Key facts
- An academic at UNSW reported students performing Nazi salutes during a business class.
- The incident occurred in a business class for international students in 2024.
- The academic's grandparents survived the Holocaust, and Nazis murdered a significant portion of his family.
- Students involved were initially issued a formal warning and later suspended.
- Another witness reported losing non-Jewish friends and being called a 'baby killer' after the October 7 attacks.
- A postgraduate student felt she had to hide her Jewish identity on campus.
- Universities will be required to adopt legally enforceable standards against discrimination from next year.
An academic at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) reported being subjected to Nazi salutes by students during a business class, the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion has heard. The commission, led by Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell AC SC, is examining the experiences of Jewish students and academics on university campuses and the institutions' responses to hate speech.
The academic, referred to as ACJ, a tutor and PhD candidate, stated that four students performed Nazi salutes towards him in 2024. He described the act as deeply personal, given his family's history during the Holocaust, and felt it implied a desire for his death. He reported the incident to his supervisors, noting it was a crime, and the students involved were initially issued a formal warning before being suspended following a police investigation.
Another witness, Liat, shared her experience of losing most of her non-Jewish friends after October 7, 2023, and being labeled a 'Zionist' and subsequently ostracized. She also recounted being called a 'baby killer' and 'genocide supporter' by students associated with the pro-Palestine encampment at the Australian National University (ANU). Liat criticized ANU's response to reported antisemitism as a 'pattern of deflection,' often resulting in inaction or delayed responses.
A postgraduate Jewish and Israeli student, using the pseudonym ACL, testified that she felt the need to hide her Jewish identity on campus for the first time in her life following the October 7 attacks. She described removing her Magen David necklace before attending classes due to a feeling of not being able to 'be Jewish on campus.' She also recounted an instance where a lecturer referred to a scholar as a 'good Jew' for not being a Zionist, highlighting her discomfort with sweeping statements about the Middle East.
Counsel assisting the commission, Zelie Heger SC, noted a recurring theme where Jewish staff and students are assumed to hold particular views on the Middle East, despite diverse opinions within the community. While acknowledging the importance of debating the conflict, Heger indicated that evidence would show instances where protests crossed the line into antisemitism.
From next year, Australian universities will be mandated to adopt legally enforceable standards for definitions of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to combat discrimination.