm action.
It is incredible how people - in particular the pro-Israel lobby in Australia - parrot word for word IDF propaganda immediately after events before the truth comes out. Time and time again (for examples see L.5 Media agendas - parroting the pro-Israel lobby parroting the IDF: and then it’s not true..).
On 12th October President Joe Biden’s team had to correct a statement he made live on camera that he had witnessed babies being beheaded - a lie that continued to be peddled for months afterwards141.
No-one corrects this, comes to the defence of protestors - in particular the media who have done nothing to change the public narrative.
The following two examples stand out on clarifications and corrections made that did not make mainstream press and indeed continued to be parroted in media organisations to discredit pro-Palestine protest.
J.1 Opera House protests: individuals and NOT the official pro-Palestine group
It should also be acknowledged that a group of individuals did make vile antisemitic comments at the Opera House on the night of 9th October 2024. However, these people were NOT associated with the official Palestine protest groups.
Palestinian Action Group organiser Josh Lees gave an interview on the ABC the next day on 10th October 2023 clarifying this. He also went on to condemn the protestors and noted that something vile and antisemitic was chanted but the key point - nothing to do with the official protestors.
Regardless - this association benefited the pro-Israel lobby who went on to maintain the association through playing footage constantly for months afterwards.
J.2 Pro-Israel offensive language tolerated
The comments Josh Lees made after that did not make the headlines. He challenged the ABC presented who had just interviewed live Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon who called Palestinians “animals” live on air. This echoed the words of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders at the time - building the conditions for Israel’s continuous retaliation thereafter.
This is the points Josh fairly raised:
J.3 ABC Q&A “ambush:”
On 14 November 2023 at the Australian National Press Club UN Palestinian Rapporteur Francesca Albanese calling out media bias against APAN President Nasser Mashni at the previous evening’s ABC Question Time “ambush”142.
J.4 Australian press: journalistic integrity
A general comment on an international norm of journalistic integrity that some Australians may not be aware of as a clearly deliberate tactic employed by certain sections of the Australian media to manipulate narrative.
I had noted that Sky News Australia in particular tends to quote their own presenters as experts in a particular field….
This is done all the time - interviewing themselves as journalists and presenting their own “specialist opinion”. Not only is it biased - it shows a complete lack of journalistic integrity.
Journalists are reporting with an agenda themselves and the use of independent interviewees or subject matter experts are standard practice in presenting a story, open to review of that individual’s record in a field. Self-quotation is not and quite frankly laughable - when for example I showed Sky News Australia reporting to people in the UK.
Just a point to compare with overseas news outlets that tend not take to this quite frankly laughable approach.
J.5 Australian pro-Palestine rallies unreported or negatively reported
In The Australian Press pro-Palestine rallies are virtually unreported unless it’s to pick out one or two inappropriate placards amongst thousands of people - again to make a point of generalisation and collectivisation. It is actually a broad cross-section of society who are protesting of all ages, backgrounds, religions and creeds.
The Press is almost NEVER at these events. In 50+ rallies in Sydney that I attended I perhaps saw the press reporting once or twice.
However notably Sky News Australia reported on a rally in London in February 2024 and it was interesting to compare the tweets from Sky News Australia143 and Sky News UK144:
Sky News UK does cover UK rallies - and despite the balanced report above is still accused of bias. Sky News Australia by contrast rarely covers pro-Palestine rallies except for an opportunity to present in a negative light.
J.6 Example media agendas - student encampments
J.7 Example media agendas - other pro-Palestine protests
The demonisation of protestors. Many newspaper outlets keep posting the picture of the burly Lebanese drummer leading the Sydney protest marches symbolically covered in blood - and the camera rarely pans out to view the thousands of protestors from all ages and backgrounds145.
J.8 Racist newspaper cartoons
Appendix K: An analysis of media manipulation: The 2023 Voice Referendum
The group “Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission” wrote an excellent report following the failed 2023 Referendum on the Australian Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The report analyses in detail the techniques used by the Murdoch Press (NewsCorp) to manipulate the public in the lead up to the vote146.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry to build awareness of and strategies to counter the same media manipulation techniques that were used and continue to be used by the Murdoch press and pro-Israel lobby to demonise student protests.
There were actually two reports - with an interim report issued in August 2023 ahead of the 14 October 2023 vote - in an attempt to educate the public in the manipulation that was in full play. The final report was issued in December 2023.
The original site has now been closed but the reports can be downloaded here:
📃 Interim Report: Poisoning the debate: How the Murdoch Press is campaigning against the Voice to Parliament (17th July - 27th August) -🔗👉⬇️ Google Docs download here
📃 Under the Facade of Journalism: How NewsCorp used fear, manipulation and division to campaign against the indigenous voice to Parliament (November 2023) -🔗👉⬇️ Google Docs download here
At the time, patrons of the organisation were former Australian Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd (who later withdrew from the campaign when he became Australian Ambassador to the US).
They gave a forthright interview in 2021 launching the campaign expressing their concerns at the influence of the Murdoch Press with its market saturation across Australia:
Appendix L: Lobbying for Israel: language and communications strategies
Lobbying for Israel is a challenging proposition - requiring a skilled use of language to present information on controversial topics - in this case Israel’s long history of brutal occupation and breaches of international law - in more “palatable” tones that can be repeated by politicians and other public figures. In particular to make Israel’s positions seem “reasonable” for politicians to defend and advocate for, minimising the risk to their positions.
This in addition to the actual art of persuasion of influential figures in the first place.
The Australian pro-Israel lobby has half the job done by gaining regulars access to the highest level of Government through “addressing antisemitism” or “friends of Israel” groups.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry to build awareness of and strategies to counter the sorts of language employed by the pro-Israel lobby to build support for Israel and present the Palestinians in a negative light which may have been employed to suppress freedom of speech. A suggested research project is proposed towards the end of the section.
L.1 The AIJAC lobbyist speech notes
Michael West Media found on the company website of the AIJAC Chairman a copy of one of his speeches with revealing and frank insights into the methods used to lobby politicians147.
The document appears to be notes from a presentation on July 24 2018 to the Jewish Community Council of Western Australia, but makes comments going back throughout lobbying in Australia over the decades.
These include - shutting down a Palestinian art exhibition, silencing Sophie McNeill’s coverage of the Middle East, lobbying against recognition of Palestine at the 2017 Labor conference, and lobbying Bob Hawke to rescind a UN motion against Israel. A fascinating insight into the engagement model with politicians148.
A link to a copy of the notes can be found on the Michael West article.
L.2 US Republican Israel strategist’s bible: “the secret report that helps Israel hide facts”
An article from 2014 by The Independent details the leaked ‘PR bible’ used by Israeli spokespeople to use particular wording to defend the indefensible and drive the narrative effectively - “The Secret Report that helps Israel hide facts”149.
The report was first leaked to NewsWeek in 2009 immediately after being written, marked "not for distribution" - “How to Sell Americans on Israeli Settlements”150.
Frank Luntz a Republican Political Consultant was commissioned to write the report by lobby group The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington (The Israel Project)151.
The Israel Project's Mandate: "devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel ... provides journalists with fact sheets, backgrounders and sources"
A lesson in PR and shaping opinion - "words to use" / "words not to use". You'd have to assume the updated version of this exists and is in use today by spokespeople and consumed by sympathetic or just lazy media.
Though clearly this is intended to discuss high level Israeli policy and the detail of various accusations and issues throughout the years at an international level, it can also be used to reinforce talking points at the regional level - stressing “words that work”, “areas to emphasise”, “facts to have” etc. and also what NOT to say.
This can of course be used by domestic political speech writers to craft messages in national parliament to influence policy.
