Category Archives: Antisemitism

Two leaders of Harvard’s Middle Eastern studies center to step down

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Departures of Cemal Kafadar and Rosie Bsheer are seen by critics as ‘shameful attempt’ by school to appease Trump

The leaders of Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies are leaving their positions after the center faced accusations of anti-Israel bias.

The departures come as the Trump administration scrutinizes institutions who have had pro-Palestine protests over the last year. Earlier this week, Columbia’s president announced she will step down after Trump targeted the university for protests on campus last year.

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Muslim groups reject push for new Islamophobia definition at Australian universities

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Groups call for a unified anti-racism standard and say separate definition would ‘shield’ universities from criticism of the antisemitism definition

A coalition of Muslim and Palestinian organisations have rejected a push by universities to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia, arguing it would “shield” the institutions from criticism of their contentious new antisemitism definition, and that a unified standard that rejects all racism is what is needed.

Last month, Australia’s universities confirmed they would unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after an inquiry recommended higher education providers “closely align” with the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

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Police to block ‘intimidating’ protests near places of worship, says Home Office

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Yvette Cooper says change needed in England and Wales after concerns over marches near synagogues and mosques

The government plans to give police in England and Wales powers to change the route or timing of protest marches planned outside places of worship in order to give greater protection against intimidation.

The government is to include the powers in an amendment to the crime and policing bill after concerns were raised about protests near synagogues and mosques.

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Sydney caravan incident sparks inquiry into ‘who knew what and when’ before rushed hate speech laws

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Investigation will not examine whether laws should be repealed, despite crossbench members’ concerns they may have been ‘misled’

The New South Wales parliament will hold an upper house inquiry into “who knew what and when” about the caravan that was found laden with explosives on the outskirts of Sydney ahead of controversial legislation passing parliament.

The motion for the inquiry – which was moved by independent MP Rod Roberts and supported by the opposition, the Greens, and two members of the crossbench – passed on Wednesday.

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Victorian man charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to federal MP

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Man allegedly contacted the MP using social media multiple times between 7 January and 19 February this year

A Victorian man has been charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to a federal member of parliament.

The 41-year-old was charged on Tuesday afternoon after the Australian federal police conducted a search of his home in the Melbourne suburb of Officer, the AFP said in a statement.

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Palestine Action Group launches legal challenge against controversial NSW laws restricting protests

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Group claims laws rushed through after wave of antisemitism in state are ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘undemocratic’

A legal challenge has been launched against controversial New South Wales laws aimed at curbing antisemitism and which give police broad powers to restrict protests near places of worship.

The Palestine Action Group filed the challenge in the NSW supreme court on Monday, arguing in the statement of claim that the laws were invalid because the change “impermissibly burdens the implied [commonwealth] constitutional freedom of communication on government or political matters”.

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Columbia University ‘refusing to help’ identify people for arrest – White House

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Trump administration has axed $400m in federal funding to Columbia and detained student activist Mahmoud Khalil

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that Columbia University was “refusing to help” the Department of Homeland Security identify people for arrest on campus, after immigration authorities detained a prominent Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate over the weekend.

The Trump White House’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday the administration had given the university names of multiple individuals it accused of “pro-Hamas activity”, reiterating the administration’s intention to deport activists associated with pro-Palestinian protests.

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Former bikie boss Sayed Moosawi directed ‘James Bond’ arson attacks in Bondi, court hears

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NSW police allege Moosawi directed two men who have pleaded guilty to setting the Curly Lewis brewery on fire in October 2024. He has denied all charges

A former bikie boss is among 14 people charged this week over a wave of alleged antisemitic attacks in Sydney that authorities claim were designed to distract police from organised crime or influence prosecutions.

On Tuesday, 32-year-old Sayed Moosawi, a former chapter president of the Nomad bikies, pleaded not guilty to three charges related to two alleged arson attacks on businesses in Bondi Beach in October.

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Sydney caravan a ‘fake terrorism plot’ by criminals hoping to cause fear for personal benefit, police allege

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‘The caravan plot was an elaborate scheme contrived by organised criminals domestically and from offshore,’ AFP deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett says

Federal police say a caravan with explosives found in Sydney earlier this year was “never going to cause a mass casualty event” and was a “fake terrorism plot”.

The Australian federal police deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Monday investigators now believed the caravan incident was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.

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Labor was warned its perceived ‘one-sided’ Israel support over Gaza raised social cohesion concerns

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Exclusive: Department told minister in November 2023 Palestinian and Muslim communities were ‘extremely angry, hurt and betrayed’

The home affairs department warned the government as early as November 2023 that its perceived one-sidedness in support of Israel during the Gaza conflict left Palestinian and Muslim Australians feeling “extremely angry” and “betrayed” , as well as concern about social cohesion, documents reveal.

A November 2023 briefing document to the then immigration minister, Andrew Giles, was obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws. It discussed “social cohesion measures”, including a $25m package announced in October 2023 to strengthen resilience and improve support to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities in Australia after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war waged by Israel in Gaza. A total of $52.8m had been approved for social cohesion measures relating to the conflict, according to the document.

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Pentagon official condemned over tweet about Jewish victim lynched by Georgia mob

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Kingsley Wilson cast doubt on circumstances of death of Leo Frank, in echo of white supremacist talking point

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has condemned a past social media post by the Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson that disputed the innocence of Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman whom most historians agree was wrongfully convicted of killing a 13-year-old factory worker and lynched in 1915 during a wave of antisemitism in the US.

