University courses covering Israel-Palestine should be audited, Julian Leeser tells royal commission

Julian Leeser told the royal commission on antisemitism and social inclusion all universities should remove any ‘antisemitic materials’. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Julian Leeser told the royal commission on antisemitism and social inclusion all universities should remove any ‘antisemitic materials’. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian University courses covering Israel-Palestine should be audited, Julian Leeser tells royal commission Inquiry’s focus this week is on security for the Jewish community, with the MP telling the commissioner his son is afraid to attend synagogues and events Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The shadow education minister, Julian Leeser, has called for universities to undertake an audit of any classes that teach about the Jewish community, Israel or Palestine . Appearing before the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion on Friday, Leeser said he had been “very concerned” about antisemitism on university campuses and was not satisfied with how vice-chancellors had addressed the issue after the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack. “I’ve been particularly unhappy with the responses that I’ve received [from vice-chancellors] in relation to their failure to … audit courses dealing with the Israel-Palestine conflict to ensure that both sides are presented in the best way possible so that students are best prepared to make their own mind up,” he said. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email This week, the inquiry focused on security for the Jewish community, hearing a broad consensus that the risk had risen post 7 October. Leeser put a series of recommendations to the commissioner, including for the government to legislate that all universities adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, instead of their own definitions, as the federal government recently mandated . The IHRA definition is contentious because of concerns it could be used to shut down criticism of Israel. Last year, the chief executive of the Group of Eight, Vicki Thomson, said members had advised that the IHRA definition was “not workable” in an Australian context as it may limit academic freedom. Leeser said all universities should also undertake “an audit of what’s being taught about Jews and Israel in their classrooms” and remove any “antisemitic materials”. He said universities that taught about the Israel-Palestine conflict should make sure their course materials came from “credible sources” that were “balanced”. Asked how to ensure classroom content was “balanced”, he said people believed they had shown both sides if they had a Palestinian and Israeli perspective, “but one of those perspectives is a full-throated defence by advocates” and “the other perspective is not at all”. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Holocaust survivors president says exclusion of Jews from public life has ‘di