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Student submission by Emma McCarthy, member of Students for Palestine and Socialist Alternative
Since the Bondi terrorist attack in December last year, the right has taken it as an opportunity to overload the media with smears and derisions against the Palestine solidarity movement. Antisemitism Envoy Jilian Segal, for example, has told Sky News that there was a clear progression of “antisemitism building up in the Palestine movement prior to the Bondi massacre.” Former prime minister Tony Abbott blamed the attack on “terrible marches … across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and elsewhere.”
It’s worth noting the hypocrisy of where these claims are coming from. Many of those calling the Palestine solidarity movement hateful are politicians who have justified the cruel treatment of refugees or Aboriginal people by the Australian government. Others, like Pauline Hanson, have spoken at a rally for March for Australia which, according to the ABC, has connections with white nationalists and neo-Nazis! It’s clear that this right-wing pressure has not come from a place of stopping hate, but attacking the Palestine solidarity movement and the left as a whole. Despite this, the Albanese government has taken this in their stride.
On 21 January, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill was passed. It contains some of the most authoritarian laws in years, giving three people sweeping powers into who they designate as being hateful based on vague criteria of ‘inciting hatred’. They don’t have to consult parliament, nor give ‘procedural fairness’ in order to do so. The fact this criterion is so vague is chilling. It can conflate criticism of Israel or saying that Israel is committing a genocide as antisemitic and ‘hateful’, enough to convict someone of up to 15 years in prison! This is combined with the government’s acceptance of Jilian Segal’s recommendations, which include defunding universities if they don’t crack down on antisemitism on campus. That is, if they don’t crack down on Palestine protests.
At the same time as these laws were passed, the Albanese government invited Israeli president Isaac Herzog to come to Australia. In September of last year, a UN inquiry found Herzog, alongside Netanyahu, guilty of inciting genocide. Statements made by Herzog, like his claim that “it’s an entire nation responsible for what happened on October 7” have been used in the International Court of Justice case against Israel. With these laws, it’s now legal to welcome genocidal war criminals to Australia, but it could be illegal to say that he is presiding over that genocide.
It’s imperative that anyone who supports Palestine should stand against this latest right-wing attack on the Palestine movement. After two years of people across the world standing up against genocide, the tide has changed on our side. A September 2025 YouGov poll shows that 58% of those surveyed agree that what Israel is committing is genocide, and the same number support the Australian government stopping all arms and trade agreements with Israel. The majority of people support Palestine, and this should give us confidence to see that we are not alone to stand against genocide. And while the mainstream media may push aside what’s going on in Gaza now, the genocide is still ongoing.
Since the ceasefire was called in October 2025, over 400 Palestinians have been killed. The death toll has now reached over 70 000, not including those who are missing, or those who haven’t been found under the 60 million tons of rubble. The vast majority of Palestinians in the Gaza strip have been displaced and forced to live in rundown tents, barely able to hold up against the gruelling rain and cold weather. The new ‘yellow line’ allows Israel to occupy 60% of the Gaza strip, and bombings of homes along that line indicate that this will not be a temporary occupation. Donald Trump has announced he will be chairing a new ‘Board of Peace’, and has invited people like Albanese and Netanyahu, to help rule over the Gaza Strip for at least three years.
Now more than ever, we need to continue the fight for Palestinian liberation. It’s clearly come down to students and workers to take on that responsibility. For over two years, Students for Palestine at UQ has been fighting against the university’s ties to weapons companies and our government and university administration’s complicity in the genocide. We’ve organised hundreds of students in 2024 and 2025 to vote for Palestine. In 2026, we plan to continue to bring students together to fight for a free Palestine. If that sounds convincing to you, consider joining Students for Palestine, attend our first collective meeting for the semester on 2 March, and help to hand out leaflets with us for the next Palestine rally.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: It is also worth mentioning that BDS Youth Magandjin is another organisation on campus that has done a lot of work holding the university accountable via the encampments and the 2024/2025 student referendums]
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