Australian Jewish leaders expressed dismay after the Australian National University (ANU) rejected adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
The move by the public research university located in Australia’s capital city Canberra came shortly after the Parliamentary Friends of IHRA sent an open letter to Australian universities encouraging them to officially adopt the definition, the Australian Jewish News reported.
“It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that people will go to to deny or obfuscate the existence of antisemitism,” Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), told the Jewish News.
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) stated that they were concerned that the university rejected the definition without consulting Jewish students.
“Given that we are the ones who experience antisemitism on campus, it should not be too much to ask for us to be invited to the table,” a spokesperson for AUJS said.
Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) President Jeremy Leibler described ANU’s decision as displaying a “profound ignorance” about the rise of modern antisemitism, and also criticized their lack of consultation with Jewish students.
“Adoption of the definition won’t prevent criticism about Israel. It cannot and isn’t designed to do so," he told the news outlet. "Rather, its purpose is to help well-meaning people engage in conversations without needlessly offending a long-persecuted minority.”