The original version has been removed but a copy of the 122 page report can be downloaded here:
📃 The Israel Project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary 🔗👉⬇️ - Google Docs Download
L.3 Gaza crisis: 2024 Co-ordinated pro-Israel talking points - “factsheets”
There are often soundbites and press releases provided by the pro-Israel lobby to friendly politicians ahead of time and simply passed on. An example of this is the tweets from AIPAC-funded US politicians on the announcement that the ICC prosecutor would be requesting arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.
The tweets below were posted within hours of each other from various bipartisan AIPAC funded politicians and the House Foreign Affairs Committee - a clear planned narrative.
L.4 Australian pro-Israel media strategy
In Australia - you will see the same orchestration from pro-Israel lobby social media - often parroting IDF announcements vertbatim (see L.5). An incredibly irresponsible and agenda-driven approach given the exposure of untruths in IDF communications over time including the recent horror of the murder of Palestinian relief workers.
The standard Australian pro-Israel lobby comms route is152:
Slick Canva slides with key messaging on pro-Israel lobby social media
News Corp print media opinion piece written by the Director of one of the pro-Israel lobbies (mostly The Australian newspaper)
Sky News Australia interview with media-friendly lobby personalities
It would be interesting to see a similar analysis of Murdoch Media over the entire Gaza crisis period indicating their extreme bias and enablement, using the statistical techniques and dialectic analysis from The Voice Report in Appendix K.
⚠️ The inquiry may consider this for a Sydney University Research Project 2026. Seriously.
L.5 Media agendas - parroting the pro-Israel lobby parroting the IDF: and then it’s not true..
As noted - the media agenda of NewsCorp literally prints pro-Israel lobby statements on the situation in Gaza verbatim with zero journalistic integrity through basic verification.
In turn - the pro-Israel lobby parrot the IDF position of the time - which often turns out to be untrue.
A few examples follow.
L.5.1 Call to immediately cease aid to UNRWA (January 2024)
On January 26th the IDF claimed (with no evidence) that “a significant number” of UNRWA staff had participated in Oct 7th attacks.
After these claims all western nations cut aid initially with no proof for some 3-4 months in many cases causing untold suffering to Palestinians.
But … noting the date … the IDF allegations were released on exactly the same day the ICJ handed down a ruling of a “plausible” case to trial genocide against Israel153.
Hence the smokescreen.
Which was echoed by the pro-Israel lobby in Australia. See the below tweet154 - one of many supporting immediately ceasing UNRWA aid and demonising those calling for it to continue.
The “right side” of history was of course that there was ZERO proof from the IDF either then or later when demanded and when this became apparent - including an independent review commissioned by the UN155 - every country (bar the US) rightly reinstated aid156.
But the pro-Israel lobby in Australia had immediately jumped in parroting the IDFs untruths, reproduced in the media and reinforcing “moral authority” for the Australian Government to immediately cease aid following global counterparts for the 3-4 month period.
All for a reactive and clearly planned false-flag accusation in retribution for the ICJ ruling.
L.5.2 IDF massacre of Palestinian Medics (April 2025)
In April 2025 a convoy of ambulances were fired on by the IDF, their crews murdered and the evidence buried in the desert. The IDF denied all culpability ….. then after the graves were exhumed indicated that they had been approaching suspiciously with no lights on.
Only when mobile phone footage was found on the body of one of the buried ambulance workers showing the ambulances clearly flashing emergency lights, clearly marked clothing - did the IDF admit fault157.
But the pro-Israel lobby and broader media again parroted the IDFs initial untruths - despite there being clear issues with the IDF version of events from the start.
And this was the quite unbelievable response which speaks for itself158:
L.5.3 An apology? No - just a formula
And so - with the publication of mistruths - from the IDF through the pro-Israel media machine, sprayed on NewsCorp, repeated under parliamentary privilege by MPs … the damage is done through political expediency. Decisions to restart aid, impose soft sanctions are delayed - causing actual loss of life amongst the Palestinians in the meantime.
In extreme cases there have been prosecutions of newspaper publishers acting essentially as enablers for genocide in the case of Rwanda159. This is clearly a direct case - but enabling a climate of political expediency in a Government and civil society through untruths must surely be similarly breaking some sort of law.
And is there at least an apology when the truth finally comes out? Not likely.
You will never see a retrospective correction, you’ll never see an apology. There may be a brief acknowledgement follow by a “but the the other guy…”
The style of Israeli Government official and pro-Israeli lobbyist became so formulaic that an editorial letter written by a member of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition went viral as a checklist for the approach. Tongue in cheek - but actually depressingly accurate.
Appendix M: Political vilification
There are voices that speak up in Parliament for Palestine - and they are roundly demonised for this.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry as these are literally the only voices in Government speaking out for the students right to protest and supporting the Palestinian cause. The asymmetric influence in Government policy of these individuals and smaller parties speaks volumes to the line taken by both majority parties.
M.1 MP Fatima Payman: Expelled from Labor for speaking out
In June 2024 Labor Senator Fatima Payman became the first Labor Parliamentarian to break ranks on the official Labor position and speak out on Palestine. She took two steps:
15 May 2024: Finally accused Israel of genocide and requested the Labor Party to take steps to sanction160
18 Jun 2024: Called on the Government to recognise the State of Palestine in an opinion piece for Al Jazeera161
On 25th Jun 2024 in a Greens motion on recognising Palestine in the Senate - she crossed the floor to vote with them.162
She was hounded by MPs from all sides and suspended from caucus.163
Payman was heavily criticised for breaking rank - despite recognition of Palestine being Labor’s official policy in recognising a two-state solution. Just six months later The Australian Government broke with years of precedent and voted in a motion in the United Nations demanding the end to occupation and calling for the Palestinian’s right to independence and their own state164 165.
On voting with conscience - Senator Penny Wong noted that she had kept quiet on marriage equality for years until the Referendum and indicated Payman should do the same. How can you equate this with an issue where people are getting killed daily?
Payman eventually resigned from the Labor Party to continue her service as an independent.
It was in this climate - after suspending a Muslim MP for standing up for the rights of Palestinians - that the following week Albanese announced the new “antisemitism envoy” - to stand up for the rights of a subjectively offended minority of Australians.
M.2 The Greens party: demonised for defending Palestine
The only party who has stood firm for the Palestinian cause has been The Greens - who have been demonised from Day 1 for “political posturing” for keeping the Palestinian cause in the public eye. This has included frequent speeches in Parliament, close questioning of MPs, questions in Committees and raising motions for ceasefires and such on the floor.
A huge campaign from the pro-Israel lobby has demonised them for their approach, painting them as “supporting terrorists” with politicians even going as far to label them a security risk and try to ban them from defence related Parliamentary committees.
A December 2023 by-election campaign poster from One Nation demonising The Greens for having the integrity to speak out on behalf of the Palestinians. This campaign against the Greens has been going on throughout the entire Gaza crisis.
Groups such as Advance are actively undertaking targeted campaigning against the Greens in specific constituencies - with many of the campaigners being seasoned pro-Israel lobbyists. The equivalent would be in the US, AIPACs massive mobilisation against anyone in Congress or any candidate taking a sympathetic view of the Palestinians.
AIPAC even spent $15M in a Democratic primary to ensure an Israel-friendly candidate George Latimer was selected to oust Jamal Bowman whose attitude to the Gaza crisis they did not suit Israel being one of the few members of Congress voting for a ceasefire and against arms exports to Israel.
In addition to hard dollar funding AIPACs network extended to also funding leaflet distribution, negative campaigns ads and other “soft funding”. Latimer won from nothing by 17% over the supposedly “safe” incumbent166.
It will be interesting to watch the mobilisation of such groups with similar underlying motivations against The Greens in the upcoming election.
To do this to a party supporting humanity is unconscionable.
George Latimer was flown to Israel in November 2023 to meet President Herzog before AIPAC assisted his candidacy167. Another electoral candidate in Australia had a recent meeting with Herzog in 2024 ahead of an Australian general election less than a year later. Dutton also met Netayahu and now Israeli Defence Minister Katz on the same trip168.
