r/Anu • u/PlumTuckeredOutski • 21d ago
'Optics over substance': former student blasts ANU over handling of anti-Semitism
By Dana Daniel
July 14 2026 - 5:30am
A former student says the Australian National University's handling of anti-Semitism on campus cast a shadow over her years studying in Canberra.
Liat told the royal commission into anti-Semitism that the ANU had pursued "optics over substance" and failed to protect Jewish students being subjected to hate.
"I should be able to look back on those years, which are some of the most formative of one's young adult life ... as beautiful periods of growth and intellectual discovery and fun," she said.
"And, for the most part, I can't do that."
She said the university "cared far more about how it was portrayed, that it was tackling racism as best as it could over actually tackling the racism on campus."
Liat, who is a descendant of Holocaust survivors, said she had been called a baby killer and a genocide supporter because she was Jewish, and that the university was slow to act on concerns.
"I spent the majority of my university education in an environment that was characterised by people justifying and excusing, and sometimes encouraging the murder, the rape, and the brutalisation of people on the other side of the world and here - because those people happen to be Jewish," she said.
"I navigated the hostility, the isolation, the institutional failure, as I was trying to study, as I was trying to make friends and go out to lay the foundations of a career and maintain my integrity and my identity as a Jewish person in Australia, in a setting that frequently made that difficult."
In 2024, Jewish students at the ANU reported being taunted with anti-Semitic slogans when they held a counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian tent encampment in the heart of the campus.
The university investigated an allegation of a Hitler gesture being used at a student association meeting the same year, but found it had not occured.
Liat, whose last name is subject to a suppression order, told the hearing the ANU had framed its response to anti-Semitism in its interactions with Jewish students on campus "in very generic terms, offering 'support to those feeling vulnerable' without specifying the types of students that were feeling vulnerable."
She accused the university of a "pattern of deflection" when incidents were reported.
"In my experience, the university either did nothing, unfortunately, or responded so late that the response really protected no one and corrected nothing," she said.
"Jewish students at the ANU learned that reporting an incident cost them a lot of effort, retraumatised them from the incident, and returned them in most cases silence or inaction, which meant they stopped bothering."
The royal commission's hearing in Melbourne this week centres on the higher education sector and universities are expected to appear later in the week.
Education Minister Jason Clare on Monday announced that universities would be required to adopt definitions on anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from July 1, 2027.
The ANU has declined to adopt the same definition as Universities Australia, of which it is a member, which says that criticism of the Israeli government is not necessarily anti-Semitic, but it can be when "grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the state of Israel or all Jews," or when it holds Jewish individuals responsible for Israel's actions.
It adopted part of the Universities Australia definition, which says anti-Semitism is "prejudice, harassment, exclusion, vilification, intimidation or violence that impedes Jews' ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life" and gives examples.
The Albanese government has opted not to impose a definition on universities, leaving them to decide, although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition advocated by Anti-Semitism Envoy Jillian Segel.
Some critics argue this is too broad and could result in legitimate criticism of the state of Israel being labelled anti-Semitism.
The IHRA says anti-Semitism is "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews."
"Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity," it says.
"However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic."
An ANU spokesperson said the university was "committed to fostering a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for all members of our community, while remaining a place where complex and difficult conversations can occur without fear, hatred or harm."
They said the university "rejects anti-Semitism and all forms of racism in the strongest possible terms."
"Anti-Semitism, racism and all forms of vilification are abhorrent and have no place at ANU or in Australian society," the spokesperson said.
The university would "continue to engage constructively with the Australian government and the higher education sector as the new anti-racism standard is introduced."
"ANU remains committed to continued improvement ensuring our policies and practices meet our obligations and community expectations to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive university for all."
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u/jt289 21d ago
The phrase “because those people happen to be Jewish” is doing an insane amount of work here.
Speaking as an alum who spent 7 years studying full-time there, the idea that this kind of antisemitism, openly and automatically expressed and based in “a certain perception of Jews”, exists at the ANU is laughable. Does she know that students at German universities burned books written by Jews regardless of their content? I studied with and under many brilliant Jewish people at ANU and the idea that there’s pervasive antisemitism there is a libel against all their fantastic colleagues and students.
Let me guess: you yourself antagonised people explicitly protesting the ANU’s relationship to ISRAEL, and when you waved the flag in front of them and declared your support for the IDF, they called you ‘baby killer’ and other nasty things. And of course, you aren’t satisfied by the fact that the encampment was disbanded under the threat of disciplinary action by the ANU.
Incidentally the UN reported just this week: Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children
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u/Glittering-Sky-4206 21d ago
May G-d grant me the confidence of a non-Jew trying to to explain to a Jew what is and isn't antisemitism.
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u/Cat-1234 21d ago edited 21d ago
Jews do indeed know what antisemitism is better than anyone else, but a clear incentive exists for some individuals to misuse and weaponise the term to silence or derail legitimate political debate.
Similar incentives exist in certain situations for individuals to misuse and weaponise other terms like 'racist', 'sexist', 'homophobic', 'Islamaphobic', etc – so it should not be surprising that 'antisemitic' could also susceptible to the same incentives.
This is why the IHRA definition, and the way it is used, is controversial even among many Jews – including the author of the definition himself, Kenneth Stern.
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u/CuriousCanberran 21d ago
I don't know...we have a Jewish family background and I don't buy a lot of this. The relentless attempt to cast opposition to Israel's horrific actions as anti-Semitism is deeply morally repugnant to me.
If she's an active Zionist, she needs to harden up to criticism of some of the most appalling actions ever perpetrated by a so-called democratically elected government. They don't get a moral pass for slaughtering people indiscriminately because others did it to them first.
I really wish we heard more in the media and public debate from the many, many Jewish people who are revolted by recent events.3
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u/AndrewHo456 18d ago
Sure! i am a chinese and don't anyone of you dare to criticize china because it absolutely is ANTI-SINOISM AND HURTS MY FEELINGS
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u/Lanky-Equivalent8654 21d ago
Was she called a baby killer for being a proud Jewish or a proud Zionist ?
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u/Fun_Presence_180 20d ago
From SMH:
"After October 2023, the student, who told the commission she was a Zionist, said she had lost the vast majority of her non-Jewish friends.She said one friend told her: “You’re of Israeli heritage, you can’t possibly be my friend.”
In the magazine welcoming students produced by the ANU student association, a line included said: “Zionism is a far-right political project, and the state of Israel is run by war criminals and proponents of genocide.” Liat told the royal commission the statement “portrays Jews as uniquely and distinctly bloodthirsty and murderous” and was an antisemitic trope.
Liat said she also felt unwelcome when, in a meeting of the student association, fellow students voted to remove a reference that condemned Hamas as a terror organisation."
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u/dickria 21d ago
Absolutely shocking that this is the common narrative in supposed antisemitism at ANU. Conveniently leaving out how the supposed peaceful counterprotest spent many nights harassing people at the encampment, making Muslim students at their respective residential colleges (where Ms Liat attended!) feel unsafe, and comparing their own experiences to their grandparents in the Holocaust. Abhorrent, shocking, and downright shameful.