Academic Recounts Harrowing Office Invasion, Launches Private Inquiry Amid Campus Antisemitism Concerns

Jewish students commencing their university studies are experiencing profound apprehension about stepping onto campus due to fears of what they might encounter, according to a prominent Jewish student organization.

Jeremy Suss, president of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), shared his experiences and those of his peers at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The law student, who described growing up in a Jewish community "bubble" with a childhood largely "untroubled" by antisemitism, told the commission that his university experience at Monash University in Melbourne's south-east was vastly different.

Mr Suss recalled an incident where he and two male friends—one wearing a Jewish kippah—attended a campus talk about Zionism. The speaker gestured toward his friends and declared that they were disgusting. "I found it obviously shocking to be called out and singled out," Mr Suss testified.

Once focused on cultural events, parties, and traditional celebrations, AUJS is now increasingly required to log antisemitic events. Mr Suss explained that the organization now faces "the now constant task of walking students through processes of following them through awful experiences".

Growing Safety Concerns on Campus

The commission heard that during the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel in 2024, Mr Suss was confronted by four individuals who aggressively questioned him while he was packing up an on-campus Jewish lunch. The group reportedly stood very close to him, discussing the killing and exile of Israel's entire population. Following this incident, AUJS enacted a policy prohibiting student members from packing up events alone.

Mr Suss also noted that hosting Jewish events has become more difficult, with universities labeling many as high-risk under "some opaque criteria", forcing the student group to fund its own private security to proceed.

Furthermore, he expressed a lack of student trust in university systems to resolve antisemitic incidents. "All too often those mechanisms drag on for months," Mr Suss said, pointing out that administrations spend time "Arguing over whether an incident is antisemitism. They don't stop to think, 'Even if it's not antisemitic, is it harassment or doxxing or any number of incidents?'"

Calls for Respectful Debate

In the midst of tense campus environments, La Trobe University Professor Dennis Altman suggested that universities are failing to foster respectful dialogue. He stated that advocates on both sides are failing to recognize the pain felt by those with opposing viewpoints, and accused institutions of closing down discussions. "The tendency has been the opposite: to shut down discussion," Professor Altman said, warning that this approach "stokes all sorts of conspiratorial discussions." He added, "We need, in this country at the moment, a mutual recognition that people are hurting."

Professor Altman remarked that he had not felt threatened by pro-Palestinian demonstrations, stating his primary concern lay with the far-right. "My greatest fear as a Jew is the rise of neo-Nazis," he stated. "That to me is much more offensive and scary."

Academic Targets Private Investigator to Identify Protesters

The inquiry also heard from Steven Prawer, an award-winning physics professor at the University of Melbourne. Professor Prawer, who is an observant Jew and Zionist who wears a kippah, detailed being targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters who accused him of supporting genocide in Gaza. The actions against him stemmed from his role leading a research collaboration between the University of Melbourne and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as comments he made at a pro-Israel rally. Protesters attempted to connect his work to the military, though Professor Prawer clarified his research is entirely non-military.

On October 9, 2024, at approximately 12:30pm, Professor Prawer arrived at the anteroom of his office in the physics building to find 20 masked protesters waiting for him. "I had no idea at that stage if it was a protest, if it was a terrorist attack," he told the commission. "I said, 'you're trespassing, you're in my private space'." The protesters responded by claiming that Israel trespasses on Palestinian lands, to which Professor Prawer recalled saying, "Please leave my office."

Professor Prawer managed to escape, but the protesters occupied his office for several hours. Unsure if they were university students or external actors, he ultimately hired a private investigator to identify them after the university's investigation proved "opaque" and failed to identify 10 to 15 of the participants. "I was genuinely concerned that there were people in my office who were not students," he said. Several students were suspended or expelled, though some penalties were later reduced on appeal. Professor Prawer noted, "The students were very pleased and posted about how happy they were that they had avoided expulsion."

Citing the Iranian government's links to the 2024 firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Professor Prawer wondered whether there were external connections or a "Hamas connection" to the incident in his office. Although he shared the investigator's report with the University of Melbourne, he said they were alarmed by the submission and declined to use it. "They must be having a giggle about how they've managed to remain hidden," he remarked.

Disappointment Over University Responses

Professor Prawer also revealed that a death threat was graffitied on a university noticeboard in February 2025, but university administration removed it without informing him for several weeks. "They had removed the graffiti and didn't think it was appropriate to tell me that this had been posted," he said, expressing deep disappointment and suggesting that management may have tried to hide the incident from him.

Reflecting on the campus climate, Professor Prawer argued that protesters are taking the wrong approach. "It seems that what's happened on campus is that if you're pro-Palestinian, you become anti-Israel and that has affected the social cohesion of the university," he said. "Civil debate is all about disagreeing without being disagreeable and I think that it's hugely important that we return that sense of civility to the university."

He described a week-long protest encampment in 2024 as disappointing due to the lack of opportunity for dialogue, and labeled the university's initial response to his office occupation as timid and lacked moral clarity.