“Leo Frank raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl. He also tried to frame a Black man for his crime,” Wilson wrote on X in response to an August 2024 tweet by the ADL marking the 109th anniversary of Frank’s lynching. “The ADL turned off the comments because they want to gaslight you.”

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Conservative peer accused of using antisemitic tropes in Lords debate

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Archie Hamilton said Jewish community in Britain ‘has an awful lot of money’ and should pay for proposed Holocaust memorial

A Conservative peer has been accused of using antisemitic tropes after saying in a debate in the Lords that Jewish people should pay for a proposed Holocaust memorial in London because they have “an awful lot of money”.

Archie Hamilton, who served as a minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major and was made a peer in 2005, was criticised after the debate, which was about whether to put the memorial and education centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to parliament.

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Hopeful or ‘hate-fuelled’? Film of controversial play about Israel gets London premiere

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Director says Seven Jewish Children by Caryl Churchill, which provoked fury at its first production in 2009, is a ‘family story’ at heart

The premiere of Caryl Churchill’s short play Seven Jewish Children at the Royal Court theatre 16 years ago proved to be one of British theatre’s most controversial opening nights.

Audiences were immediately divided by the British playwright’s deliberately stripped-back treatment of Jewish generational fear and Israel’s history of conflict.

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Asio chief reveals foreign spies plotted to lure Australia-based activist overseas to injure or kill them

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Australia’s spy boss Mike Burgess highlights foreign intelligence operations, antisemitism and election disinformation in annual threat assessment speech

At least three countries have plotted to harm Australians abroad and on home soil, including a planned assassination to silence a human rights activist, Australia’s spy boss has revealed.

In a wide-ranging annual threat assessment speech on Wednesday night, which warned of an unprecedented level of threats until 2030, Mike Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, highlighted a foreign intelligence operation foiled by his agency.

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Education minister accused of ‘political interference’ over review of funding for prominent pro-Palestinian academic

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Jason Clare has asked Australian Research Council board to investigate $870,000 grant to Randa Abdel-Fattah, who has faced criticism for controversial comments

Academics have accused the education minister of “arbitrary political interference” in the Australian Research Council after requesting the body’s board investigate the fellowship of a prominent academic and Palestinian advocate.

Randa Abdel-Fattah, the recipient of an ARC Future Fellowship and an academic at Macquarie University, has faced sustained criticism from the Coalition, some Jewish bodies and media outlets for a series of controversial comments, including alleging Zionists had “no claim or right to cultural safety”, and posting “May 2025 be the end of Israel” in the new year and changing her profile picture to a picture of a Palestinian paratrooper after the 7 October attacks.

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Proposed ban on protest outside places of worship could prevent town hall rallies, Sydney mayor warns

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Clover Moore says police would have power to block peaceful demonstrations and warns against eroding civil rights

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Sydney’s mayor has warned that new laws proposed by the New South Wales government would give police powers to block peaceful protests at town hall – a regular site for demonstrations in the city.

The laws, introduced to parliament on Tuesday and carrying a maximum of two years in prison, are the first tranche of a suite of measures aimed at stemming antisemitism after a series of arson attacks and graffiti on synagogues and in Sydney’s suburban streets in recent months.

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‘Harassing’ people outside places of worship could result in jail under proposed NSW law

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Premier Chris Minns flags new measures, which would make certain types of protests a criminal offence, in response to ‘racial hatred and antisemitism’

The New South Wales government has proposed legislation that could make certain types of protests outside places of worship a criminal offence amid growing fears about antisemitism.

The reforms are part of a broader measures in response to a wave of arson attacks and antisemitic vandalism over the past two months in Sydney.

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Labor attempts to pass minimum sentences for hate speech crimes in departure from national platform

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Albanese government will reverse stance on mandatory terms to head off opposition attacks on antisemitism

The Albanese government will attempt to pass minimum jail sentences of between one and six years for hate speech crimes in a bid to stave off opposition attacks on its response to antisemitism before the federal election.

The move marks a significant departure from Labor’s own national policy platform, which opposes minimum sentencing laws which it says do “not reduce crime”, “lead to unjust outcomes” and are “often discriminatory in practice”.

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Guardian Essential poll: more voters say Albanese ‘out of touch’ with ordinary Australians than Peter Dutton

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Survey also finds 40% of people say antisemitism is a major issue in Australia, while 48% say it is a minor issue

More voters see Peter Dutton as in touch with ordinary Australians, decisive and better in a crisis than Anthony Albanese, with the opposition leader’s standing improving on key leadership indicators in the latest Guardian Essential poll.

Parliament returns on Tuesday for potentially the last sitting fortnight before the federal election (which must be held by mid-May). Questions about the Labor government’s response to antisemitism and the alleged caravan bomb discovered in Sydney are expected to dominate the political agenda.

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Caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney allegedly intended for antisemitic attack

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NSW police investigating after explosives found in Dural with premier Chris Minns warning incident could have led to ‘mass casualty event’

More than 100 counter-terrorism police are investigating after a caravan was found laden with explosives at a residential property in greater Sydney with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack.

Police said they had found the caravan on a property in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney on 19 January after a report was made.

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