The head of Australian National University (ANU) offered a formal apology this past Thursday for the school's inability to safeguard the mental and emotional well-being of Jewish staff and students during intense pro-Palestinian Arab encampments in 2024k reported JNS.
Testifying before the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, interim Vice Chancellor Rebekah Brown conceded that Jewish individuals on the Canberra campus faced direct hostility, including being called "baby killers" and "genocide supporters."
She acknowledged that the institution fell short of its obligations despite a internal university evaluation highlighting a significant threat of psychological harm, promising that the administration would improve its response.
ABC News Australia reported that Brown stated "that all Jewish students and staff and their colleagues and friends ... have an absolute right to feel safe, respected and heard on our campus. I’m sorry that they didn’t and I’ve committed in my role, as long as I am the interim vice chancellor, to do better."
Brown took over as interim vice chancellor late last year. However, she was the university's provost and chief academic officer while the campus protests took place between April and August 2024.
The commission also examined conditions at Monash University in Melbourne. Vice Chancellor Sharon Pickering described a deteriorating campus environment where abuse became so pervasive that many Jewish staff and students completely boycotted the university grounds. Pickering noted the administration had to step in after demonstration organizers shared social media posts stating that "Zionists were not welcome on campus."
The testimony comes amid a broader rise in antisemitic behavior across Australia. The escalation was highlighted by a December assault in which two terrorists murdered 15 people at a Sydney Hanukkah celebration.
Additionally, an arson attack struck Melbourne's Adass Israel synagogue in December 2024, inflicting substantial property damage and inflicting minor injuries on one individual. Shortly after the synagogue fire, perpetrators torched a vehicle and defaced two homes with anti-Israel graffiti in Woollahra, a Sydney suburb home to a large Jewish community.
Other recent incidents include a vehicle in Sydney being defaced with the phrase "F- the Jews." Earlier last year, vandals targeted the Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah with antisemitic slogans. A day later, the Newtown synagogue in inner-west Sydney was defaced with red swastikas painted on its facade.