The University of Technology Sydney is investigating an anti-Israel campus rally last Wednesday in which a speaker said it was their “duty” to make Jews “uncomfortable,” a UTS spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
At the rally, which was part of the Australia-wide 2025 National Day of Action for Palestine, academic Peter Slezak stated that “Jews in particular should feel uncomfortable and it’s our duty to make them uncomfortable.”
Slezak had been paraphrasing Macquarie University professor Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah, adding that he agreed with the sentiment. The Jewish academic intoned that it was important to stand against the State of Israel’s alleged crimes being carried out in the name of other Jews.
Making Jews uncomfortable on campus
“The UTS spokesperson assured that the university has no tolerance for racism or discrimination,” said the spokesperson. “Vice-chancellor Prof. Andrew Parfitt has been clear and continues to make very clear to all staff and students, that while UTS supports the right for students and staff to discuss and debate contentious issues, this should not be at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of others.”
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement last Thursday that Slezak’s remarks were evidence of how activists were working to make Jews uncomfortable on campus.
“That anyone thinks saying this out loud is acceptable demonstrates how big the problem is on our university campuses,” the board stated.
“Calls for one group of Australians to target another undermine social cohesion and attack the Australian values we all hold dear. Jewish students and staff have a right to study and work without being harassed and targeted.”
At the protest, activists had urged calling for UTS to cut ties with the Technion and Israel. They also called for UTS to reject academic representative body Universities Australia’s February 27 adoption of an antisemitism definition for its 39 members, asserting that the definition’s acknowledgment of antisemitism disguised as criticism of Israel and emphasis on Jewish self-determination was an attempt to censor Palestinians.
“We don’t want two-state, we want all of ’48. Reject UA’s antisemitism definition,” read a banner posted on Instagram by revolutionary socialist group UTS Solidarity Australia.
As part of the nationwide day of action, protests were also held at Australian National University, Sydney University, Western Sydney University, and Melbourne University, the latter of which saw students chant for intifada.
UTS activists also decried the situation of Abdel-Fattah as an example of censorship against pro-Palestinian activists. Slezak had paraphrased Abdel-Fattah, who said, in a Mondoweiss interview last January, that she did believe the feelings of Jewish Zionists took primacy over activism that she believed was against a genocide.
“I believe in fact that it is my duty to make them uncomfortable,” Abdel-Fattah told Palestinian writer Mohammed el-Kurd.
At last Wednesday’s rally, and since February, Australian pro-Palestinian activists have expressed concern over the suspension of an Australian Research Council (ARC) grant for Abdel-Fattah.
Shadow Minister for Education Sen. Sarah Henderson said in a February 27 statement that at a January Queensland University of Technology anti-racism symposium, Abdel-Fattah had bragged about how she had bent the rules of her ARC grant. In 2024, Henderson had raised concern about the over AUD 800,000 grant, due to allegations that she was involved in a doxing campaign against Jewish Australians and led children in chants of “Intifada.”
ARC told the Post in February that a notice of suspension had been issued on February 12 for the grant on Abdel-Fattah’s “Arab/Muslim Australian Social Movements since the 1970s: a hidden history” study project.
“The ARC’s decision to suspend the grant was not taken lightly or hastily,” said ARC, explaining that the move was done in cooperation with Macquarie University while it investigated the issue.
Macquarie said on February 27 that it was auditing to ensure that the grant funds had been used in line with the purposes for which they were provided, as well as holding a review of the conduct of the research.
Abdel-Fattah said in an Instagram post the same day that she would be “fighting this racist process.”
A February 10 Overland open letter by Australian scholars condemned Clare’s “interference into the independence of the ARC” and to instead guaranteeing the academic freedom of those who support “Palestinian liberation.”
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said in a February 28 statement that Abdel-Fattah’s research was unfairly suspended due to political pressure from politicians and pro-Israel groups.
“This attack on her work is an attempt to silence critical voices and suppress important discussions about human rights and the ongoing oppression of Palestinians,” said APAN.
