When power oppresses, civil society must hold it to account. Like media and the arts, university campuses in Australia have become sites of censorship and suppression of free speech on the question of Palestine.

In fact, the level of repression faced by pro-Palestine staff and students, and the stifling atmosphere, have led to the establishment of a Peoples Inquiry into University Restrictions on Free Speech on Palestine.

Here is just a small sample, which have largely bypassed the media. Students at universities on both the east and west coasts of Australia have faced misconduct allegations for pro-Palestine activism.

The Students for Palestine club at the University of New South Wales was suspended last year after being accusing of breaching campus policy by putting up posters, handing out leaflets and making lecture announcements. (UNSW has a bronze statue of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, but doesnt, apparently, like attention being drawn to Israeli apartheid).

The University of Sydney is arguably at the forefront of suppression of pro-Palestinian speech. The university shut down a bake sale raising funds for Gazans.

Last year, the Hodgkinson report recommendations were accepted in principle by the universitys Senate. One recommendation bans students addressing lecture halls before the start of classes on any subject matter, a tradition used not only by activists, but clubs and societies on campuses nationwide for generations. Another prohibits protest activity inside university buildings and encampments.

Such recommendations severely curb democratic participation. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has argued that should these be implemented, then basic forms of political expression at Sydney University will effectively be banned".

Perhaps the most alarming of the recommendations is the institution of a civility rule, requiring speakers to make the meaning of contested words and phrases clear to the audience". What these contested words and phrases are, however, is not spelt out.

Academics could be placed in the position of having to censor students speech or their own as many teach material related to the war in Gaza. As Academics for Palestine WA noted in a government submission, This would create a chilling culture of fear and silence, as many academics will feel that it is better to avoid such topics completely for fear of facing disciplinary action.

During the student union elections at the University of Technology Sydney the word “genocide” was banned. In a similar vein, Curtin University in WA advised student activists via email that the phrase from the river to the sea was banned, claiming it makes some students and staff feel unsafe on campus. The ban was later retracted after being publicised.

At Sydney University, safety was also used to justify what many see as the suppression of free speech. Specifically, psychosocial safety was used a term that describes a serious work health and safety issue, related to the organisation, design and management of work. National Tertiary Education Union members and health and safety representatives at the institution, however, fired back that psychosocial safety had been used in a selective and cynical way to justify political censorship.

NTEU national president, Dr Alison Barnes, has said that, if implemented, the measures outlined in the report would have a chilling effect on all protests, including union activity.

This all sets a dangerous precedent for campus life nationwide. As Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi summarised on the inquirys launch:

“From draconian anti-protest policies and police interventions to surveillance, suspensions and disciplinary actions, university management has used every trick in the book to stifle activism.

“These attacks on campus activism and free speech are a direct assault on the right to protest and the values of anti-imperialism and justice.

“And yet, universities claim to support free speech, often while at the very same time shutting it down.”

Faruqi continues:

“University campuses should be political spaces where students and staff are encouraged to speak out on issues of social, racial and environmental justice, not shut down.

“Yet, time and time again universities have resorted to harsh measures to silence dissent when it comes to justice for Palestine, one of the worlds most important moral litmus tests.

“Far from condemning Israels action or breaking their ties with Israel, Australian institutions are censoring those who do speak out and protest.”

The peoples inquiry provides an opportunity to shine a light on these attacks, with the aim, ultimately, of reversing them.

It continues a long tradition of peoples inquiries taking on issues that governments wont touch, or where it is state institutions themselves that are causing harm. In the 2000s for example, a peoples inquiry into the mandatory detention of refugees was held.

The inquiry is calling for submissions from individuals and organisations. Additionally, any publicity is welcomed, as to date, coverage of the inquiry has been limited to alternative media outlets.

A panel will then consider the submissions and then issue a report.

Terms of reference relate to free speech and discrimination against pro-Palestine staff and students. Specifically, the inquiry asks for submissions about infringements on free speech and political expression; Discrimination against, targeting of pro-Palestine staff or students; Whether Australian universities have violated international covenants or higher education regulations; and The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism which conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

This comes at a time when the joint Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities has recommended that universities adopt a definition of antisemitism that closely aligns with this controversial definition, under which calling the state of Israel a racist endeavour is considered antisemitic. While few Australian universities to date have adopted the definition, it has been used in US and UK institutions to shut down legitimate criticism of Israel by branding it as hate speech.

(UPDATE Universities Australia has just adopted a new definition of antisemitism, to be implemented on 39 university campuses, which reads, in part Criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when itcalls for the elimination of the State of Israelor all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israels actions_._ Yet as the Jewish Council of Australia points out, The definitions inclusion of calls for the elimination of the state of Israel would mean, for instance, that calls for a single binational democratic state, where Palestinians and Israelis have equal rights, could be labelled antisemitic. The Councils executive officer, human rights lawyer Sarah Schwartz, stated: It degrades the very real fight against antisemitism for it to be weaponised to silence legitimate criticism of the Israeli state and Palestinian political expressions. It also risks fomenting division between communities and institutionalising anti-Palestinian racism.)

The Commission of Inquiry also urged the government to consider amending the Fair Work Act to enable disciplinary or other action to be taken in relation to an employee (or a grant recipient where the Australian Research Council Act 2001 and related legislation applies), where that person is found to have engaged in conduct which would breach Part 5.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995, or section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975”. In the context of two pro-Palestine academics facing a lawsuit under section 18C of Australias Racial Discrimination Act, and calls for the sacking of Palestinian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, this recommendation is alarming.

Patrons of the Peoples Inquiry are Helen Jarvis, and Senator Mehreen Faruqi. Jarvis served as a member of the panel of judges in the Permanent Peoples Tribunal in the sessions on Sri Lanka (2013), Myanmar (2017) and Murder of Journalists (2022), as well as the International Peoples Tribunal on Indonesia 1965. Faruqi is the Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and an uncompromising voice for human rights and the rights of Palestinians. She was, in 2013 the first Muslim woman to enter any Australian parliament.

Panel members are: Lama Qasem, an executive member of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network and an organiser with the Palestinian Action Group Canberra; Linda Briskman, former co-convener of the Peoples Inquiry into Detention and member of the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia; Gill Boehringer, Co-Chair of the Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers of the International Association of Peoples Lawyers; and James McVicar, National Union of Students Education Officer.

As the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network argues: “The Peoples inquiry is a critical pushback by and for the people against the suppression of free speech and the criminalisation of solidarity with Palestinians. Advocating for an end to Israels decades of oppression of Palestinians is not hate speech it is a fight for justice and liberation.

“APAN stands with all those resisting repression and urges anyone who has faced discrimination or witnessed injustices against people speaking out for Palestine to make their voices heard in this inquiry.”

Submissions can be made here by 31 March 2025.