Australia
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An anti-Israel motion by Australia’s national higher education union that rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism was labelled a “disgrace” by one of the country’s leading Jewish advocacy organizations.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)’s passing of a motion in solidarity with Palestinian Arabs that denounced the adoption of the IHRA definition at Australian universities was blasted by Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Peter Wertheim.

Wertheim told the Australian Jewish News that he was worried about Jewish members of the union.

He expressed “concern for the NTEU’s Jewish members who are committed to what the union is supposed to stand for, but now face a real moral dilemma”.

“The NTEU resolution is a disgrace,” he added.

According to the news outlet, the motion, put forward by BDS activist Fahad Ali, said that the NTEU “stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine in their ongoing struggle against ethnic cleansing and apartheid” and that as “people of conscience, we must bring our power to bear on the structures that enable this oppression.”

The motion included a pledge to increase ties with Palestinian Arab unions, ban NTEU officials and staff from going on expenses-paid tours to Israel that are sponsored by the Israeli government or “pro-Israel lobby organizations,” and to encourage BDS activism by union members.

“The resolution’s reference to ‘pro-Israel lobby organizations’ is a sneering dismissal of every major Jewish community organization in the country, simply for supporting Israel’s right to exist in peace and security,” Wertheim said. “While the resolution rejected a blanket endorsement of BDS by the union, the resolution does nevertheless legitimize BDS.”

Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) president Natalie Gunn told the news outlet that the resolution will have lasting consequences for Jewish students.

“We have already seen how the issues faced by Jewish students and faculty are often ignored and misrepresented,” she said.