Jewish groups back antisemitism report, while critics warn of curbs on free speech

Established Jewish groups have backed the recommendations of the federal government-appointed antisemitism special envoy as critics of Israel and a prominent free speech advocate slammed the proposals as draconian.

Special envoy Jillian Segal delivered on Thursday a landmark report with sweeping proposals to curtail hate against Jewish people.

Australia’s special envoy for combating antisemitism, Jillian Segal, in Sydney after the release of her landmark report on Thursday.Credit: Dylan Coker

The most contentious proposals included a call to strip funding from universities, charities and cultural institutions that fail to combat hatred against Jewish people, calls for editorial standards within the media and the screening of visa applicants for antisemitic views.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not say on Thursday whether his government would adopt all the report’s recommendations, but he welcomed the report and said that some of its proposals were already under way or could be rolled out quickly.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the report was a significant milestone in fighting antisemitism.

“We particularly welcome the plan to withhold government funding from universities that fail to act against antisemitism,” Leibler said. “Some of our major universities have seen a complete dearth of leadership, notwithstanding extensive consultation with Jewish students, staff, and numerous parliamentary inquiries.

“The real measure of this report will be its implementation. It is essential that these recommendations are enacted swiftly, and consistently by governments and institutions.”

Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, whose East Melbourne shul was targeted in an alleged arson attack last week, said he had not been able to closely examine the report but that “it sounds like we are all moving in the right direction on this one”.

“Jillian Segal’s office does some really good work for the community on the whole,” he said.

Barrister Greg Barns, SC, spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, said the recommendations represented a threat to freedom of speech and the right to protest and could result in draconian penalties. He pointed out Australia has international human rights obligations to free speech and freedom of expression.

“The temptation will be for universities, cultural institutions and others, including NGOs, to suppress alternative views in relation to Israel,” Barns said.

He said one call for new laws around hate speech was “bizarre and dangerous” given substantial reforms earlier this year.

“To be calling for further laws only six months after major legislative change is just bizarre.”

Barns also said it could set precedents for future governments to impose the same rules on other groups, such as environmentalists, to suppress opposition.

“Overall there’s a chilling aspect to the envoy’s recommendations and that is to essentially adopt a Trumpian tool of cajoling and threatening in order to curtail fundamental human rights.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion, KC, said the plan fully aligned with his organisation’s thoughts.

“Its release could not be more timely given the recent appalling events in Melbourne. The actions which the plan calls for are now urgently needed,” Aghion said.

“We call upon all sectors of society, including government, law enforcement, the media, the university sector, education authorities and online platform providers, to co-operate with the Special Envoy and the Jewish community to give this action plan full force and effect.”

Dr Max Kaiser, executive officer of the pro-Palestinian Jewish Council of Australia, said antisemitism was real and must be taken seriously, but Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and other forms of hate, could not be ignored.

“This document reads more like a blueprint for silencing dissent rather than a strategy to build inclusion.”

The report also calls on institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. The definition has been embraced by many Jewish groups and was adopted by Australia under then prime minister Scott Morrison, but critics argue it stifles free speech and conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

It reads: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Kaiser said the report’s language, coupled with this definition, made the recommendations “dangerously unclear”.

A spokesperson for Free Palestine Melbourne, one of the groups behind the regular Sunday rallies in Melbourne’s CBD, said this definition of antisemitism had been criticised by “legal scholars, human rights organisations, and even its original drafters for being vague and politically loaded”.

“We find it incredible that Jillian Segal should be demanding that all public institutions be forced to adopt a definition of antisemitism that mendaciously defines criticism of Israel as a form of antisemitism,” the spokesperson said.

“Enshrining this definition in policy would not protect Jewish Australians – it would shield a foreign government from legitimate scrutiny, and punish those who challenge it.

“We call upon the Albanese government to reflect upon its duty towards the Australian people and uphold the independence and integrity of their educational, journalistic and cultural institutions.”

University of NSW honorary associate professor Peter Slezak, who is Jewish and regularly speaks at pro-Palestine protests, said the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s proposed definition should be rejected for conflating what he said was justified criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

“The envoy doesn’t even mention any of the reasons you might be angry about Israel. To be angry at [Israel] is not antisemitic.”

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