A university student whose relatives had been killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza was asked to provide their death certificates to get an exam extension, the royal commission into antisemitism has heard.
During cross examination at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Melbourne today, the Australian National University’s acting provost Joan Leach said she was unaware of the case.
Counsel representing the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Yasser Bakri, said the student had asked for more time for their assessment because of their grief, but their supervisor had told them to obtain proof of the deaths.
Looking perplexed, Professor Leach told the commission she knew nothing about the matter but agreed the staffer’s response was inappropriate and lacked empathy.
Acting provost of ANU Joan Leach was cross-examined at the antisemitism royal commission on Thursday. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)
The institution’s most senior academic was also questioned about evidence heard by the commission on Monday regarding a Jewish former student’s claims of a Nazi salute and gestures.
Liat told the commission that during a 2024 student association’s annual general meeting on Zoom where she spoke in front of hundreds of students calling for greater controls on the tent protests on campus, that a student made a “Nazi moustache” gesture and someone else made a Nazi salute.
In the moustache case, Professor Leach said the student in question had actually been covering a scar from a cleft palate they were uncomfortable with, and so their gesture was one they habitually made “in multiple contexts”.
There was no finding of misconduct against the student and the commission heard the university’s investigation caused the student angst.
Students were alleged to have made offensive gestures during an online meeting, claims which were later dismissed by the university. (Supplied image)
In the salute case, Professor Leach said it was “virtually impossible to tell if it was a Nazi salute” and other students consulted didn’t think it was a salute.
“There was good reason to believe that doing such a salute would be pretty antithetical to that particular student’s identity and so there was no finding of misconduct in that case,” she said.
Long-running ANU encampment examined
Encampments in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza ran at the ANU for more than 100 days between April and August 2024 — the longest running encampment at any Australian university.
Liat told the commission of the trauma and strain the encampment caused her and fellow Jewish people on campus because of protesters’ chants, posters and because some people called her a “baby killer” and “genocide supporter”.
The pro-Palestine encampment at ANU disbanded after 110 days. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Professor Leach agreed these labels were antisemitic.
“Students should be able to walk through campus without what I would refer to as harassment,” she said.
“It was asking her as a member of the Jewish community to take responsibility for something very many miles away and shouted at her.“
The commission heard that since 2024 the ANU has reviewed its code of conduct.
Professor Leach said as a compulsory training module for staff called Rights and Respect at Work which includes various definitions of antisemitism in a “strong anti-racism frame”.
“Students in the residences now have mandatory training … including ‘bystander training’ … which includes micro aggressions,” she said.
