Australian universities support a new definition of anti -Semitism

Karachi, Pakistan

The 39 Universities of Australia have supported a new definition of anti-Semitism that will be applied on campus, a movement denounced by Jewish and Pro-Palestinian groups, the state station ABC reported Wednesday.

The Leadership of Australia University, a higher education agency, met on Monday and agreed to implement the definition in all the university campus of the Nation.

The support of the new definition follows the pressure of an investigation of the Senate after mass protests against the Gaza War.

“The criticisms of Israel can be anti -Semitic when it is based on harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it requires the elimination of the state of Israel or all Jews or when it holds the Jewish persons or communities responsible for the actions of Israel,” a Part of the definition reads.

The definition will now be adopted rapidly on campus throughout the country.

The Jewish Council of Australia and the Palestinian Defense Network of Australia (APAN) have opposed the new definition.

“Today, the 39 universities of Australia supported a dangerous and politicized definition of anti -Semitism that threatens academic freedom, will have a chilling effect on the legitimate criticisms of Israel and runs the risk of institutionalizing antipalestine racism,” said the Jewish council of Australia in A statement in x.

“They did it without a significant consultation with Palestinian groups or various Jewish groups that criticize Israel,” the statement said, added that the Jewish Council of Australia firmly opposes the definition of anti -Semitism.

When classifying the Palestinian political expression as an inherently anti -Semitic, it will be unfeasible and inapplicable, and to quell the critical political debate, which is in the heart of any democratic society, he added.

“The definition dangerously combines Jewish identities with support of the State of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism.”

The APAN said that the universities of Australia and their 39 universities “have” yielded to political pressure, adopting a dangerous definition of anti -Semitism that silence the dissent, protects Israeli war crimes and criminalizes the Palestinian voices. “

“It’s not about fighting hate: it’s about erasing the truth, punishing resistance and turning universities into propaganda machines for apartheid,” the group said in a statement.

All universities must reject this dangerous definition of anti -Semitism and immediately affirm and act in line with their commitment to academic freedom, rigorous critical research, human rights and the fight against all forms of racism, including antipalestine racism and Islamophobia, he added.

“Universities must be bastions of free thought, not censorship tools.”

Tensions on Australian campuses intensified after a series of protests that include long -term camps against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, which began after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and since then has charged more than more than 48,000 lives.

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