QUT anti-racism symposium courts anti-Israel critics

The Queensland University of Technology has invited a trio of anti-Israel activists – including academic Randa Abdel-Fattah – to be keynote speakers at a national ‘anti-racism’ conference to mark ‘Invasion Day’.

The Queensland University of Technology has invited anti-Israel activists – including academic Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at a national “anti-racism” conference.

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The Queensland University of Technology has invited a trio of anti-Israel activists – including academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, who has called for the “end of Israel” and the “abolishment of the death cult of Zionism” – to be keynote speakers at a national “anti-racism” conference to mark “Invasion Day” held amid an escalating anti-Semitism crisis.

QUT’s National Symposium on Unifying Anti-Racist Research and Action bills itself as a call to action “in the lead-up to Invasion Day … to strategise a co-ordinated anti-racism agenda” with listed speakers including senator Lidia Thorpe, Macquarie University academic Dr Abdel-Fattah and author Sara Saleh.

“While anti-Indigenous racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-blackness have unique expressions, they are deeply interconnected, making comprehensive and adaptable anti-racist research and strategies essential,” QUT Carumba Institute executive director Chelsea Watego said.

Dr Abdel-Fattah has frequently been the subject of controversy since the October 7 terrorist attacks. On the day after the terrorist attacks, she changed her Facebook profile picture to an image of a parachutist in the colours of the Palestinian flag; the following week, she told Sky News: “I don’t see them (Hamas) as a terrorist organisation.”

In February last year, The Australian revealed that Dr Abdel-Fattah was one of the people who had disseminated the leaked details of hundreds of Jewish creatives.

In April, she led a “kids excursion” to the University of Sydney’s pro-Palestine encampment protest where primary school-aged children led each other in chants of “intifada” and “Israel is a terrorist state”.

The incident sparked questioning by the Australian Research Council – Dr Abdel-Fattah was granted $870,269 from the taxpayer funded body – to Macquarie University, which investigated the incident and said it “acted in ­accordance with its policies and procedures”.

More recently, Dr Abdel-­Fattah publicly wished for 2025 to “be the end of Israel” and for the ­“abolishment of the death cult of Zionism”.

Author Sara Saleh has reportedly shared anti-Israel posts on social media

Saleh drew controversy in 2024 when she, while working at the Australian Human Rights Commission as a research officer, reportedly shared anti-Israel posts on social media, and then resigned following public scrutiny.

Senator Thorpe has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide and drew international headlines when she confronted King Charles during his recent trip to Australia.

She also shared a picture of herself on social media – which she subsequently deleted – wearing a green, Hamas-style headband with “I love chocolate” written across it.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the event was a “spit in the eye to Jewish people across Australia”.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the event was a “thinly veiled attempt to drive hateful anti-Jewish and anti-Israel division”.

The organisers held a pre-­symposium comedy event on Wednesday that advertised itself as one that “courageously, intellectually, and of course humorously … seeks to lift and shift the ways we have come to think and talk about race and racism”.

Footage shared from the event shows Sarah Schwartz, who leads the controversial left-wing Jewish Council of Australia, speaking about “Dutton’s Jew”.

When contacted for comment, Ms Schwartz said she was referring “to the way that Peter Dutton conceives of Jewish people and uses us as political footballs to push his own agenda. It is not a reference to any particular Jewish individuals.”

Senator Lidia Thorpe addresses the crowd at a pro Palestinian rally in Melbourne. Picture: Tony Gough

In the footage of the event, Ms Schwartz says: “Dutton’s Jew has really, really helpfully provided the human shield for him to talk about some of his favourite topics.”

“Hating on migrants, by arguing that Palestinian refugees are a threat to Jews, just generally hating on Muslims, protecting everyday Aussies from left-wing anti-war protesters, and, of course, bolstering support for Israel as it commits a genocide.

“His party no longer needs to defend the right to be bigots because Dutton’s Jew can do this for him.”

In her post-event comments to The Australian, Ms Schwartz said her speech “wasn’t about actual Jewish people” but rather a “critique of the language Peter Dutton” uses.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the symposium showed that universities were now “dangerously out of touch”.

“If our universities think that this is the answer to anti-Semitism, then what questions are they asking?” he said.

“This just goes to show how dangerously out of touch our university sector is from the crisis of vilification that is facing Jews, and Jewish students and staff.”

Senator Henderson said she had made “urgent representations to the university’s vice-chancellor to cancel this event”.

She said Education Minister Jason Clare “would be doing everything possible to stop this event … (if he) had the moral ­courage to stamp out anti-­Semitism”.

QUT vice-chancellor Margaret Sheil, however, strongly defended the symposium.

“Racism and its impact on Indigenous people and their communities is a global issue and rightly subject to rigorous ­academic debate and discussion,” she said.

“The National Symposium on Unifying Anti-Racist Research and Action is hosted by QUT’s Carumba Institute, a world-class Indigenous research and educational centre with a focus on Indigenous sovereignty.”

“The program focuses overwhelmingly on the challenges and struggles of Australia’s First ­Nations peoples experiencing systemic racism,” Professor Sheil said, “with some perspectives from academics or practitioners from other Indigenous cultures or religious backgrounds.

“Diverse views and perspectives in addressing systemic racism align to the principle of academic freedom, and QUT is deeply committed to cultural diversity and anti-racism.”