Academic slams Sydney University over its response to anti-Semitism

An associate professor ‘ashamed’ of his university after students turned their backs on their Jewish peers at last week’s special general meeting has spoken out.

Les Schrieber, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, says he’s embarrassed by his institution’s response to anti-Semitism on campus. Picture: John Feder

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An associate professor of medicine at the University of Sydney says he is “ashamed” of his university’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus and claims Jewish high-schoolers are actively avoiding the sandstone institution ­because they perceive it to be a “racist institution”.

Les Schrieber, a consultant rheumatologist and Sydney University faculty member, slammed a student meeting held last week in which students turned their backs on their Jewish peers as they pleaded for support to stamp out anti-Semitism on campus and ­defended the existence of a ­Jewish state.

“To me the motion from the SRC (Students’ Representative Council) is calling for the abolition of a Jewish state, that is not acceptable,” he said.

“The university should be prepared to make much clearer statements about the motions that have been approved … that they aren’t compatible with university philosophy.”

A university spokeswoman said it was aware of the meeting last week and had reminded members “of their obligations to manage their meeting in a way that is respectful of the opinion of others”, but she refused to confirm whether motions that were passed would fall foul of the university’s anti-Semitism definition.

Dr Schrieber confirmed that controversial anti-Israel messaging was not confined to the student body, but was also prevalent within staff circles.

“The students are not acting alone; there are a number of provocateurs who are on the faculty who consistently agitate,” he said.

Dr Schrieber identified faculty newsletters that regularly contain “virulently anti-Zionist material”, calling for a single Palestinian state, which he interpreted as a “call for the elimination of the Jewish state and the people who live there”.

“They’re not going to use those exact words but that is in effect what they are saying,” he said.

The associate professor, who is a member of the The Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, said material circulated by some staff was “what you’d expect to come from Hamas”.

“There are members of faculty who have held high-up positions in the education union, who have influence in different quarters … the university is aware of this but has never had the balls to call them out,” he said.

Scores of Sydney University students last week rejected a new definition of anti-Semitism adopted by Australia’s universities, called for the elimination of the state of Israel, and turned their backs on Jewish speakers.

The second student general meeting held on campus in under a year passed motions that declared it was “not anti-Semitic to call for the elimination of the apartheid state of Israel”.

Dr Schrieber said the university must ask itself why Jewish students would now choose to study there. “I know of Jewish school students in the eastern suburbs as well as in the north shore who are now deliberately not applying to the University of Sydney,” he said.

“Because it is perceived as not friendly to Jews and as a racist institution … there is a general perception that Sydney University and its attitudes towards Jews and anti-Semitism is actually the worst campus in Australia.”

He also claimed that staff had left the university because they were harassed due to their “Jewish origin and personal views”.

Dr Schrieber joins national and state Jewish bodies in calling for the university to distance itself from the motions and stand by the definition of anti-Semitism it adopted alongside 39 other Australian universities.