A recent Federal Court decision to uphold the dismissal of University of Sydney senior lecturer Tim Anderson is a dangerous attack on free speech on university campuses as well as the Palestine solidarity movement. The court’s decision sets a dangerous precedent for academics wishing to publicly express views at odds with those of university management. And while Palestine supporters are no strangers to the punitive actions of University of Sydney management, having faced its internal courts and witch-hunts before, Anderson’s sacking marks a new escalation of this repression.
Management’s campaign against Anderson stretches back to at least 2017, when he was warned that his social media accounts were under surveillance because of his political opinions, most notably his support for the struggle of the Palestinian people. An outspoken critic of Zionism, Anderson was eventually ousted from his position in February 2019 after the university conducted an internal investigation into alleged misconduct. The alleged misconduct involved the legitimate comparison of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine to Nazi crimes against Jewish people, which according to deputy vice-chancellor Stephen Garton was “disrespectful and offensive”, and “contrary to the university’s behavioural expectations”.
All this from the institution which rewarded former Prime Minister John Howard, war criminal and leading conspirator in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, with an honorary doctorate in 2016. At the ceremony to bestow the award, university Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson, who is also the Australian chairperson of weapons manufacturer Thales, commended Howard for his “strong diplomatic skill”. Presumably the University of Sydney thinks that imperial conquest is more in line with its “behavioural expectations” than siding with the oppressed.
Read the article by Jack Mansell in Red Flag.