Professor, I’ve heard concerns that incidents of Islamophobia are under-reported at ANU or not adequately addressed. I’ve also heard reports of doxxing incidents targeting Muslim and pro-Palestine students and faculty on campus. At ANU visibly Muslim students feel afraid to go to the ANU Gaza solidarity encampment due to the potential of doxxing and hate crimes. Have you heard of these incidents?
Senator FARUQI: Professor, I’ve heard concerns that incidents of Islamophobia are under-reported at ANU or not adequately addressed. I’ve also heard reports of doxxing incidents targeting Muslim and pro-Palestine students and faculty on campus. At ANU visibly Muslim students feel afraid to go to the ANU Gaza solidarity encampment due to the potential of doxxing and hate crimes. Have you heard of these incidents?
Prof. Venville : I haven’t, no.
Senator FARUQI: That seems to be a problem in itself, if I have heard of them and you haven’t. It just goes to the fact that they are under-reported.
Prof. Venville : Do you mean that Muslim students are afraid to attend where the encampment is?
Senator FARUQI: Yes, because they are afraid that they will be targeted if they go to the encampment, that they will be doxxed and targeted—not by the people in the encampment but by others on campus, but also that Islamophobia is under-reported. So I am just wondering if steps are being taken for people to be confident that, if they report this sort of racism, it will be addressed.
Prof. Bell : One of the things we have been doing over the last, probably a year, is creating a series of different pathways for students to be able to report their concerns. We have more official formal tools through a Dean of Students. We have someone that Grady mentioned earlier when dealing with student experience and who is sort of present in the community. We also have an online reporting tool that we developed earlier this year to give students a way of reporting things in, I think, both a more comforting sort of place where it can be anonymous but also other ways that people can get information to us.
Senator FARUQI: And you are confident that is enough for people to be able to confidently report Islamophobia, or for other forms of racism to be addressed?
Prof. Bell : I know Grady has some statistics but, Senator Faruqi, what I would want to say there is that it is a constant evolution to create more and more pathways and more and more safe spaces, there are more and more ways those conversations can be held, and we are, as a leadership team, committed to continuing to make sure that there are multiple ways that things can find their ways to us, because they shouldn’t just come to you; they should also come to us.
Senator FARUQI: Has the university considered some sort of external review of its handling of the Gaza encampments and support for students of colour and pro-Palestine students, just to ensure transparency and accountability?
Prof. Venville : We are still in the middle of it, but yes, we will definitely. Every day we meet to discuss the encampment, and protest, especially to focus on the safety of the protesters themselves and the broader community. I met this morning. We have a stand-up meeting every day with our senior people from across the university, so we are very much still in that process. The campus is actually very calm, and the vast majority of our staff and students get on with their study and research and it is a wonderful place to be. But it isn’t a wonderful place for everybody.
Prof. Bell : And we do take the issues that we hear of seriously, Senator.
Prof. Venville : We had an anti-racism task force report to the university in 2003, and the task force report has three phases of actions for the university to take. The first phase has been completed, and then we have the second phase and third phase to take. We absolutely take discrimination of all kinds very, very seriously, as indicated by that anti-racism task force.
Senator FARUQI: I might ask some questions on notice, if that is okay. The last question from me is: are you aware of the interpretation of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’, as interpreted by Max Kaiser, who is the Executive Officer of the Jewish Council of Australia? He says, ‘In our interpretation, and as it is explained by Palestinian people the world over, it is a call for freedom and equality for all people, Jewish and Palestinian.’ Palestinian leaders in Australia have been very clear when they say, ‘freedom from the river to the sea’, that it extends to all people. It is definitely not something that should be construed as a threat to Jewish people or Israelis. Are you aware of that?
Prof. Bell : Yes, we are.
Senator FARUQI: Are you also aware of the meaning of ‘intifada’, that it literally means shaking off? And it is about resistance, and it is about uprising against an oppressor. I am really glad that, like the Vice-Chancellor of Sydney university, Mark Scott, you have decided not to classify this as hate speech, because it is definitely not. Thank you very much. Thanks, Chair.
CHAIR: I want to thank everybody, including the students for being here as well. I think Professor Bell very adequately and appropriately described the participation of the students being here and seeing democracy in action. I also thank others listening in. I also want to thank the senators for the open and frank way that questions have been asked, and also the witnesses for the way that answers have been given. When the Higher Education Support Amendment Bill (Freedom of Speech) 2020 was put forward, one MP—not from my party—made some very important points. I will not say who it was because I do not want to detract from the strength of what they said. They said:
Our universities are critical institutions where ideas are debated and challenged. We must ensure they are places that protect all free speech, even where what is being said may be unpopular or challenging.
I want to add that all Australians have a right to be safe and feel safe. Again, thank you for your time in coming in and listening to and answering the questions that have been put to you.