Appendix N: The Pro-Israel Lobby and the Australian Parliament
The Australian Parliament’s duopoly political parties have been unanimously pro-Israel throughout the Gaza crisis. This is unsurprising give the decades long history of courting of MPs from the two parties from early student years, through backbench positions to ministerial roles by the pro-Israel lobby.
⚠️ This is relevant to the inquiry as the attitude of politicians lobbied heavily by the pro-Israel lobby is a major motivator behind the imposition of restrictions on free speech at the University. Now indisputably we can see the same pressure being applied daily in the US to American institutions under the Trump administration using funding as leverage.
N.1 Thirteen State & Federal Parliament “Friends of Israel” groups
The pro-Israel lobby hedging of support in the two major parties guarantees support for Israel from the parliament of the day and is a standard model in the UK and the US - most visibly in the us through the AIPAC lobby group. In Australia it is less publicly visible but heavily influences politics.
In Australia across State and Federal Parliaments there at least thirteen “Friends of Israel” political networks of MPs. These are “non-official” groups and would appear to have no public records open for scrutiny in the undoubtedly political discussions happening there.
By any measure - this amount of unofficial contact points with our politicians sympathetic to a foreign state must be inappropriate.
N.2 Christian Zionism in Parliament: February 2025
In February 2025 a Christian-Zionist group was relaunched in The Australian Parliament - the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus (AIAC).
The group was relaunched on February 13th at an event in Canberra hosted by Wallace, with Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon as guest speaker with several Christian Zionist groups in attendance169.
The group is Chaired by Liberal Senator Andrew Wallace who has been a vociferous defender of Israel throughout the Gaza crisis. Wallace is also the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Intelligence & Security Committee.
AIAC is an ideologically driven Christian group - which is a concern in a supposedly secular Australian Government.
It would appear The Australian relaunch is part of a global relaunch of “faith-based diplomacy” groups into Governments throughout the world - noting a similar launch on Capitol Hill in a few weeks earlier in January 2025 - “Congressional Israel Allies Caucus”170.
Israel-based Global Co-ordinating Group
The Australia Israel Allies Caucus is just one of a network of 51 such religious Government groups in parliaments around the world with 1,500 MPs.
The overarching group in Israel co-ordinating all Christian Government Caucuses throughout the world is the “Israel Allies Foundation” (IAF).
The President of the IAF Josh Reinstein was also present at the event. Reinstein also is Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) which co-ordinates faith-based support for Israel within the Israeli Parliament itself.
The Australian Branch of the IAF was also launched at the Canberra Event. The Australian Israel Allies Foundation (AIAF) is the private co-ordinating body working to support the AIAC in the Parliament. It’s activities are stated as:
supporting educational visits to Israel
hosting community events
releasing media statements
fostering change through the legal system
impacting educational change on the founding of Israel and the Jewish people’s historical and biblical right to the Land
The organisation is religious focused pushing Israel’s Biblical right to the land - and working to influence that through this network of legislators in Parliament. Literally this stated in the press releases.
Senator Wallace was quoted as saying:
“Australia and Israel are two pioneering and freedom-loving nations sharing a rich Judeo-Christian and democratic tradition”
The importance of Australian State and Federal Parliamentarians coming together to support Israel and the Jewish communities in their respective states and electorates.
“It is time for all Australians of good conscience to lay aside opinions and prejudices and act now to form friendships, alliances and corporate agreements for social cohesion in a combined effort to defeat the increase in social destruction”
The implication is that protesting against Israel is “social destruction” … and this group of Parliamentarians acting in a co-ordinated manner out of religious ideology are pushing that narrative through their contacts and positions.
What is the appropriateness of an ideology driven network of 1500 politicians in 51 governments around the working for “faith based diplomacy and support for Israel”… with the terms of reference stated above?
In Australia this shows a deeper ideological conviction supporting Israel co-ordinated between Christian politicians who share the “biblical belief”.
This is extremely concerning - relaunching such as bipartisan group as this in particular with Wallace’s words a few months ahead of the May election.
⚠️ For the inquiry - this may add a different slant to the motivations of politicians involved in decisions influencing the freedom of speech at Australian universities.
N.3 May 2025 Australian Election: Pro-Israel support is a major election issue - why??
In the run up to the May 2025 election is has become an election issue in itself with both parties in a “race to the bottom” to concede maximum concessions in a pro-Israel stance to capitulate the lobby.
When the “explosion of antisemitism” in NSW was revealed by the police to be a criminal hoax conspiracy and not ideologically motivated171, the Jewish Council of Australia made a press release hitting the nail on the head over the political leverage extracted by pro-Israel lobby groups at the expense of the Australia Jewish community172.
Questions must be asked here on what leverage the pro-Israel lobby groups have - who claim to represent a tiny minority of the Australian public (0.45%) and yet are openly advocating for the Israel State and treating the Jewish community as a monolith.
There is often talk of Australian Royal Commissions for “matters in the public interest”. Surely this very issue is one of the most pressing in the public interest?
However, expecting a Royal Commission is circular logic - the politicians themselves need to approve the consideration of such a commission and it’s not a vote winner.
Cui bono?
Appendix O: Related articles
The following Sleekit Scotsman articles may be relevant to the inquiry. These are original articles written over the year many of which are referenced in or quoted from in the body of this submission.
Each has a link to the article with a brief description, first published date and bullet point summary of relevant contents. All articles are in turn referenced themselves. If an article has been updated there is a version history provided.
Sydney University Encampment (first published May 2 2024)
Fomented Antisemitism (AUJS)
Gaslighting the narrative - who is really unsafe?
Pro-Israel counter-protests
Continued suppression US/Australia
Macklemore
Vice Chancellor’s Response
Camp Closure
Sydney University: Monitoring Free Speech (first published Sep 20 2024):
Recording
Antisemitism Bill / Envoy
Who defines antisemitism for reviewing the student recording?
“Antisemitism” inquiry at Australian Universities: Fait accompli? (first published Sep 23 2024)
The Committee
JCA Testimony
University Testimonies
IHRA Impact European Universities
Envoy - “The Gold Standard”
Appendix: USYD Testimony
Sydney Uni you can’t hide… (first published Feb 14 2024)
USYD links to Thales
Thales military operations with Israel
Israeli Uni partnership
Thodey - conflict of interest?
Defending Israel’s actions is the ultimate “un-Australian” behaviour: (first published Feb 28 2024) a response to the pro-Israel lobby appropriating Australian culture and terminology:
“pro-Hamas” collectivism
Appropriating “un-Australian”
Who is holding Israel to account?
Who is defending Israel’s actions?
Australian Threat Level increases (first published 5 Aug 2024): Government press conference on ASIO threat level increase
Shows Islamophobia and antisemitism being treated the same at that point … so why rush for antisemitism envoy appointed in previous month?
