Segal seeking to put uni’s “under control of a political lobby”

 ANTHONY KLAN

Hundreds of university academics nationwide have called for Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal’s report to be rejected, labelling it an “unprecedented attack” on academic freedom that is seeking to place higher education under “the control of a political lobby”.

The open letter, signed by more than 380 academics, comes as advocacy group Australian Friends of Palestine Association has joined widespread calls for Segal to be sacked over revelations her family trust is one of the biggest funders of far-right group “Advance”.

The open letter of academics — whose signatories include over 100 professors and associate professors and around 200 holders of doctoral degrees — states Segal’s proposals have “nothing to do with combating antisemitism” and “everything to do with limiting and censoring criticism of Israel”.

“Segal’s recommendations are a threat to the principle of academic freedom, just like the suggestion that she should be permitted to ‘monitor media’ poses an unacceptable threat to the freedom of the press,” the letter states.

“An extraordinary attempt to place higher education under the control of a political lobby” — Academics’ Open Letter

“These proposed measures have nothing to do with combating antisemitism, and everything to do with limiting and censoring criticism of Israel and stifling freedom of speech on Palestine.

“The measures called for in this report are an extraordinary attempt to place higher education under the control of a political lobby,” it states.

“Segal’s recommendations are a threat to the principle of academic freedom” — Academics’ Open Letter

“We, the undersigned university researchers, educators, students and professional staff, call on the Australian Government to reject the unprecedented attack on academic freedom and the autonomy of universities”.

The open letter, released yesterday, calls for the Federal Government to “reject the Special Envoy’s report”, take “real steps to combat all racism equally”, and to “ensure that universities are protected from political interference”.

“These proposed measures have nothing to do with combating antisemitism, and everything to do with limiting and censoring criticism of Israel” — Academics’ Open Letter

On July 10, flanked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Segal launched a 20-page report calling for funding to be cut from universities, charities and cultural bodies if they “enable or to fail to act” against “antisemitism”.

An expose by The Klaxon two days later on July 12 detailing Segal’s ties to Advance, caused national shockwaves and has sparked widespread calls for her removal as Antisemitism Envoy.

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association has called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to dismiss Jillian Segal. Source: AFOPA

 

Segal’s family trust, the Henroth Discretionary Trust, was the tied second biggest funder of Advance in the 2023-24 financial year, the latest data.

The far-right Advance aggressively spreads online disinformation and clinically disseminates hateful material to hundreds of thousands of online followers, including suggesting immigrants in detention are

“rapists, paedophiles and murderers”.

Segal has refused to explain the situation, beyond issuing a two-sentence statement suggesting her husband was responsible for the payment to Advance.

Her ongoing silence is despite The Klaxon’s subsequent revelations that her husband, John Roth — and his brother and business partner Stan Roth — are, like Segal, also public anti-racism advocates.

“The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) is calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to dismiss Jillian Segal, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism,” the advocacy group said in a statement.

“The call follows the release of the Special Envoy’s recommendations and the revelation that a trust linked to Segal’s partner made a $50,000 donation to the right-wing political lobby group, Advance Australia, notable for its campaign against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

“The Australian Friends of Palestine Association is calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to dismiss Jillian Segal” — AFOPA

“AFOPA joins several other organisations in calling for Segal’s removal, including the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and the Jewish Council of Australia,” it said.

As well as the Australian Friends of Palestine Association and the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network; the Greens; the Arab Council Australia; the Lebanese Muslim Association; the Alliance of Australians for Muslims and the Australian National Imams Council have also issued statements in direct response to The Klaxon’s July 12 expose.

“The call follows… the revelation that a trust linked to Segal’s partner made a $50,000 donation to the right-wing political lobby group, Advance Australia” — AFOPA

A protester holds a sign about Jillian Segal at a pro-Palestine rally at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, on July 13, the day after The Klaxon’s expose. Picture: AAP Image/Scott Barbour

 

Responding to The Klaxon’s expose earlier this month, former NSW Labor Premier and Federal Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Advance was “notorious for vilifying Palestinians and immigrant communities” and that Segal had a “clear obligation” to disclose the $50,000 payment.

Asked about The Klaxon’s expose, Immigration Minister Tony Bourke told ABC’s 7.30 on July 14 that Segal had not disclosed the $50,000 Advance payment before being appointed, and he had only learned of it from “media reports”.

 

More on Jillian Segal:

July 20: Jillian Segal’s husband is…an anti-racism advocate

July 16: Government must explain over Segal: Peak Muslim bodies

July 14: “Segal must resign” – Top Muslim body

July 13: Jillian Segal “won’t dictate” to husband over $50,000 to “Advance”

July 12: Jillian Segal and husband funding far-right group “Advance”

 

The Greens, responding to The Klaxon’s expose earlier this month, said Advance was a “dangerous far-right organisation responsible for spreading racist, anti-immigrant, and Islamophobic disinformation and hate” and that Segal’s “position is fast becoming untenable”.

