Melbourne University Student Union voted on a motion calling for the boycott Israel

Melbourne University Student Union voted on a motion calling for the
boycott of Israel
Melbourne University Student Union passed a BDS motion on
Monday against Israel. Jewish organizations in Australia
criticized the motion saying that the Jewish students there are
being targeted.
By ZVIKA KLEIN (Jerusalem Post, 15/8/2022)
The Melbourne University Student Union (UMSU) passed a motion
on Monday regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting
Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
(BDS) against Israel. The motion accused the Jewish state of
apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Jewish organizations have criticized
the motion, revealing that Jewish students in Australia suffer from
“death threats and a planned stabbing.”
“The UMSU has decided to adopt a number of stances and actions,
condemning “the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,”
according to an official document released by the union.
“UMSU supports the self-determination of the Palestinian people
and their right to engage in self-defense against their occupiers,” it
said in the decision, adding that it “deems the use of Zionism to
justify the illegal occupation of Palestine as racist and colonial.”
Furthermore, the UMSU recognized Israel as an “apartheid state,”
basing this on the allegations of “prominent human rights
organizations” such as Amnesty International, B’Tselem and
Humans Rights Watch. The union also criticized the Australian
government for its “support for Israel and its ongoing crimes
including occupation, settlement, expansion, and ethnic cleansing.”
Even though Jewish-Australian organizations see this decision as
antisemitic, the union voted on a very short statement condemning
“any and all forms of antisemitism,” and that “Israel’s actions are not
representative of the Jewish community.”
In addition, they stated that the union supports an academic boycott
of Israel: “UMSU calls on the university to participate in an
academic boycott and cut ties with Israeli institutions, researchers,
and academics to be in harmony with the Palestinian call for
boycott, as a contribution towards upholding international law and

furthering the struggle for freedom, justice and equality Divestment
Actions and support.”
Press release
In a press release, the union said that “as one of the biggest
universities in Australia, the University of Melbourne’s monetary and
academic connections to the State of Israel have helped legitimize
the narrative created by the State of Israel.”
“The Austalasian Union of Jewish Students vehemently opposes
the new motion to boycott Israel that has been tabled for the UMSU
student council,” AUJS wrote on social media, adding that “we also
reject the utterly false and ludicrous version of history set out in the
motion’s preamble.
“This motion strips away the pretense that the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions campaign is directed at Israeli policy regarding
settlements, the West Bank and Gaza,” AUJS said. “The motion
lays bare the real objective of this campaign, which is the
disappearance of Israel as a Jewish state and the removal from the
land of most of its Jewish population by one means or another.
Jewish students are determined to fight against this insidious form
of racism and fight back against anyone who is making Jewish
students feel unsafe on Australian university campuses, with every
legal means at our disposal.”
They “commend the University administration for having
condemned a similar motion earlier this year,” they said, calling
upon it to “take much more decisive action against this singling out
of one nation and one people for vilification and abuse.”
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Executive Council of
Australian Jewry, Zionist Federation of Australia, Jewish
Community Council of Victoria and Zionism Victoria have released
a statement condemning the UMSU motion.
“It is disingenuous to suggest that this motion is simply about
criticism of the Israeli government or support for the Palestinians,”
the statement said. “It effectively advocates the eradication of Israel
as a state and thus denies the basic right of national self-
determination of the Jewish people. The motion is imbued with
racism and its language drips with venomous hatred,” the Jewish
organizations said.

“We reject the lies in this motion. We reject the denial of Jewish
connection to Israel, and we stand by Jewish students who face
constant antisemitism and unrelenting hatred on campus because
of who they are, and their family, ethnic, cultural and religious
connections to Israel.”
“We reject the lies in this motion. We reject the
denial of Jewish connection to Israel, and we stand
by Jewish students who face constant antisemitism
and unrelenting hatred on campus because of who
they are, and their family, ethnic, cultural and
religious connections to Israel.”
Australian Jewish organizations
The statement of Jewish organizations in Australia claimed that
“when student representatives falsely deny the Jewish connection
to Israel, they deny to Jewish students the right to their own identity.
When they promote hatred of Israel so unrelentingly, they are telling
Jewish students and faculty that they don’t belong on campus
unless they willingly forego their own identity. Only one country is
singled out. Only one ethnicity is vilified. This has real-world
implications.”
They dramatically revealed in the statement that Jewish students
“are facing increasing intimidation, including death threats and a
planned stabbing."
The Jewish organizations concluded by stating that “motions like
this do nothing for Palestinians, but they make life on campus more
dangerous for Jews.”