Antisemitism envoy: pro-Israel bias record
Sydney Opera House Audio falsely captioned (first published Feb 2 2024) a look at the significant impacts on Australia’s reputation and utilisation against pro-Palestinian protestors:
NSW Police reveal not said
NOTHING to do with main pro-Palestine protestors (ABC Interview)
The legal difference in using the term “gas” never mind moral
Impacts of replaying this over and over and reinforcement of the link with protestors
No Room for Antisemitism - but plenty of room for racism (first published Dec 12 2023): the demonisation of pro-Palestine protestors in The Australian press
“No room in this movement for antisemitism”
Sydney opera house memes
Caricatures
Association with Hamas
Fomenting division in Australia
IDF soldier/Israel-IS CEO Australia visit sponsored by pro-Israel lobby (first published Dec 16 2023):
IDF propaganda at the Opera House
Reaction to a foreign state soldier glorified on Australian soil by the pro-Israel lobby
Israel-IS: IDF soldier also CEO of group teaching IDF soldier PR - with actual atrocity use cases and how to spin them in training videos
The Australian 2025 antisemitism criminal hoaxes, the history of bias in NSW and how the pro-Israel lobby milked it (first published 12th March 2025):
NSW Premier Chris Minns’s pro-Israel bias and history of suppressing pro-Palestine protest
Events after the police revelation of hoaxes
NSW Parliament pro-Israel bodies
Australia’s UN voting record and the timing of the attacks
Government community funding and support summary
How NewsCorp media manipulated the narrative to influence the “no” vote in the 2023 Australian Referendum on the Aboriginal Voice to Parliament: analysis of the report by Murdoch for a Royal Commission (first published Nov 29 2023):
Two former Australian Prime Minsters share their views on Murdoch
Final report review & commentary
Panel discussion - mapping solutions to disinformation
Zali Steggall: Australian Teal MP - Addressing political advertising misinformation
The language of lobbying: US/Australia - the art of persuasion and language employed by pro-Israel lobbyists to persuade politicians and attempt to present Israel’s controversial actions as “reasonable” (first published Jan 10 2024):
US: Republican strategist - the leaked PR bible on Israel
Australia: analysis of AIJAC lobbyist speech notes
In action: Israeli Government spokesperson Eylon Levy
Australian Pro-Israeli Lobby: Modus Operandi (first published Jan 10 2024)
Comprehensive article of the operation of all aspects of the pro-Israeli lobby in Australia
Regularly updated
US Congress: Motion defining antizionism as antisemitism (first published Dec 6 2023) - point is - without looking to / understanding the detail of the Bill - who wants to be seen as “challenging the fight against antisemitism”?
Setting precedent
Getting congressmen over a barrel - nobody know the detail, they just know bad to be tarred with “antisemitism”
McCarthy returns to the campus (first published Apr 14 2024): article on the brutal approach taken to protest on American Universities impacting both staff and students in the first six months of the Gaza crisis:
Early repercussions of protest
Columbia University hearings silencing free speech
Pro-Israel campus organisations in the US
Impacts on Academics
The Kid’s in the Picture: An overview of “The Hollywood Lobby” (first published 13 April 2024) - the pro-Israel Creative Community for Peace. One and the same as pro-Israel campus organisation “Stand with us”.
CCFP structure and agenda
Retribution for speaking out
Hollywood representation of Arab characters
Voices of reason speaking out
Redefining Hollywood D&I policy
Censoring education for Israel: Selective truths taught to children from Israel’s history globally (published Mar 17 2025)
Debra Winger (US)
Seth Rogen (Canada)
Kea Cranko (Australia)
Simone Zimmerman (US)
Truth and Denial
Statistical review of ADL antisemitism data (first published Apr 29 2024):
Official FBI hate crime statistics
Accurate comparison of Islamophobia v Antisemitism statistics - surprising results…
How much Islamophobic hate crime reported?
ADL Proprietary Stats - Methodology, reporting channels - issues
Perspective: relative to other categories of crime
Israeli Violations of International Law: A comprehensive review (first published Dec 30 2023):
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
International Criminal Court
International Court of Justice
Israeli Supreme Court rulings
External independent legal opinions
UN Security Council Resolution and General Assembly Motions
NGO Reports (International, Israeli)
ICJ Case 192: A plausible case to assess the applicability of genocide in Gaza (first published Jan 28 2024):
Options the ICJ could have taken
ICJ ruling assessment
Analysis of judge statements
Next steps to ceasefire
Approach after the ceasefire - new actors Palestine, Israel, peacekeeping force
ICC Prosecutor announces intention to request arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas leaders (first published May 21 2024):
Human rights v “moral equivalence” clarification
Double standards v Putin ICC warrants
Call for Rome Statue signatories to break international law
ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas leaders (first published Nov 23 2024):
The Choice
Upholding international law consistently - Ukraine/Palestine
Moral Equivalence red herring
US sanctions on ICC individual judges - “your grandchildren will never study in the US”
A lesson in integrity: Nelson Mandela
Analysis of pro-Israel tweets: various arguments justifying Israel’s actions following the issuance of warrants
May this Tribunal prevent the crimes of silence (first published Mar 31 2024) - structure, operation and findings of a broader Tribunal on Palestine almost 15 years ago
Russell Tribunal on Palestine 2010-2013
Structure of global tribunal
Scope of sessions
Changing the conversation - the timing of Israel’s attacks on Iran (first published 13 Jun 2025)
The trigger for Israel’s attacks on Iran June 2025 (not the attacks themselves)
World events driving the timing
A stunning PR outcome
Other “optimally timed” attacks by Israel
Mamdani and the IHRA Definition of Islamophobia (5 Nov 2025)
Mamdani and the IHRA Definition of Islamophobia (first published 5 Nov 2025) - After NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani’s racist treatment in the media applying a well-known framework yields a clearer view
the brutal Islamophobic racism directed at NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani
employs a mapping of the IHRA definition of antisemitism to Islamophobia as a device to illustrate the point
looks at some of Mamdani’s specific comments on Israel - and how he has been treated
END PAPERS
🏛️ Sleekit Library
A complete index of ALL Sleekit Scotsman articles, categorised, hyperlinked and with descriptions for easy browsing.
Sleekit Library
This is a categorised view of Sleekit Scotsman articles, with summary overviews and links to articles themselves. You’ll find subsets of these listed as relevant at the back of Sleekit Scotsman articles for further related reading.
🗄️ Version History - Article Updates
First published: Apr 15 2025
Last Updated: Nov 25 2025
Sleekit Scotsman ☮️🏴 articles are updated periodically to add latest information on the subject of the article for relevance
Updates
Nov 25 2025:
added NYC Mayor Mamdani’s use of contentious phrases H.3 In public life and reference to Mamdani article in further reading
updated format to latest
Aug 17 2025:
updated with further details of pro-Israel activist Freya Leach destruction of pro-Palestinian posters - 2.2.1 Welcome Week (Feb 2024)
Jun 16 2025:
Added Epilogue section with
preliminary report published by the panel
Added NSW Parliament antisemitism inquiry evidence from Students Against Palestine
Apr 27 2025:
Added hyperlinks to references to various other internal sections of document for ease of navigation.
Added AJA image to 3.2 Accusations of antisemitism against Jewish speakers - quoting out of context (UTS)
Added protest image to 2.9 Objections to speakers on campus
Added link to Palestinian’s legal right to resist under international to I.1 Palestinian humanitarian protest v “pro-Hamas” generalisation
Added section on the pro-Israel lobby and the media repeating IDF propaganda with examples of those later found to be untruths: see L.5 Media agendas - parroting the pro-Israel lobby parroting the IDF: and then it’s not true..
Apr 26 2025:
Added in details of pro-Israel Christian organising movement Never Again Is Now (B.4. Never Again Is Now)
Apr 16 2025:
updated all internal article URLs to ensure referencing the v2.0 document, added a few missing URLs in body for internally referenced sections.
Apr 15 2025: duplicated original article and added in standard article format end papers with version history
🌎 Sleekit Scotsman ☮️🏴 Social Media
Sleekit Scotsman ☮️🏴 also publishes on a number of social media channels - please also consider subscribing to these accessible at this link:
☮️🏴 Sleekit Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/sleekitscotsman
Please follow, subscribe link for original content you won’t find anywhere else
ℹ️ About Sleekit Scotsman
I am an autistic Scottish writer passionate about human rights issues and exposing Government corruption. I have a high attention to detail and can often spot connections and insights others may not see.
🙏☕️🏴 A wee favour … 😊
✍️ I’m an independent writer on social justice issues. As an autistic person, I have high attention to detail and try to put this in my work and though it does take me a long time to produce I do hope it is useful. 😊
☕️ My research, articles and memes are free but if you like my work please consider buying me a coffee on my Ko-Fi page - really appreciated!
