This just goes to show what everyone knows about politics. One person's freedom of expression is another's threat to society. Don't expect consistency in the federal parliament. The Liberals were in a panic about free speech when they were in power, and some of them even made a failed attempt to remove elements of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it an offense offend someone because of their race. . Now they want tougher powers to ban comments they don't like.
A pro-Palestinian march in Melbourne's CBD on Tuesday.Credit: Justin McManus
Protest slogans have clearly gone beyond polite debates about free speech. Some of them call for violence. The chant for an “intifada” uses the key term for the waves of suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis in recent decades. It is true that many interpret the term more broadly, but the link to these attacks is indisputable.
The demand that Palestine be free “from the river to the sea” is not just a demand for a Palestinian state. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the global organization that counters the vilification of the Jewish people, it is an anti-Semitic call that encourages the destruction of the state of Israel.
If only the previous government had banned hate speech when it had the chance.
This does not absolve university administrators of their responsibility for what happens on campus. One option is to suspend a student who declares support for Hamas, on the reasonable grounds that anyone who endorses a terrorist organization is a threat to others. Another option is to check on non-student protesters and ask them to leave campus. University officials are already working on such steps.
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There is no mystery about what is happening. Outsiders join protests because college lawns offer an easier base than a city park. It only takes a quick Google search to establish that many of the most vocal protesters are members of Socialist Alternative. “We stand for the overthrow of capitalism and the construction of a world socialist system,” says this group.
Peaceful protesters? Maybe not. The link between the Palestinian cause and the ideology of the hard left has existed since the Cold War. Some of the demonstrators still believe in Leon Trotsky's vision of revolutionary Marxism, years after the failure of all communist experiments. No law can prohibit deception.
The question for anyone calling for action is simple: Which law would you use? How can it suddenly be illegal to shout “intifada” at the University of Melbourne when no one has been charged for saying it outside the State Library? What makes this chant an offense on Sydney University turf but not in Hyde Park? Current law gives the police the power to charge people for inciting violence, and it is not up to university heads to lay such charges.
Five years ago, the University of Sydney sacked one of its academics, Tim Anderson, for putting a Nazi swastika on the Israeli flag. Jewish community leaders described Anderson's action as a clear case of anti-Semitism. The university did what it could, and the Federal Court ruled that Anderson was unfairly dismissed.
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This helps explain why the Group of Eight universities have written to Attorney General Mark Dreyfus seeking advice on the legal authority to act against people who shout “intifada” or “from the river to the sea”. There is an obvious risk that university authorities will try to sanction someone and lose in court. Although universities have codes of conduct, these only work if they are empowered by federal or state law. Even trespassing laws may not be up to par because university grounds are considered public spaces.
Those who want the police stationed in the camps should be careful what they wish for. The Trots would love a showdown on campus. And some conservative observers seem to want the same. It is in the mutual interest to escalate conflict, rather than defuse protests.
A logical step is to move quickly to ban hate speech. The Coalition is now calling for reform, while Labor has pledged to bring the bill to parliament. Dreyfus has not set a deadline for revealing the bill. Now there is a very strong case for making the switch as soon as possible.
Universities should be open grounds for free speech, not platforms for anti-Semitism and violence. University vice-chancellors must act, but they can only act within the law. But they don't write the law. That's what politicians are for.
David Crowe is the chief political correspondent.
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