Be alert and alarmed: Campus silencing on Palestine

 

By Linda Briskman

Dec 10, 2024

In a number of countries, universities are now to the forefront of punishing and silencing those who challenge dominant constructions of the conflict in Gaza.

A recent addition to the silencing enterprise on Israel’s atrocities is the University of Sydney External Review Report by Bruce Hodgkinson SC. The university commissioning of the report was propelled by complaints that have placed it in a precarious position by the zeal of Zionist pundits and their allies in government and media.

In confusing double-speak, the report  asserts support for academic freedom and differences of opinion, while presenting recommendations that lean toward tyranny.  The report is just one example of the malaise that has swept through campuses world-wide and in Australia establishes a concerning precedent.

The recommendations are sweeping, focusing on deterrence, surveillance, ‘civility’ training, protest prohibition, punitive processes and penalties  for what  is now deemed to be misconduct. Yet the report fails to provide context for the encampments and other forms of protest. Although engaging directly with the unconscionable carnage in Gaza may be beyond the scope of the review,  it is devoid of empathy with the outrage, compassion, solidarity and humanity of those who join in protest actions. A recommendation  to develop protocols with state and federal police can only lead to increased antagonism that denies that protests and speaking out are for an ethical cause.

I am puzzled with the failure to delve into why the university was a site for the actions and the calls that were made for divestment from complicity in the weapons  industry that forms the basis of the military-industrial complex of  Israel. A matter that could have been put to rest by responsiveness to the agitation has morphed into ingrained strangulation that will linger to the detriment of students and academics seeking to invoke consciences in times of gross human rights abuses.

It is a conundrum that while the world increasingly condemns the genocidal activities of the Israeli state,  there are escalating endeavours to shut down expressions of free speech. Betraying a universal construct of human rights is a long-standing limitation on freedom of speech for Palestine. In a number of countries, universities are now to the forefront of punishing and silencing those who challenge dominant constructions of the conflict, the very same institutions that purport to uphold principles of academic freedom and intellectual expression on contestable topics.

The report will place the University of Sydney in a position of being subject to ridicule by those who support dissemination of truth. As a public relations exercise it speaks of overhaul to a cumbersome tranche of university policies that are no longer fit for purpose.  This is unconvincing, as the underlying motivation is the quest to  allay criticism that antisemitism is rife on campus and to bolster the university’s declining reputation among pro-Israel supporters. While it cannot be denied that antisemitism exists, other forms of racism are largely excluded with only a brief reference to Islamophobia, which has been shown to be sustained and magnified since October 7th. Equally disturbing is that students are sacrificial lambs in the reform process, with recommendations that cast aspersions on their funded activities and single them out for surveillance and penalty.  No doubt courageous White Rose student protesters in Nazi Germany, including their suggestion of sabotage of the armaments industry, would have fallen foul of the prescription for officially endorsed ‘civility’.

In its race to placate, the ideal of a university as an open public body that fosters critical inquiry is lost. The fifteen recommendations may in the short-term  assuage the pro-Israel lobby and those who amplify antisemitism on campuses through blurring the concept with criticism of Israel. In the longer-term the recommendations shut down protests on campus in the name of work health and safety, and more problematically as breaches of ‘civility’, implying that universities are sites of anarchy rather than structured establishments of learning, research and debate. The ‘civility rule’ demands explanation of the context in which terminology would be included in lectures and seminars and could potentially be an  extensive list that would be impossible to enforce, including from the river to the sea, genocide, ethnic cleansing, the right of Israel to defend itself, an ethical military regime.  The repressive measures defy a long-held view that academics should not be subject to censure because their views are not popular.

Justice is not achieved by policies and legislation in isolation. A culture where freedom of expression and ‘civil’ dialogue thrives is a tried-and-true way of powering through intractability within centres of learning.  University communities have exceptional and passionate scholars, intellectuals and human rights advocates from a range of disciplines who are well placed to begin a grass-roots inclusive approach rather than top-down punitive manoeuvres.  All that is required is goodwill. As pointed out by human rights lawyer Sarah Schwartz in The Sydney Morning Herald of 6 December, universities have a difficult task given the debates about Palestine. This makes it all the more important to condemn silencing, which as she argues will merely inflame tensions.

University of Sydney staff have galvanised to reject the proposals that contradict the role of universities as a forum for intellectual growth and political debate. May they succeed.

https://johnmenadue.com/be-alert-and-alarmed-campus-silencing-on-palestine/