A trans student from the University of Sydney (USyd) is being threatened with their asylum seeker status being revoked and deportation after "misusing any University facility or resource in a manner that is unlawful, or is detrimental to the rights or property of others", and "damaging, destroying, stealing, removing, or misappropriating University property".
The crime? Writing pro-Palestinian messages on whiteboards.
The USyd registrar investigating Luna, the pseudonym for the student, revealed they had never heard of the ‘writing over permanent marker with whiteboard marker and then rubbing it out’ trick, claiming the “green marker that [Luna] used above was not a whiteboard marker, and the text [Luna] wrote was difficult to remove from the whiteboards”.
It is alleged Luna wrote the following in the green marker:
"USYD invests in weapons manufacturing (Thales, Lockheed Martin). USYD supports genocide in Gaza. As of 13 Jan 2025 46,600 dead."
"USYD Vice Chancellor Mark Scott supports Gaza Genocide."
"From the river to the sea Palestine will be free."
"As of 13 January 2025, 46,600+ dead in Gaza USYD cut ties with genocide."
"As of 27 January 2025, 43,000 dead in Gaza were killed by USYD investments in the arms industry. USYD cut ties with Palestinian genocide now."
Luna is being forced to respond to the allegations and be judged on a suspension punishment by March 7th, and has been denied the chance to respond to these allegations after March 21st – when her visa conditions change. As Luna is enrolled on a student (subclass 500) visa, her stay in the country is dependent on her enrollment.
As a Malaysian trans woman, Luna’s stay in the country may be the factor between life and death. A hyper-religious and hostile government towards trans people has seen 19 recorded trans murders from 2007 - 2019, with some not being considered hate crimes.
As of the 7th of March, the university has officially apologised, calling this an ‘administration error’. They have granted Luna the extension to allow for a chance to bridge her visa, only after immense pushback from the public and a reputational crisis.
This threat by the university comes only days after Universities Australia – a body for the Australian tertiary education sector – came out with a new definition of antisemitism on the 27th February 2025.
To the educated and reasonable individual (not to mention, a literal dictionary), antisemitism means a “prejudice against Jewish people”. To the Australian university administrations, it not only means prejudice against Jewish people, but it also means being anti-Zionist, or criticising the Israeli state.
The new definition appears understandable and agreeable, until the last lines:
“All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word “Zionist’’ for ‘’Jew’’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic.”
28 universities across all states and territories in Australia were consulted for this definition, including UTS, UNSW, Western Sydney, UOW, MQU, ANU, UMELB, Monash, QT, UQ… and USyd.
The definition itself came after a parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 (No. 2) was sponsored first in June of last year, and continues to this day. The inquiry had a specific focus on antisemitism following this new definition, that particularly analysed any anti-Zionist ideas, therefore any pro-Palestinian liberation ideas, as antisemitic. It accepted submissions from the public detailing their experiences with antisemitism on campus, where the UTS Magazine Vertigo got a shoutout from the inside!
Submission 36 is written by an unnamed third-year student. They criticise the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea”, the use of the phrase “occupation of Palestine”, and “included below excerpts from the UTS student magazine Vertigo which are antisemitic”. These articles include:
EngSoc event Interrupted by Anti-War Activists
“Zoe Bassett, a UTS student who attended Tuesday night's demonstration, explained the group of student activists attended the event to educate their peers about the reality of Thales' contributions to the ongoing attacks in besieged Palestine….
“I just want to let everyone know that Thales is completely involved with the genocide. 40,000 people are dead. No universities are left in Gaza. While we're sitting here in a university, I just think it's really important for us all to know this;” said one activist during the disruption. "Our university has ties that profit off the killing of a massive population of people overseas.””
How your Daily Coffee can do Good: Cornerstone Cafe and Standing with Palestine
“Since November of last year, Cornerstone Cate has started following the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) List, which is targeted towards companies that are proven to be involved in apartheid and are complicit in Israel's violation of human rights against Palestinians. Cornerstone's decision to do so is fronted by the cafe's owner and manager, Nida I Abo Roza, who has since removed products owned by Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. from the cafe. Both companies are currently on the BDS list, which Nidal makes sure to monitor regularly to ensure he is as updated as he can be.”
The Politics of Violence
“The Israeli government is threatened by those who speak up against their apartheid and genocidal regime.”
They also included a photo of Cornerstone Cafe’s laminated paper sign, attached to a napkin box, which reads as follows:
DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU “IT STARTED ON OCTOBER 7TH 2023”
Haifa Massacre 1937, Jerusalem Massacre 1937, Haifa Massacre 1938, Balad al-Sheikh Massacre 1939, Haifa Massacre 1939, Haifa Massacre 1947, Abbasiya Massacre 1947, Al-Khisas Massacre 1947, Bab al-Amud Massacre 1947, Deir Yassin Massacre 1947, Sheikh Bureik Massacre 1947, Jaffa Massacre 1948, Khan Yunis Massacre 1956, Jerusalem Massacre 1967, Sabra and Shatila Massacre 1982, Al-Aqsa Massacre 1990, Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre 1994,
Jenin Refugee Camp April 2002, Gaza Massacre 2008-9, Gaza Massacre 2012, Gaza Massacre 2014, Gaza Massacre 2018-19, Gaza Massacre 2021,
Gaza Genocide 2023 still ongoing…
Not that this should need to be clarified, but we must all condone antisemitism in its actual definition wholeheartedly. The racism that Jewish people face globally is deplorable, and cannot be understated. Jewish history, identity, and suffering must not be forgotten, but cannot be conflated with a political movement.
Unfortunately, this is what has been done by Universities Australia in response to this commission.
The identification of Zionism as a “core part” of the Jewish identity to many Australian Jews is this conflation. Zionism is a nationalist political movement primarily related to the pursuit of an independent Jewish state. It emerged in the late 19th century, 1896 CE.
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. The best guess for a date of origin from modern scholars is 1200-1000 BCE. Zionism or ‘Zionist’ being identified as interchangeable with Judaism or ‘Jewish’ insults the ancient history of Judaism, which began over 3,000 years before the foundations of Zionism emerged.
Sarah Schwartz, a human rights lawyer and executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said Zionism, “should be subject to debate, not insulated from critique”, and that “This definition risks increasing antisemitism by suggesting that all Jews support the state of Israel, and can be held responsible for Israel’s egregious human rights abuses.”
The distinction has been made clear by Jewish students on campus in support of Palestinian liberation. So to see so many Australian universities not only be in favour of a definition of antisemitism that disregards Jewish students, but one that fundamentally disregards freedom of speech, expression, assembly, academic debate, and protest, is incredibly disappointing.
Naama Blatman, a Jewish-Israeli academic at UNSW of settler-colonialism and Israel/Palestine, said she believed the definition could be “weaponised” to silence her work, saying, “There is a genuine risk in terms of academic freedom and rigour to have an entrenchment of cultural intimidation”.
Australian Universities have made their position clear in caring more about protecting the Israeli government’s actions and their right to genocide Palestinians, than the wellbeing of their students and their freedoms. Luna continues to be threatened with deportation to a hostile nation for trans people, and the ability for uni students to protest, write, and criticise without fear of academic repercussion has been dismissed. Australian Universities, as a tertiary body, must revise this definition, and the University of Sydney must give Luna the extra weeks needed in order to ensure her personal safety.
From the river to the sea.