‘Not fair that I had to hide who I am’: Jewish student in fear after anti-Israel motion

A student union in Melbourne has passed a second anti-Israel motion, with
one student saying he is too afraid to reveal he is Jewish.
A Jewish student at the University of Melbourne says he is ashamed of his
identity on campus and fears attending classes due to a series of anti-Israel
motions passed by the student union.
Despite rescinding a motion earlier this year that condemned Zionism as a
“racist colonial ideology” and urged the university to endorse an academic
boycott, the University of Melbourne Student Union passed an almost
identical motion on Monday.
The motion, which condemns the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”
and the “use of Zionism to justify the illegal occupation of Palestine as
racist and colonial,” stated support for Palestinians to “engage in self-
defence against their occupiers”.
It passed 13 to three, with one abstention on Monday, despite further legal
threats, ignoring calls by students and Jewish groups not to proceed.
Over the weekend, eight people, including a pregnant woman, were
wounded after a Palestinian gunman opened fire at a bus carrying Jewish
worshippers.
The attack followed three days of deadly fighting at the Gaza Strip that
claimed the lives of 47 Palestinians, including 17 children, as Israeli forces
targeted leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and militants who
fired more than 1000 rockets into Israel.
It is believed, however, that up to one-third of those killed were struck by
Islamic Jihad-fired rockets that fell short.
After the original motion passed in early May, a University of Melbourne
spokesperson condemned the student union, labelling the motion “anti-
Semitic,” adding that it was “not the position of the University of
Melbourne”.
Despite a clear stance from leadership, the union has renewed calls for the
university to “participate in an academic boycott and cut ties with Israeli
institutions, researchers, and academics”.

One Jewish student at the university, who wanted to remain anonymous
due to fear of being “targeted,” said he no longer felt safe on campus and
tried to hide his Jewish identity due to the student union’s actions.
With posters such as “Why we should oppose the Israeli apartheid”
plastered around campus, the student said he was ashamed of being
Jewish and Israeli at university.
“I feel as if people are after me in the sense that I am not allowed to be who
I am, and if certain people found out that I am Israeli and Jewish, I feel as if
I would be targeted, discriminated against and attacked,” he wrote in an
email to the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC).
The student, who said he was hesitant to say his own name while in class
in fear of his peers recognising he was Israeli, claimed the student union
was not representative of many students.
“I remember walking past Union House and ironically saw that on the
building it said “For students, by students”. That is not the case
whatsoever,” he said.
“It is not fair that I had to hide who I am.”
University of Melbourne student Justin Riazaty, 22, threatened legal action
against the union earlier this year in regard to the May motion.
He sent a letter to the student union’s lawyers on Friday demanding they
do not introduce the new motion.
Mr Riazaty, who is not Jewish, told NCA NewsWire the he would be
rehashing legal action, saying this “anti-Semitism pure and simple and
cannot stand”.
“The passing of this motion is a declaration of war against every Jewish
student at the University of Melbourne and a blatant attempt to defame and
delegitimise anyone who supports Israel and Zionism,” he said.
In May, following a letter of demand by Mr Riazaty, UMSU withdrew the
motion, stating it did not want funds to be “unnecessarily spent defending
legal proceedings”.
UMSU president Sophie Nguyen has been contacted for comment.

Australasian Union of Jewish Students president Natalie Gunn said the
motion, which she said contained “utterly false and ludicrous version of
history”, would lead to an increase in anti-Semitism on campus.
“The motion strips the Jewish people of their right to national self-
determination and dignity,” she said, adding that Jewish students already
feel “unwelcome and isolated”.
Australia’s leading Jewish groups, including the Australia/Israel and Jewish
Affairs Council, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Zionist Federation of
Australia, Jewish Community Council of Victoria and Zionism Victoria have
joined forces to condemn the motion.
They argue that it is “disingenuous to suggest that this motion is simply
about criticism of the Israeli government or support for the Palestinians”.
“It effectively advocates the eradication of Israel as a state and thus denies
the basic right of national self-determination of the Jewish people,” they
said, adding that the motion is “imbued with racism and its language drips
with venomous hatred”.
ADC chairman Dvir Abramovich agreed, arguing that the motion “labels
Jewish students who back Israel as racists who are guilty genocide and
apartheid”.
“The end result is that Jewish students will feel so threatened, so isolated,
so under siege that they will feel compelled to hide their Jewish identities,”
Dr Abramovich said.