Universities not doing enough to deal with protests and ‘highly personal’ attacks, antisemitism royal commission hears

The royal commission into antisemitism has heard that universities have not done enough to deal with antisemitic incidents on campus. Photograph: Darren England/AAP View image in fullscreen The royal commission into antisemitism has heard that universities have not done enough to deal with antisemitic incidents on campus. Photograph: Darren England/AAP Universities not doing enough to deal with protests and ‘highly personal’ attacks, antisemitism royal commission hears Royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion hears from professor whose office was occupied by protesters Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Jewish professor has told the royal commission into antisemitism the University of Melbourne needs to show it doesn’t “tolerate misbehaviour” after the expulsion of two pro-Palestine student activists who occupied his office was overturned. Steven Prawer, a professor of physics, said on Tuesday that he had not known at the time if it was a “terrorist attack”. On 9 October 2024, 20 pro-Palestine students covered in keffiyehs, hoods and masks occupied Prawer’s office for about 90 minutes, protesting the university’s partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prawer, a self-described Zionist who wears a kippah, is the academic lead for the universities’ joint PhD program. Two protesters were recommended for expulsion and two for suspension after the incident. “This was only one year after the atrocities in Israel and so I was very perturbed,” Prawer said. “I had no idea at that stage if it was a protest, if it was a terrorist attack.” Prawer described the protesters’ allegations that the university was complicit in genocide due to its partnerships with Israel as “ridiculous” and said the protest was a “highly personal attack”. “When there are 50 students on the lawn protesting and surrounded by security staff, they don’t pose an imminent threat to an individual,” he said. “When there are 20 students in an office with an individual, the equation is completely different.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The vice-chancellor issued a statement condemning the intrusion as a line being crossed. After the students were disciplined in June, about 150 university employees and affiliates signed a petition maintaining sit-ins were a legitimate form of protest. The decision was overturned by the academic board after an appeal. Prawer said he still didn’t know the identity of the protesters, despite hiring a private investigator as he feared “Hamas connections”. “I think for my protection … I should know who these people are,” he said. “The community needs to hear loudly and clearly that the university tolerates dissent but it doesn’t tolerate misbehaviour … Where’s the deterrence?” After a university sit-in and the occupation of Prawer’s office, indoor protests at the University of Melbourne have been banned . The fourth block of royal commissi