Please click button below 👇 🙏
📋 References
UN Website: 24 Oct 2023 Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council - on the Middle East [as delivered] https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east-delivered
Sleekit Scotsman “Sydney Uni you can’t hide” Feb 14 2024 -
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/sydney-uni-you-cant-hide
Sydney University Muslim Students Association (SUMSA) Instagram 9 May 2024 “What are those black and white flags?” - Instagram:
Jewish Council of Australia Press Release Apr 28 2024 - “Jewish Council: University encampments are no threat to Jews“ - https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/media/university-encampments-are-no-threat
Freya Leach X Mar 2024 Post - protestors outside “impacting freedom of speech” (now removed but original URL below - X archive?) - https://x.com/Freya_J_Leach/status/1764486693812588706
Honi Soit X Post 9 Oct 2023 - https://x.com/honi_soit/status/1711275934484255020
Sydney University Freedom of Expression Policy on website (accessed Feb 2024) section “Deplatforming” - https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/student-responsibilities/freedom-of-expression.html
Australian Jewish News May 30 2024 - “Education on the ‘root cause’“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/education-on-the-root-cause/
Declassified UK YouTube 17 Sep 2025 “Exposed: The British colonel doing Israel’s dirty work‘ -
University of Sydney student magazine Honi Soit Mar 13 2024 “Leaked documents reveal how AUJS lobbies for Zionism“ - https://honisoit.com/2024/03/leaked-documents-reveal-how-aujs-lobbies-for-zionism/
Sleekit Scotsman Jan 10 2024 “The Next Generation of Jewish Representative Groups: Australian pro-Israel lobby Modus Operandi“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140472136/the-next-generation-of-jewish-representative-groups
Sydney University Campus Access policy - policy website - https://www.sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2011/143&RendNum=0 and adjustments reported 2 Mar 2025 Honi Soit “University of Sydney announces amendments to the Campus Access Policy“ - https://honisoit.com/2025/03/university-of-sydney-announces-amendments-to-the-campus-access-policy/
Cityhub July 5 2024 “University of Sydney cracks down on students’ right to protest“ https://cityhub.com.au/university-of-sydney-cracks-down-on-students-right-to-protest/
Honi Soit 8 July 2024 “NSW Council for Civil Liberties condemns USyd Campus Access Policy“ - https://honisoit.com/2024/07/nsw-council-for-civil-liberties-condemns-usyd-campus-access-policy/
Stand With Us March 28 2024 - “StandWithUs Urges Universities Nationwide to Adopt Best Practices for Anti-Israel Protests on Campus“ - https://www.standwithus.com/post/standwithus-urges-universities-nationwide-to-adopt-best-practices-for-anti-israel-protests-on-campus
Australian Jewish News 5 June 2024 - “Class action to hold USYD accountable for antisemitism“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/class-action-to-hold-usyd-accountable-for-antisemitism/
Sleekit Scotsman Feb 14 2024 “Sydney University Links to Thales: Sydney Uni you can’t hide “ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/141654015/sydney-university-links-to-thales
ICJ Case 192 - “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel): The Court indicates provisional measures” 26 Jan 2024 - ““ - https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-pre-01-00-en.pdf
ICJ Website: Press Release on the advisory opinions on case 186 20th July 2024 - “The Court gives its Advisory Opinion and responds to the questions posed by the General Assembly“ - https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-pre-01-00-en.pdf
BBC 3 Mar 2021 “ICC opens 'war crimes' investigation in West Bank and Gaza“ - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56249927
B’TSelem Press Release 27 Dec 2022 - “Ten Israeli human rights organizations to ICC Prosecutor: “We are all committed to assisting your office in advancing the ongoing investigation of the Situation in Palestine“ - https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20221228_10_ngos_to_icc_prosecutor_we_are_all_committed_to_assisting_your_officein_advancing_the_ongoing_investigation_of_the_situation_in_palestine
Sleekit Scotsman May 21 2024 "Why the pre-warrant announcement? The conscience of the world: circumventing the P5” - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/144820306/why-the-pre-warrant-announcement
ICC Website 20 May 2024 “Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine“ - https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state
Sleekit Scotsman Nov 23 2024 “8,172 Palestinians killed in time taken to issue ICC warrants“ -
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/8172-palestinians-killed-in-time
International Criminal Court, “Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC on the issuance of arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine“ 21 Nov 2024: https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-issuance-arrest-warrants-situation-state-palestine
UN Website: 24 Oct 2023 Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council - on the Middle East [as delivered] https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east-delivered
UN GA Resolution 13 Sep 2024 “A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1: Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory” - https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/ltd/n24/266/48/pdf/n2426648.pdf
“Israelism” (2023): © 2023 Tikan Olum Productions: A film by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilersten Credits: https://www.israelismfilm.com/credits . Segment reproduced here under fair use for civil rights advocacy.
Sleekit Scotsman 17 Mar 2025 “US: Simone Zimmerman - awakened after taking part in scripted pro-Israel college protests: Censoring for Israel - selective truths taught to children from Israel’s history globally“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/159267888/us-simone-zimmerman-awakened-after-taking-part-in-scripted-pro-israel-college-protests
University of Sydney Press Release 27 Nov 2024 “University receives Hodgkinson External Review report“ - https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/11/27/university-receives-hodgkinson-external-review-report.html
Ynet News, Israel 7 Sep 2025 - “Sydney protesters slam IDF soldiers for 'apartheid'—not knowing they're not even Jewish“ - https://www.ynetnews.com/article/by7dpiw01l
Australian Centre for International Justice Dec 22 2023 - “Letter: Australia should investigate citizens fighting in the IDF“ - https://acij.org.au/letter-australia-should-investigate-citizens-fighting-in-the-idf/
USYD Press Release 22 December 2022 - “Research partnership extended with Thales Australia“ - https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/12/22/research-partnership-extended-with-thales-australia.html
J-Wire Website Mar 4 2014 - “Telstra chief names Israel as epicentre of world innovation“ - https://www.jwire.com.au/telstra-chief-names-israel-as-epicentre-of-world-innovation/
Square Peg Capital companies portfolio - https://www.squarepeg.vc/companies
Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Website - 20 Oct 2021 - https://aiccnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2021-Australia-Israel-Innovation-Summit-Overview-V2.pdf
David Thodey LinkedIn Sep 2023 - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidthodey_great-to-see-this-partnership-between-a-leading-activity-7098221740157272064-nTX0
Thales Press Release 29 Aug 2023 “THALES AUSTRALIA EXTENDS ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY“ - https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/countries-asia-pacific/australia/news/thales-australia-extends-its-strategic-partnership-university
+972 Magazine Apr 3 2024 “‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza“ - https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
The Guardian 12 Dec 2013 - “Charity condemns Israeli role in UK drone project“ - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/11/israel-uk-watchkeeper-drones-war-on-want
Glasgow University - Annual list of investments held for endowments (retrieved from site search 17 May 2024) - https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/finance/staffsections/financialoperations/financialreporting/sociallyresponsibleinvestmentpolicy/#anannuallistofinvestmentsheldforendowments.%E2%80%8C from original Facebook Post 17 May 2024 - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid0UY32tMEVJighxJBtGRxm5hmaCynKYTW8DWt7p5HcqgL8FK25hmDKGN2wzLMoGkWyl
Glasgow University Socially Responsible Investment Policy - https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/finance/financialoperations/financialreporting/sociallyresponsibleinvestmentpolicy/