“The Prime Minister has questions to answer as to what due diligence was conducted prior to Ms Segal’s appointment and whether an investigation is being conducted into any perceived conflicts of interest under the APS Code of Conduct,” said Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

“The Prime Minister has questions to answer…Ms Segal’s position is fast becoming untenable” — Australian Greens

The Klaxon’s July 12 expose. Source: The Klaxon

 

Albanese, who departed for a six-day diplomatic visit with China on July 12, is yet to address the scandal, leaving it to underlings including Bourke and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

That’s despite the Prime Minister having directly appointed Segal, that she reports directly to him, that he stood beside Segal in launching the report.

Albanese announced Segal’s appointment to the newly-created role of “Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia” on July 9 last year, a move he said was “to preserve social cohesion”.

The $50,000 payment from Segal’s family trust, the Henroth Discretionary Trust, to Advance was made two weeks earlier on June 27, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Please consider supporting this vital journalism by making a donation here

John Roth is an anti-racism advocate, The Klaxon revealed Thursday. Source: The Klaxon

 

In a joint statement following The Klaxon’s July 12 expose, the Alliance of Australians for Muslims and the Australian National Imams Council said the $50,000 Advance payment was “untenable” and Segal’s suggestion her husband was responsible was “disingenuous and beside the point”.

Also calling for Segal’s resignation, the Lebanese Muslim Association said Segal’s suggestion that her husband was responsible for the $50,000 to Advance was “not a justification” but “an evasion”.

“Jillian Segal’s position as Australia’s Antisemitism Envoy is no longer tenable,” Lebanese Muslim Association secretary Gamel Kheir said in a statement.

“You cannot be the face of a national strategy against hate while your own family trust donates $50,000 to Advance” — Lebanese Muslim Association

“You cannot be the face of a national strategy against hate while your own family trust donates $50,000 to Advance Australia — a far-right lobby group notorious for spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric, vilifying pro-Palestine voices as terrorist sympathisers, and accusing political opponents of siding with foreign adversaries”.

“To pretend this has no bearing on her role is insulting,” Kheir said.

“To pretend this has no bearing on her role is insulting” — Lebanese Muslim Association

The Arab Council Australia has called for Jillian Segal’s “immediate resignation”. Source: Arab Council Australia

 

The Arab Council Australia has called for Segal’s “immediate resignation”.

“The appointment of Jillian Segal to a publicly funded envoy position was conducted without transparency and faced significant opposition from members of both the Jewish and broader communities,” it said in a statement.

Recent revelations linking her husband, notable businessman and political donor John Roth, to significant contributions to the far-right anti-immigrant group Advance Australia, further highlight the necessity for Segal’s immediate resignation.”

In yesterday’s open letter, the academics said universities had “extensive” existing policies in “antiracism and discrimination”.

“Academic freedom – the freedom to hold critical views informed by evidence — is essential to the proper functioning of a democratic society,” the letter states.

“Universities are spaces in which criticism of powerful institutions such as state actors needs to be carried out for a robust and democratic society to flourish”.

Hundreds of academics have signed an open letter calling for the rejection of Jillian Segal’s “unprecedented attack on academic freedom“. Source: Open letter

 

Segal’s “intervention into the university sector” was “in concert” with “recent, highly regrettable developments in University governance around antisemitism”.

“The widespread adoption by Universities Australia of a version of IHRA definition of antisemitism effectively means that speech critical of Israel will be automatically deemed antisemitic,” it states.

“We call on the government to reject the Special Envoy’s report and…ensure that universities are protected from political interference” — Academics’ Open Letter

“Kenneth Stern, the drafter of the IHRA definition and director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, has stated it would be a ‘disaster’ if Australia adopts Segal’s recommendations and that it would reinforce trends of ‘McCarthyism’.

“This is so even as a Federal Court of Australia decision has drawn a strong distinction between critique of Israel and Zionism on the one hand, and antisemitism on the other.

“In light of all these facts, we call on the government to reject the Special Envoy’s report and to take real steps to combat all racism equally and ensure that universities are protected from political interference,” the open letter states.

https://theklaxon.com.au/segal-seeks-to-put-unis-under-control-of-a-political-lobby/

Australia is under threat from bad actors.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Please consider supporting our vital work for as little as $10 a month or by making a one-off donation here.

You can also support us via PayPal, or by making a direct deposit.

Thank you,

Anthony Klan

Editor, The Klaxon