Following the explosion of violence in Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank, university students and staff have used the freedom of expression traditionally enjoyed on western university campuses to protest loudly about what they believe to be the genocidal intent of the Netanyahu government.
One response to this movement has been to expand the term ‘antisemitic’ to be so broad as to encompass most protests against Israeli government policy. The resultant controversy swirling around the term and how to define it, has led to heated debate on university campuses around the world, including USA, Australia and the UK.
Following the abhorrent attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th and the subsequent unleashing of devastation upon Gaza, there have been escalating international concerns about the actions of the Israeli government. These led to an accusation of Genocide by South Africa to the ICJ as early as December 2023, and the ICC issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister in November 2024. A growing crescendo of respected voices worldwide are speaking out in horror and revulsion at how Israel’s government is conducting this war, most recently compounded by the deliberate targeting of journalists, the withholding of humanitarian relief and an illegal attack on a sovereign nation, Qatar.
A second iteration of Columbia University’s encampment, pictured here on Apr. 23, 2024 arose after the NYPD shut down the first one. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
In the USA the government’s response to campus protests has been to accuse protesters of being antisemitic and used this as a major weapon in their overall attack on the perceived liberalism of elite universities. Since January, the Trump administration has persistently used charges of antisemitism against elite USA universities as a pretext to silence student protest and to further his broader MAGA agenda. Beyond the withdrawal of federal research funding and demanding the dismantling of DEI programmes, this has included targeting international students and staff and detaining them on bogus accusations, often with the threat of deportation. Last month UC Berkeley provided personal information to the Trump administration about approximately 160 professors and students as part of a federal investigation into campus antisemitism. The list of universities capitulating to government pressures continues to grow.
The definition of antisemitism used to shut down protest or condemn activists has also provoked heated debate in UK and Australian universities. In 2016 the UK Government adopted the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association. The IHRA’s is a ‘working definition’* formally adopted by the organisation in 2016:
‘Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities’.
A person holds a placard during a demonstration against Israel’s war on Gaza and Germany’s support for it in Berlin, Germany, 13 September 2025. [Filip Singer/EPA]
There then follow 11 ‘illustrative examples’, seven of which relate to criticism of the state of Israel. This definition was adopted by the European parliament and other international organisations, although not all have ‘explicitly’ accepted the examples. In 2021 the UK Secretary for Education, Gavin Williamson, threatened universities with sanctions if they did not adopt the IHRA definition.
Both academics and legal scholars have criticised the adoption of this definition. G Robertson KC, founder of Doughty Street Chambers, has argued that the IHRA definition is not fit for purpose and that ‘the looseness of the definition is liable to chill legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel and coverage of human rights abuses against Palestinians’.
Similarly, when 39 Australian Universities recently adopted a strongly contested ‘working definition’ close to that of the IHRA, Amnesty International Australia released a statement that, ‘It dangerously conflates legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-Semitism, weaponising accusations of racism to silence and repress student rights to protest and freedom of expression, It does nothing to uphold safety or combat discrimination and serves only to suppress student activism and restrict political expression.’
As of 1st June 2025 the Times of London reports that 34 British universities ‘are yet to adopt’ the IHRA definition of antisemitism’, including St Andrews, Cardiff and SOAS. These institutions do already have robust statements about not tolerating antisemitism on their campuses, but stop short of the IHRA definition and the 11 examples that include ‘targeting the state of Israel’ as a form of antisemitism.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Several of the 11 examples are particularly contentious when Israel is now officially accused by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry of committing genocide against Palestinians, using hunger as a weapon of war, illegally building settlements on the West Bank and protecting the settlers terrorising Palestinian villagers there.
As Trump bounces between wanting to expel Gazans and turn their land into a Trumpian resort whilst also appeasing his Gulf Arab friends and without alienating a Netanyahu willing to do anything to cling onto power, the chance of the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel seems further away than ever. Government policies aimed at quelling student protests on university campuses under spurious accusation of antisemitism should be rejected in favour of an honest analysis of the historical roots of the problem and a universal acceptance of the right of the Palestinian people to live in their own land.
*Working definition- a practical explanation of a term or concept chosen for a specific context or occasion, often used temporarily until a more precision or official definition is established.
Useful Links:
United Nations Commission of Inquiry: Genocide in Gaza
Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds | OHCHR
IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism
Ezra Klein- Why American Jews no longer understand each other. Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another | The Ezra Klein Show | Podwise
Louis Theroux Documentary- The Settlers
Louis Theroux: The Settlers (2025) Full Documentary
ICC Netanyahu Arrest Warrant
Netanyahu | International Criminal Court
ICJ Application for accusation of Genocide- S Africa vs Israel
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Order_of_26_January_2024)
UC Berkeley Staff and Students reported to government