Australian Jewish News Mar 27 2025 “UTS investigating alleged hate speech during campus rally“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/uts-investigating-alleged-hate-speech-during-campus-rally/
Australian Jewish News Oct 2 2024 “Jewish students jeered“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/jewish-students-jeered/
Honi Soit Aug 1 2023 “The Sydney Street-Art guide” - https://honisoit.com/2023/08/the-sydney-street-art-guide/
Students Against War Instagram 15 Aug 2024 -
ABC News Koppel Report interview broadcast June 21 1990
Honi Soit Apr 21 2021 “Student general meetings: then and now“ - https://honisoit.com/2021/04/student-general-meetings-then-and-now/
Greens Press Release 12 Jun 2025 - “PRELIMINARY REPORT OF PEOPLE’S INQUIRY INTO CAMPUS FREE SPEECH ON PALESTINE A DAMNING INDICTMENT OF UNI MANAGEMENT“ - https://greens.org.au/news/media-release/preliminary-report-peoples-inquiry-campus-free-speech-palestine-damning
Sleekit Scotsman “We need to talk about Chris: Epilogue - update on the Melbourne Synagogue Attacks“ (updated 13 Jun 2025) - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/158900837/epilogue-update-on-the-melbourne-synagogue-attacks
Sleekit Scotsman - “Israel’s Sleight of Hand” (first published Jun 13 2025) -
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/israels-sleight-of-hand
Class PR legal PR business campaign for Sydney University class action for racial vilification of Jewish students (accessed June 2024, now removed) -
https://www.classpr.com.au
Australian Jewish News Jul 18 2024 “USYD case filing imminent“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/usyd-case-filing-imminent/
Executive Council of Australian Jewry Policy Platform - https://www.ecaj.org.au/about/our-policies/
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 89 - Surrender of Persons to the Court) - https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2025-03/Rome-Statute-EN-2025.pdf
Australian Centre for International Justice 16 Jan 2025 - “MEDIA RELEASE: Attorney-General Dreyfus’ visit to Israel undermines efforts to uphold International and Australian law“ - https://acij.org.au/media-release-attorney-general-dreyfus-visit-to-israel-undermines-efforts-to-uphold-international-and-australian-law/
ICJ Press Release 28 Sep 2018 - “The State of Palestine institutes proceedings against the United States of America“ [comment: interesting ICJ calls Palestine “State”] - https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/176/176-20180928-PRE-01-00-EN.pdf
Australian Council of Australian Jewry - Policy Platform: https://www.ecaj.org.au/about/our-policies/
Australian Charity & Not for Profit Commission registry entry AUJS - https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/4918b092-39af-e811-a963-000d3ad24077/documents/
Forbes Israel Nov 20 2023 - “Dead to Us: Miriam Adelson in a Special Column for Forbes Israel“ - https://forbes.co.il/e/dead-to-us-miriam-adelson-in-a-special-column-for-forbes-israel/
AUJS Facebook Page 18 June 2023: Sponsors of 2023 PTS Program in the Australian Parliament - https://www.facebook.com/aujsfb/posts/pfbid0XpL9wwbjUk53PQ1syH8eQP3jha1Hwp7akyMCCiaMdoYUuLB2AgsCXFkTPq9B6hcgl
AUJS Website Accelerate program 2023 - https://aujs.com.au/event/accelerate-political-training-seminar-pts/ (original page specifically for accelerate removed - accessed Feb 2024 - https://aujs.com.au/accelerate-2/ )
Australian Jewish News Friday 26th August 2005 “Seeing Israel beyond the classroom“ - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/263317483
Sleekit Scotsman Apr 13 2024 “CCFP actual structure and agenda: the Kid’s in the picture - if you sign this open letter“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/143542008/ccfp-actual-structure-and-agenda
Stand With US Press Release 10 Mar 2022 “StandWithUs Australia Set to Launch“ - https://www.standwithus.com/post/standwithus-australia-set-to-launch
Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commissions (ACNC) - STANDWITHUS AUSTRALIA LIMITED - https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/45619a6f-3aaf-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/profile
Stand With Us Press Release 1 Mar 2024 “Michael Gencher appointed new Executive Director of StandWithUs Australia“ - https://www.standwithus.com/post/michael-gencher-appointed-new-executive-director-of-standwithus-australia
Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commissions (ACNC) - NSW JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES HARM PREVENTION FUND - https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/1ef24cba-3aaf-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/profile
+972 Magazine Jan 13 2015 - “StandWithUs to take cash, messaging from Israeli gov’t“ - https://www.972mag.com/standwithus-to-take-cash-messaging-from-israeli-govt/
Northern Beaches Advocate 15 Aug 2024 “Libs off Council for four years“ - https://www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au/2024/08/15/libs-off-council-for-four-years/
UN Website 13 Dec - “General Assembly Adopts Resolution Demanding Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza, Parties' Compliance with International Law, Release of All Hostages“ - https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12572.doc.htm
Honi Soit Apr 9 2025 - “Protests erupt at Sydney universities over IDF campus events“ - https://honisoit.com/2025/04/protests-erupt-at-sydney-universities-over-idf-campus-events/
The Conversation July 29 2021 - “Should the University of Melbourne host the Menzies Institute? The answer hinges on academic freedom“ - https://theconversation.com/should-the-university-of-melbourne-host-the-menzies-institute-the-answer-hinges-on-academic-freedom-165072
Australian Jewish Association FB Video Post 15 Dec 2023 - https://www.facebook.com/AustralianJewishAssociation/videos/728752965823071/
Sydney Morning Herald Feb 2 2024 - “Police review finds no evidence ‘gas the Jews’ phrase chanted at Sydney Opera House protest“ - https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/police-review-finds-no-evidence-antisemitic-phrase-chanted-at-sydney-opera-house-protest-20240202-p5f1v7.html
Sleekit Scotsman Feb 2 2024 “Impacts of the falsely captioned footage: Sydney Opera House Audio FALSELY-CAPTIONED“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/141296978/impacts-of-the-falsely-captioned-footage
Mark Leach X Feed Oct 9 2023 - https://x.com/markleach/status/1711348831424848017
Crikey 8 Mar 2024, N’ama Carlin and Elizabeth Strakosch, “Never Again is Now rallies against antisemitism are not what they seem - https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/03/08/never-again-is-now-antisemitism-jewish-council-of-australia/
Jewish Council of Australia press release Feb 19 2024 - “Sydney rally: A conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel“ - https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/media/sydney-rally-conflation-antisemitism-criticism-israel
News.com.au Sep 15 2023 - “No voter sparks outrage with Holocaust comments in Voice to parliament video“ - https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/no-voter-sparks-outrage-with-holocaust-comments-in-voice-to-parliament-video/news-story/5d1e3751bcb38689f2650f04dc27b0c1
Micah Australia 28 Mar 2024 - “Church leaders open letter on Israel-Gaza conflict“ - https://www.micahaustralia.org/news/media-release-church-leaders-urge-pollies-to-back-permanent-end-to-bombing/
The Goodsauce May 29 2024 - “An open response to “Australian Christians” calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza“ - https://goodsauce.news/an-open-response-to-australian-christians-calling-for-a-permanent-ceasefire-in-gaza/ shared Mark Leach X Post May 29 2024 - https://x.com/markleach/status/1795803459360604410
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 31 May 2024 “Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #173“ - https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-173
ABC Tuesday 25th February 2025 “Australian universities agree to antisemitism definition that bans calling for Israel's elimination“ - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/universities-to-enforce-joint-antisemitism-position-on-campuses/104980836
i24newsTV Oct 21 2021 - “Australia to adopt IHRA definition of antisemitism“ - https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/asia-pacific/1634188711-australia-to-adopt-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism
Michael West Media Jommy Lee Mar 31 2024 - “Investigation: powerbroker Mark Leibler and Australia’s Zionist connections with Israel’s defence web“ - https://michaelwest.com.au/australia-zionist-defence-ties-with-israel/
