Academics, students protest envoy’s antisemitism plan

Left-wing literary journal Overland has published an open letter protesting Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal’s “Plan to Combat Antisemitism,” reports Ella McGrath for Honi Soit.

At the time of writing, the letter has 386 university “researchers, educators, students and professional staff” undersigned. They are calling on the Australian government to reject what they see as an “unprecedented attack on academic freedom and the autonomy of universities”.

Earlier this month, Segal released a now controversial report and policy framework for addressing rising antisemitism in our society. The envoy has suggested that universities and cultural institutions be stripped of their funding if they fail, according to her “report card”, to effectively address antisemitism, and demanded that all public institutions adopt the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
Full report on the Honi Soit site