Uni Leadership Lacking

Uni leadership lacking

There are many thousands of students studying higher education at universities across Australia.

The vast majority attend their studies and many do part time work and rarely get involved with any radical student union business.

Those who do are often influenced both inside and outside of university, often by radical political intentions (“How we lost the campus to anti-Israel radicals.”, DT, 13/8).

The present pro-Palestine and anti-Israel protests and demonstrations will go down in history as overreactions, and will blame those overreactions on grief, or propaganda – a lack of knowledge around history adding to these often shameful outbursts.

While universities are open to freedom of expression and debate, leadership is essential in understanding “truth” and diversity of religious choices in Australia, a free, democratic, open society.

Ron Brown, Ballina

Tainted reputation

Joe Gersh highlights the growing visibility and disruption of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment on university campuses today, a stark contrast to his experience as a Jewish student leader in the 1970s when such rhetoric was more fringe.

Last week, students at Sydney University voted to support a terrorist group responsible for atrocities.

This was followed by a University of Tasmania lecturer’s claim that Hamas is a legitimate resistance group.

Supporting Hamas and voting for Israel’s destruction is tantamount to endorsing genocide.

Israel is a pluralistic democratic society, not an apartheid state, where Arabs, Druze, and Jews enjoy equal rights. Gays and transgender individuals live free from persecution in Israel, unlike in surrounding Muslim countries where being queer can lead to imprisonment or even death.

This situation raises the question of whether this warped and radical perspective among students is the result of certain academics’ teachings or infiltration by activists from the extreme left or Islamist groups.

Regardless of the cause, it’s clear that the students’ actions have brought international shame to a once highly respected institution of higher learning.

John Kempler, Rose Bay

Victimisation rife

One often wonders why so many groups and families with a hatred of Jewish people use whatever means possible to settle in Australia far away from Middle East turmoil only to eschew egalitarian Australian and multicultural values such as the blessing of peaceful democratic Australian citizenship (“How we lost the campus to anti-Israel radicals”, DT, 13/8).

Sadly there are also many Australian born people who hate Jews. It is disgraceful that Jewish or any law-abiding citizens should be victimised and feel unsafe or be refused service because of their race or faith.

Brian Whybrow, Wanniassa, ACT