AIJAC Press Release Oct 28 2022 - “AIJAC welcomes establishment of IHRA Parliamentary Friendship Group“ - https://aijac.org.au/media-release/aijac-welcomes-establishment-of-ihra-parliamentary-friendship-group/
The Conversation, Michelle Grattan(Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra), Nov 17 2023 “View from The Hill: as war rages in the Middle East, Australian parliamentarians try to promote understanding“ - https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-as-war-rages-in-the-middle-east-australian-parliamentarians-try-to-promote-understanding-217818
House of Congress H.R. 6090 26 Oct 2023 “Anitsemitism Awareness Act 2023” - https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090/text
Hansard Australian Parliamentary Business 17 Jun 2024 “Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee 17/6/2024 – Right Wing Extremist Movements in Australia” - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=committees/commsen/28084/&sid=0000
Online Hate Prevention Institute Website -
Jewish Currents Jun 17 2024 “Examining the ADL’s antisemitism audit” - https://jewishcurrents.org/examining-the-adls-antisemitism-audit
The Guardian 5 Jan 2024 “Anti-Defamation League staff decry ‘dishonest’ campaign against Israel critics“ - https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism
FBI Website: About Hate Crime Statistics - https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2010/resources/hate-crime-2010-about-hate-crime
Sleekit Scotsman - “ADL Proprietary Antisemitism Statistics: Lies, damned lies and statistics” - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/144114240/adl-proprietary-antisemitism-statistics
Prime Minister of Australia Media Release 9 July 2024 - “Special envoy to combat Antisemitism“ - https://www.pm.gov.au/media/special-envoy-combat-antisemitism
Sleekit Scotsman April 14 2024 “McCarthy returns to the Campus” -
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/p/mccarthy-returns-to-the-campus
Haaretz Apr 11 2025 “Trump Appoints Yehuda Kaploun, Chabad Rabbi and Miriam Adelson Ally, as U.S. Antisemitism Envoy“ - https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025-04-11/ty-article/trump-appoints-yehuda-kaploun-chabad-rabbi-and-adelson-ally-as-u-s-antisemitism-envoy/00000196-244d-d78d-a1de-3c5d74620000
Sleekit Scotsman Jan 10 2024 “Billionaire megadonors: Iron Grip: Pro-Israeli Influence in US Politics“ -
https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140471791/billionaire-megadonors
Australian Jewish Association X Feed May 14 2024 - https://x.com/AustralianJA/status/1790176167594713360
The Sydney Morning Herald, Matthew Knott, May 27 2024 “Sharma hosted far right Israel group disavowed by other Jewish associations“ - https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sharma-hosted-far-right-israel-group-disavowed-by-other-jewish-associations-20240524-p5jggf.html
Australian Parliament of Australia website - “Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 (No. 2)“ - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/AntisemitismBill
Stand With Us March 28 2024 - “StandWithUs Urges Universities Nationwide to Adopt Best Practices for Anti-Israel Protests on Campus“ - https://www.standwithus.com/post/standwithus-urges-universities-nationwide-to-adopt-best-practices-for-anti-israel-protests-on-campus
The Intercept Aug 29 2024 “COLUMBIA CUTS DUE PROCESS FOR STUDENT PROTESTERS AFTER CONGRESS DEMANDS HARSHER PUNISHMENT“ - https://theintercept.com/2024/08/29/columbia-campus-protests-gaza-subpoena
Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 (No. 2) - Report October 2024 - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/AntisemitismBill/Report
Executive Council of Australian Jewry 24 May 2021 - “ECAJ President Jillian Segal AO’s address at NSW’s Rally for Peace and Solidarity with Israel“ - https://www.ecaj.org.au/ecaj-president-jillian-segal-aos-address-at-nsws-rally-for-peace-and-solidarity-with-israel
UN Report to the General Assembly A/78/198 Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel 5 Sep 2023 here
AFR Aug 8 2023 - “Jewish groups fume over Labor’s Israel shift“ - https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/jewish-groups-fume-over-labor-s-israel-shift-20230808-p5duuk
UN Security Council Resolution Document Store: “Resolution 2334: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question; Adopted by the Security Council at its 7853rd meeting, on 23 December 2016“ - http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/2334
Human Rights lawyer Rawan Arraf X Jul 10 2024 quoting ZFA/Segal comments on occupied territories - https://x.com/rawanarraf/status/1810882182287900886/photo/1
Australian Jewish News Sep 3 2023 “Tackling the issues around Israel, antisemitism“ -https://www.australianjewishnews.com/tackling-the-issues-around-israel-antisemitism/
Jewish Council of Australia Press Release Jul 5 2024 “Appointment of Israel lobbyist as antisemitism envoy will only drive further division“ - https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/media/appointment-of-israel-lobbyist-as-antisemitism-envoy-will-only-drive-further-division
Hansard Australian Parliamentary Business 17 Jun 2024 “Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee 17/6/2024 – Right Wing Extremist Movements in Australia” - https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=committees/commsen/28084/&sid=0000
House of Congress original Resolution document 5 Dec 2023 - https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres894/BILLS-118hres894ih.pdf
Forbes 5 Dec 2023 “House Passes Resolution Declaring Anti-Zionism A Form Of Antisemitism—Some Democrats Are Critical“ - https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/12/05/house-passes-resolution-declaring-anti-zionism-a-form-of-antisemitism-some-democrats-are-critical/?sh=582fc4791e74
Sleekit Scotsman Nov 27 2023 “Definitions of antisemitism: Antisemitism v Free Speech Statement“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/139193401/definitions-of-antisemitism
European Legal Support Centre Website - Report Jun 2023: Violating the rights to freedom of expression and assembly in the European Union and the UK - https://res.cloudinary.com/elsc/images/v1685978238/The-Practice-of-Suppressing-Palestinian-Rights-Advocacy-FINAL-PP/The-Practice-of-Suppressing-Palestinian-Rights-Advocacy-FINAL-PP.pdf?_i=AA
European Legal Support Centre Website - Report Sep 2023 - Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in UK Higher Education: The Adverse Impact of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: https://res.cloudinary.com/elsc/images/v1694507437/Freedom-of-Speech-and-Academic-Freedom-in-UK-Higher-Education-BRISMES-ELSC/Freedom-of-Speech-and-Academic-Freedom-in-UK-Higher-Education-BRISMES-ELSC.pdf?_i=AA
Human Rights Watch April 4 2023 “Human Rights and other Civil Society Groups Urge United Nations to Respect Human Rights in the Fight Against Antisemitism: Joint Letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Under Secretary-General Miguel Ángel Moratinos“ - https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human
International Criminal Court website: Investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC-01/18: https://www.icc-cpi.int/palestine
The Guardian 28 May 2024 - “Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry“ - https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/28/israeli-spy-chief-icc-prosecutor-war-crimes-inquiry
Executive Council of Australian Jewry policy platform - https://www.ecaj.org.au/about/our-policies/
US State Department Website “Defining Antisemitism“ - https://www.state.gov/defining-antisemitism/
Israel & Antisemitism website - “Guide to Identifying Antisemitism in Debates about Israel“ - https://israelandantisemitism.com/guide-to-identifying-antisemitism-in-debates-about-israel/
Israel & Antisemitism website: Nexus Task Force - https://israelandantisemitism.com/nexus-task-force/
Israel & Antisemitism website: Synopsis of the report “Understanding Antisemitism At Its Nexus With Israel And Zionism“ - https://israelandantisemitism.com/the-nexus-document/
US State Department Website “Defining Antisemitism“ - https://www.state.gov/defining-antisemitism/
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Warsaw Uprising page - https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/warsaw
Amnesty International 1 Feb 2022 - “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians“ - https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
B’TSelem Website 12 Jan 2021 - “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid” - https://www.btselem.org/topic/apartheid
Jewish Virtual Library Likud Party: Original Party Platform (1977) - https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/original-party-platform-of-the-likud-party
