Academics under attack for supporting Palestine

The right to freedom of speech and political expression on university campuses is under attack by the media and Labor government. Under the guise of “fighting antisemitism”, student activists and academics are being targeted for their opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza and the West Bank.

The growing repression of Palestine supporters is demonstrated by the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities. The joint parliamentary commission, launched in January 2025, has conflated Palestine activism on campuses with a recent spate of genuine acts of antisemitism in Sydney and Melbourne. The commission said in its opening statement that:

“There is an alarming and intensifying nationwide rise in antisemitism including arson attacks on synagogues, a parliamentarian’s office and now a childcare centre ... The focus of this inquiry is on responding to the rise in antisemitism at Australian universities. Antisemitism in universities is connected to broader antisemitism in our communities and neighbourhoods.”

That none of these attacks occurred on campuses or have been linked to campus activists is ignored. The commission is chaired by Labor MP Josh Burns, who opposed a ceasefire deal passed by the UN and supported by Australia in December 2023.

The media has contributed to the campaign against academics who support Palestine. At Macquarie University, Palestinian researcher and activist Randa Abdel-Fattah has been repeatedly smeared by the press—for instance, the Australian has published more than a dozen articles against her. She was first targeted for co-running an arts and crafts day with kids at the University of Sydney Gaza solidarity encampment last year, being accused by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry of trying to “induct children into racial hatred and religious extremism”.

Liberal Party Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson has repeatedly called for Abdel-Fattah to be sacked. Labor’s Minister of Education Jason Claire has requested that the Australian Research Council (ARC) formally investigate Abdel-Fattah’s existing research grant.

The threat from Labor and the Liberals is clear: if you dare support Palestine, then your academic career is in jeopardy.

Last week, Macquarie University Vice Chancellor Bruce Dowton was hauled in front of the Commission of Inquiry. Any illusions that he would defend free speech, or his staff members, were quickly dashed by his prostrated responses. He reassured the commission of Macquarie’s firm commitment to fighting antisemitism and that academic freedom and free speech should be considered a “privilege”.

When pressed by Burns on why Abdel-Fattah hadn’t been fired, Dowton suggested he’d be happy to do so if the law allowed, saying that he found it “personally abhorrent”, but lamented the fact that Australian law is “silent” on whether anti-Zionism is considered antisemitic. He repeatedly invoked the staff contract as a legal impediment to sacking Abdel-Fattah or disciplining staff over their support for Palestine. Dowton went so far as to advocate for “industrial law reform” that would effectively annul the existing workplace agreement.

These hearings are reminiscent of the McCarthyist witch-hunt in the US during the Cold War. In this time, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed and used as a political weapon against the left: thousands were sacked or blacklisted, and hundreds were arrested. While the scale of repression in Australia is currently nowhere near that of the Red Scare, it is incumbent on all progressive university workers and students to fight these attacks on our right to free speech and protest. We must stand in solidarity with Palestine activists.