Manufactured antisemitism. Universities relied on fudged numbers
Emma Thomas.
When does 5.8% of a specific demographic become 64% of the same demographic? When data is misrepresented in an effort to protect Israel from criticism, it seems.
On 27 February this year, Universities Australia (UA) released a “statement on racism” in which it announced that UA’s 39 members—including all 38 public universities in the country—would “adopt a clear definition of antisemitism that aligns closely with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] definition.”
Concerns about the use of the IHRA definition within higher education have long been voiced, including by the definition’s chief drafter, who, in 2019, cautioned that the definition was already being used to “weaponise” antisemitism to suppress academic freedom, including legitimate criticism of Israel on US campuses.
In Australia, despite political pressures from Labor MP Josh Burns of the Parliamentary Friends of IHRA, only five universities had previously adopted the definition. By April 2023, six universities had publicly rejected the definition.
A Senate bill and a survey
Amid increasingly shrill discussions about rising levels of antisemitism on Australian campuses in the wake of 7 October 2023, Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson tabled a bill calling for a commission of inquiry into the matter. According to the Bill, campus antisemitism had “reached unprecedented levels.” More concretely, the Bill presented the alarming information “that 64 per cent of Jewish university students had experienced antisemitism on campus.”
That figure cited in the Bill is drawn from a single source: a survey commissioned by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA). The ZFA is an organisation whose stated purpose is “advocating for the State of Israel on behalf of the Jewish community in Australia and fostering a deep connection between Australia and Israel.”
Jewish student experience survey
Source: education.gov.au
The survey was conducted between 14 March and 3 April 2023, and the Social Research Centre (SRC) prepared a report titled “The Jewish University Experience Survey” that was published in July 2023.
Despite the title of the survey report, it did not offer a broad examination of Jews’ experiences within Australia’s universities. The survey’s purpose was much more specific: “to understand Jewish students’ experiences of antisemitism in Australian universities.” Questions were tightly structured around matters pertaining to antisemitism, exclusion, Holocaust denial, and “matters relating to Israel”.
Potential respondents for the survey were solicited in two ways. Firstly, the SRC sent invitations to participate in the survey to contacts on the Australasian Union of Jewish Students’ (AUJS) database. Like its affiliate organisation, the ZFA, the AUJS subscribes to “Zionist ideals” and seeks “to promote a positive image of Israel on campus”. Secondly, the SRC provided an “opt-in link” to the ZFA for promotion via “their own communication channels.”
https://michaelwest.com.au/manufactured-antisemitism-universities-relied-on-fudged-numbers/