YNetNews Israel 26 Sep 2023 “Germany, U.S. slam Netanyahu's Middle East map presented at UN: New Middle East map omits Palestinian territories; German Foreign Ministry says it is of no help with regard to the efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution“ - https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1oibyxgt
Jewish News, Gabe Friedman, Shira li Bartov (JTA) 5 Nov 2025 - “SPECIAL REPORT: What Mamdani has actually said about Jews and Israel“ - https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/special-report-what-mamdani-has-actually-said-about-jews-and-israel/
Sleekit Scotsman first published Dec 30 2023 “Israeli Violations of International Law: 🇺🇳 UN Resolutions on the right of Palestinian people to: resist by all means necessary, right to self-determination and right to return - 🇺🇳 Rights of occupied people to resist / self defence - UN Security Council Resolution 43 (1982), 17 (1983), 2625 (1970) and 2649 (1970)” - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/139421453/rights-of-occupied-people-to-resist-self-defence-un-security-council-resolution-and
HBO “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” broadcast 13 Nov 2023
Account @gnostic_bf - X - Feb 23 https://x.com/gnostic_bf/status/1893490177894687025
J-Wire Apr 14 2025 - “Dutton announces federal crackdown on antisemitism, including visa cancellations“ - https://www.jwire.com.au/dutton-announces-federal-crackdown-on-antisemitism-including-visa-cancellations/
The Australian Jewish News Mar 7 - “Burgertory owner charged over anti-Zionist chant“ - https://www.australianjewishnews.com/burgertory-owner-charged-over-anti-zionist-chant/
The Intercept 28 Feb 2024 - “Between the hammer and the anvil: the story behind the New York Times October 7 exposé” - https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/new-york-times-anat-schwartz-october-7/
NBC News 12 Oct 2023 “White House clarifies Biden's claim he saw photos of terrorists beheading children in Israel-Hamas war: After the comments, the White House clarified that Biden had read news reports.“ - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-deliver-remarks-roundtable-jewish-community-leaders-rcna119865
Sleekit Scotsman Jan 10 2024 “ABC Broadcast Bias: 2023 Gaza Debate: Australian Pro-Israeli Lobby: Modus Operandi“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140472136/abc-broadcast-bias-gaza-debate
Sky News Australia 4 Feb 2024 coverage of UK pro-Palestine rally - https://x.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1754008687281422377
Sky News UK 3 Feb 2024 coverage of UK pro-Palestine rally - https://x.com/skynews/status/1753852641593937990
Sleekit Scotsman Dec 12 2023 “Telling caricatures: No Room for Antisemitism … but plenty room for racism“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/139659511/telling-caricatures
Sleekit Scotsman Nov 29 2023 “Introduction: Newscorp strangled the Voice - report“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/139260667/introduction
Michael West Media 15 Nov 2023 - “Israel, Gaza and Australian politics: master lobbyist Mark Leibler reveals how power really works“ - https://michaelwest.com.au/israel-gaza-and-australian-politics-master-lobbyist-mark-leibler-reveals-how-power-really-works/
Sleekit Scotsman Jan 10 2024 “Australian: the AIJAC lobbyist speech notes: The language of lobbying“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140472480/australian-the-aijac-lobbyist-speech-notes
The Independent 29 July 2014 - “The secret report that helps Israel hide facts“ - https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israelgaza-conflict-the-secret-report-that-helps-israelis-to-hide-facts-9630765.html
NewsWeek July 9 2009 - “How to Sell Americans on Israeli Settlements“- https://www.newsweek.com/how-sell-americans-israeli-settlements-81783?fbclid=IwAR0u4Wz4TedVMWh4AoJH3kkGut-bzLP4fLjnBTqKOITOpsPsjgYa2Y8_Hxw
Jewish Federation of Washington (JConnect) website - https://www.jconnect.org/department/the-israel-project/
Sleekit Scotsman Jan 10 2024 “The pro-Israeli media PR machine: Australian pro-Israel lobby Modus Operandi“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140472136/the-pro-israeli-media-pr-machine
International Court of Justice: Court order Jan 26 2024 - “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel): The court indicates provisional measures“ - https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-pre-01-00-en.pdf
Jeremy Leibler (President of Zionist Federation of Australia) X Post Jan 29 2024 - https://x.com/jeremyleibler/status/1751891654536310958
United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services 22 Apr 2024 “Final Report Release - Independent Review Group on UNRWA“ - https://www.un.org/en/situation-in-occupied-palestine-and-israel/allegations-against-unrwa-staff
Politico.eu Apr 24 2024 “Germany to restart cooperation with UNRWA after suspension over alleged terror ties“ - https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-resume-cooperation-unrwa-relief-agency-palestine-israel/
AP News 6 Apr 2025 “Israel walks back its account of the killing of 15 medics in Gaza after video seems to contradict it“ - https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-medics-ambulances-killed-rafah-069ae07c011250d8a5cef7bdfc26f9df
Jeremy Leibler (President of Zionist Federation of Australia) X Post 6 April 2025 - https://x.com/jeremyleibler/status/1908788172559179953
United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) - legacy website of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); Press Release 12 Mar 2023 “Three Media Leaders convicted for Genocide“ - https://unictr.irmct.org/en/news/three-media-leaders-convicted-genocide
SBS 15 May 2024 “'From the river to the sea': Labor senator breaks ranks to accuse Israel of genocide“ - https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/from-the-river-to-the-sea-labor-senator-breaks-ranks-to-accuse-israel-of-genocide/sutrftl2c
Sydney Morning Herald Jun 18 2024 “Labor senator Payman breaks ranks again on Palestine“ - https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-senator-payman-breaks-ranks-again-on-palestine-20240618-p5jmrh.html
ABC 25 Jun 2024 “Labor senator could remain in party despite defiance on Palestinian recognition“ -https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-25/labor-senator-defies-party-on-palestinian-recognition/104020950
The Guardian 30 Jun 2024 “Fatima Payman suspended from Labor caucus over vow to cross the floor again on Palestine“ - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/30/fatima-payman-defies-cold-shoulder-from-labor-colleagues-to-declare-she-would-cross-floor-again-on-palestine
The Guardian Wed 4 Dec 2024 “Australia splits with US to back UN resolution demanding end to Israel occupation of Palestinian territories“ - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/04/australia-backs-un-resolution-end-israel-occupation-palestine
Sleekit Scotsman 12 Mar 2025 “Appendix B: Australia’s voting record and the timing of attacks: We need to talk about Chris“ - https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/158900837/appendix-b-australias-united-nations-voting-record-and-the-timing-of-attacks
New York Magazine Intelligencer Jun 25 2024 “Jamaal Bowman’s Loss Is the Start of a New Era“ - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bowman-latimer-primary-aipac-result.html
Politico 30 Nov 2023 “Latimer visits Israel ahead of potential run against Bowman“ - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/30/bowman-latimer-primary-00129360
AIJAC Media Release Aug 2 2024 - “Peter Dutton meets Benjamin Netanyahu“ - https://aijac.org.au/media-release/peter-dutton-meets-benjamin-netanyahu
Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) Feb 13 2025 - “Australian Parliament member: Never been a more important time to support Israel” - https://www.jns.org/australian-mp-there-has-never-been-a-more-important-time-to-support-israel/
Israel Allies Foundation Jan 23 2025- “INN: Congressional Israel Allies Caucus holds relaunch reception on Capitol Hill“ - https://israelallies.org/news/inn-congressional-israel-allies-caucus-holds-relaunch-reception-on-capitol-hill
ABC News 10 Mar 2025 - “Police say Sydney's Dural caravan incident was 'fabricated terrorist plot'“ - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-10/nsw-police-strike-force-pearl-caravan-dural-arrests/105032876
Jewish Council of Australia Press Release Mar 11 2025 “Police confirmation of 'fabricated terrorism plot' shows the need to stop exploiting antisemitism“ - https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/media/police-confirmation-of-fabricated-terrorism-plot-shows-the-need-to-stop-exploiting-antisemitism