USYD teacher’s ‘execute Zionists’ call shows us entering ‘dangerous new phase’

A Sydney of University academic calling for Zionists to be executed shows the daily experience of Jews in NSW has entered a “dangerous new phase”, the boss of Australia’s top Jewish body has told a state parliament inquiry.

Executive Council of Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin appears before a NSW parliament inquiry into anti-Semitism on Monday.

A University of Sydney academic calling for Zionists to be executed shows the daily experience of Jews in NSW has entered a “dangerous new phase”, the boss of Australia’s top Jewish body has told a state parliament inquiry.

Biology teacher and Palestinian activist Fahad Ali was stood down by the sandstone university at the weekend after The Daily Telegraph revealed he had taken to X and posted: “F**k sanctions, I want Zionists executed like we executed Nazis”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin singled out Mr Ali’s comments while addressing the state government’s inquiry into anti-Semitism after hearings resumed following a month’s break on Monday.

Mr Ryvchin said several incidents that occurred in those few weeks during the break showed concerning new developments in the lives of Jews – despite a summer of repeated anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney being over.

“The summer of firebombings may have passed, but the daily experience of Jews in NSW and around the world has not changed, indeed, in the short weeks between the hearings of this committee, we entered a dangerous new phase,” he said.

Fahad Ali, pictured in 2017, has been stood down over his comments pending an internal review.

“A young couple engaged to be married was murdered, shot to death from point blank range outside a Jewish community event in Washington DC, hosted by an organisation that is a close partner of my organisation.

“Eight people were burned during a peaceful walk in Boulder, Colorado, to raise awareness about the plight of Israeli hostages.

“An 88-year-old woman, a Holocaust survivor, remains in a critical condition.

“In both cases, the terrorists yelled: ‘Free Palestine’ as they attempted to kill innocent people in a western country.

“A few days ago, a longtime organiser and leader of the Free Palestine movement in this country, an academic at Sydney University, said he wanted to see ‘Zionists executed’.

“The inability to distinguish between political activists and those who just want to execute Zionists has allowed antisemitism to shift from the margins to the mainstream.”

NSW Police has confirmed it is investigating Mr Ali’s comments.

A University of Sydney spokeswoman also said the organisation was “deeply disturbed” by his comments.

Pictured is Ukrainian-born Australian author, advocate, media commentator, and lawyer Alexander Ryvchin. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

The university has launched an internal investigation and Mr Ali is suspended from working there “pending further assessment”.

The Dural caravan hoax was also raised during Mr Ryvchin’s appearance before the inquiry.

In March, police said the caravan found laden with explosives in January was actually a “fabricated terrorist plot” masterminded by organised crime figures.

Criminals have long handed over weapons and information in an effort to secure reduced sentences for their assistance.

Mr Ryvchin disputed such incidents were not anti-Semitic – as some have sought to say.

“For a criminal mastermind to concoct a scheme of this complexity and to identify individual Jewish targets, source addresses, to do all of these things and to have no ill will towards the Jewish community? I don’t buy it,” he said.

“What the Jewish community experienced is no hoax … the harassment, the flames – it is very, very real.”

Originally published as USYD teacher’s ‘execute Zionists’ call shows us entering ‘dangerous new phase’