Yet another University of Sydney academic has been targeted for offending the Australian Zionist lobby, a major funder of the university.

In a lecture to first-year students, Professor Sujatha Fernandes accused "Israel" of lying about "Hamas beheading babies and carrying out mass rape," and accused the Australian media of spreading those lies to shore up support for "Israel’s" ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, demanded that Professor Fernandes be investigated, and the university has capitulated to the demand. The Rupert Murdoch media has also initiated a witch hunt against the professor.

This comes two weeks after the University of Sydney won its appeal over the unfair dismissal of Sydney Lecturer Dr. Tim Anderson, who was similarly attacked by the Zionist lobby for criticising "Israel.

When asked to comment on the case of fellow academic Professor Fernandes, Dr. Anderson, said:

"The Murdoch media claims she is being 'investigated' for her comments, exactly how they started with me. I am sure they will further target her for speaking the plain truth about the Israeli regime."

Dr. Anderson fought a lengthy legal battle with the university, starting in 2019, after being dismissed for including a lecture slide that compared Israeli atrocities to those of Nazi Germany. The case began with university managers claiming Anderson's social media comments had offended Israelis and their supporters.

Intellectual freedom in Australia is defined in industrial agreements. In Dr. Anderson’s case, the Federal Court initially affirmed the right to academic freedom, but its most recent decision has muddied that position. In particular, Judge Michael Lee now asserts that the burden is on the individual claiming intellectual freedom to prove that they were acting in the highest professional standards, without providing clear criteria. Overall, five Federal Court judges ruled in favour of Anderson, but the last two tipped the balance against him.

Regarding his dismissal, Dr. Anderson stated:

The reasons behind my sacking were: 

 

(1) Pressure from the Israeli lobby, including corporate media and Israeli funding at the University of Sydney. 

 

(2)  Corruption by University of Sydney managers, and 

 

(3) Reactionary politics at the Federal Court of Australia, which dismantled five years of previous decisions on intellectual freedom.

The power of the Zionist lobby in Australia comes from their direct funding of universities and their influence in the media. The National Advisory Committee on Jewish Education, which has donated more than half a million dollars annually to the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, exemplifies this. The committee's chair, Emeritus Professor Suzanne Rutland, noted on her CV that the committee was a branch of the World Zionist Organisation (WZO), one of the groups instrumental in the creation of "Israel". Additionally, the committee provided bonuses to all University of Sydney senior managers based on their performance, creating a financial incentive to target professors who criticize "Israel".

Growing concerns arise regarding evidence of foreign interference in Australian universities due to these practices. The witch hunt against these professors has caused a chilling effect, and academics may begin to self-censor in future academic discourse on "Israel".

The Israeli and US funding for the University of Sydney has corrupted managers and killed intellectual freedom at Australia's oldest university.

The continued attacks on these academics come in the context of the International Court of Justice ruling that there is credible evidence that "Israel" is committing a genocide in Gaza. The story of babies being beheaded on October 7th has been conclusively debunked, and the story of rapes on Oct 7 was found to have a lack of evidence. After examining all of the 5,000 photos, 50 hours of videos, and audio from October 7, the UN Secretary General's report said, "No tangible indications of rape could be identified." The report goes on to say that the UN did not find a single victim of sexual violence on Oct 7, despite their best efforts to encourage victims to come forward.

In spite of the control that the Zionist lobby has over the faculty, students of Sydney University continue their weeks-long protest against the genocide in Gaza, demanding that Sydney University divest from "Israel".