‘McCarthyism reborn’: QUT academic blasts anti-Semitism definition

QUT anti-racism symposium professor’s organisation received more than $500K from Creative Australia as its co-founder blasted new anti-Semitism guidelines.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni, and QUT professor Chelsea Watego at a pro-Palestine protest earlier this month. Picture: Instagram

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The Queensland University of Technology’s Chelsea Watego, who runs the Carumba Institute that ran a controversial anti-racism symposium, has condemned a new definition of anti-Semitism agreed to by universities, saying it bans all criticism of Israel and it is “McCarthyism reborn”, and has questioned whether any Indigenous people were consulted instead of just the “Zionist lobby”.

The Australian can also reveal Dr Watego co-founded and serves as the treasurer of an Indigenous non-profit that received more than half a million dollars in the last 10 years from the taxpayer-funded Creative Australia.

Creative Australia has come under scrutiny recently after it nominated – and subsequently withdrew – artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s representative to the Venice Biennale, after it emerged he had previously portrayed slain Hezbollah leader with “beams of light … suggestive of divine illumination”, as described by the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a depiction of the September 11 attacks.

Creative Australia chief executive Adrian Collette said the 9/11 video was deemed to be a “significant risk” to the organisation.

There is broader scrutiny on Creative Australia’s grant decisions as it emerged that of its 517 peer assessors, more than one in three received grants themselves while they were appointed, and that many of them had expressed anti-Australian, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic views in the past.

Indigenous non-profit Inala Wangarra, which describes itself as a “hub for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families” lists Dr Watego as a founding board member and its treasurer.

Creative Australia records show that Inala Wangarra has received $536,949 in the last 10 years, the largest of which was a $400,000 investment at the end of 2023 under its ‘Visual Art, Craft, and Design Framework’.

Some of the comments that came out of the Carumba Institute’s anti-racism symposium – revealed by The Australian – has since forced the university to commission an external review of the event and the university’s leaders were made to front a parliamentary committee on campus anti-Semitism.

When contacted for comment, a Creative Australia spokeswoman clarified that no funding had been given directly to Dr Watego.

“Our investment in the First Nations organisation Inala Wangarra has supported a range of activity over the past ten years, including community workshops, the development of new work, as well as programs engaging young people and people with disability,” the spokeswoman said.

Dr Watego on Wednesday took to social media to blast the new definition of anti-Semitism that universities had agreed to. The definition includes wording that “criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is not in and of itself anti-Semitic”.

“However, criticism of Israel can be anti-Semitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the state of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel’s actions,” it states.

“It can be anti-Semitic to make assumptions about what Jewish individuals think based only on the fact that they are Jewish.

“All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination.

“For most, but not all, Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity.

“Substituting the word ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being anti-Semitic.”

Universities have agreed to incorporate the anti-Semitism definition into complaints schemes and disciplinary processes “as soon as practicable”.

Dr Watego, on her Instagram account on Wednesday, shared a screenshot of a headline amended to read that this new definition “bans criticising Israel”.

She also shared a post that said this new definition marked “McCarthyism reborn” and said:

“I wonder if Blackfullas and scholars were consulted – or was it just the Zionist lobby?”

In a similar vein, controversial anti-Israel Macquarie University academic Randa Abdel-Fattah said universities had “basically loaded a gun and pointed it at Palestinian and Arab academics first and foremost”.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the adoption of a definition marked “an important step forward” but pledged a Coalition government would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism – which the Universities Australia definition was adapted from – and would “not wait for universities to act in their own time”.

“Academic freedom must not be used to falsely cloak incidents of anti-Semitism,” she said.

“A Dutton government will adopt a zero tolerance of anti-Semitism on university campuses. We will not wait for universities to act in their own time.

“We expect all universities to co-operate with a new, dedicated anti-Semitism taskforce led by the Australian Federal Police and other agencies.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it was “pleased” that universities had agreed on a definition but expressed reservation that it was not the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition.

“We are pleased that universities have realised that without diagnosis of the disease of anti-Semitism there is no treatment,” co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said.

“We hope to see better identification of anti-Semitic conduct and more effective complaints-handling at universities, as well as a review of how well this definition is working 12 months from now.

“While we would have liked to see universities adopt the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Semitism, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism, and for the Go8 to have presented us with their definition before they adopted it, we will be watching to see whether this makeshift definition improves conditions for Jewish staff and students.”

Greens higher education spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi blasted the definition as one that “threatens academic freedom, silences Palestinian voices, and prevents legitimate criticism of Israel”.