The Australian Human Rights Commission report Antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and the experience of First Nations people

It's complex and difficult

This is a highly significant report from the AHRC. However- it will stand or fall on its rigour, because so many concepts and perceptions are disputed by different parties. A couple of observations.

A generic survey form was used across different ethnic groups. Racism is a complex phenomenon and to collapse its complexity into one final term is bound to mask much nuance. What one person may see as racism may be perceived by another person (even from the same group) as nothing at all. The report admits as much. “Some of the difficulties we encountered are also indicative of a broader issue – the lack of adequate frameworks for collecting data on racism in Australia. Nonetheless, our study had a very strong response rate [76,000 responses ]and the story it tells simply must be acted on”.

The definition of racism is a particular problem when it is applied to discussions of the experience or perception of racism by Jews because there is considerable a dispute over with the term racism can be applied to Palestinian advocacy when exploring the experience of Jewish students and staff should be queried.

That being said, we should not fall into the trap of dismissing concerns about the cultural safety of Zionists as lightweight, manipulative, or irrelevant as compared to the lived experience of other groups. 94% of Jewish respondees report experiences of direct or indirect racism (again, “racism” here collapses many different elements that were measured). Now, it may well be true that this figure conflates traditional antisemitism with the politics of the Gaza war and distress and discomfort by Jews, but dismissing that such a figure may have an element of truth is wrong. Of course, because the research is based on self selection to an online survey the non-scientific samples are going to be biased towards motivated individuals from all communities as distinct from those who didn’t participate. This is a similar problem faced with other similar research. However, the fact that members of various minority groups (including Jews) have come up with a range of figures putting them all on the outer is of deep concern.

However, the accusation that Jews are too sensitive to criticism of Israel and their desire for cultural safety is undeserved cannot be used to dismiss such a high figure outright. The desire for cultural safety in the face of deep anger over the Gaza conflict cannot just be treated as “making an inappropriate request in anti-colonial spaces” (I am making an assumption here that the university is also considered an anti-colonial space). This is jargon devoid of a human connection, and as the report suggests, it downplays psychosocial safety in challenging situations. I have no doubt, there are situations which far exceed an ordinary level of discomfort for Jews that might be expected, politics aside.

Now what would really help in the report if all the different tables for the different groups and answers to questions (for example impact on mental health) could be assembled. This would make comparison of the data much easier. For example,

All that being said, is this experience of difference or racism towards minority groups any different to that experienced in any Australian institution such as the workplace?

The results will be probably be used to unfairly beat up on higher education.