Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, who faced heavy criticism for her refusal to condemn Palestinian terror group Hamas, is to join an inquiry into anti-Semitism.
The New South Wales senator, who also holds the Greens’ higher education and anti-racism portfolios, has been included in a Senate committee on antisemitism in Australian universities.
The investigation follows complaints from several students and staff members at different institutions who believe that anti-Jewish discourse has become normalized on campus, alongside ongoing pro-Palestine protests.
More than 170 submissions from students and staff detailing experiences of blatant racial discrimination or hatred have been uploaded to the committee’s website.
During a debate to refer the bill to committee, Ms Faruqi said the Coalition was “trying to weaponise anti-Semitism and attack those who oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.
In July, he repeatedly refused to call for Hamas to be dissolved, telling ABC’s Insiders that the Palestinian people should decide whether to disband it.
He also downplayed pro-Palestine graffiti on the Australian War Memorial, calling it “paint on a building.”
Last year, she posted a photo on Instagram of herself standing alongside student protesters holding pro-Palestine signs outside City Hall in Sydney, including one that read “keep the world clean,” with an image of a trashed Israeli flag.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who originally called for the inquiry in May, has now questioned why Faruqi felt the need to involve himself in the investigation.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi appears on ABC’s Insiders in July.
Senator Faruqi poses with student protesters in November. A sign reading “Keep the world clean” and an Israeli flag goes in the trash. She later deleted the image from Instagram
“Given the range of things he has said and done in this space, I think he needs to explain his motivation for participating in this investigation,” he told The Australian.
He said the inquiry was a matter referred to the legal and constitutional affairs committee, meaning Senator David Shoebridge would be the best Greens person to join.
“Why is Senator Faruqi serving on this committee? What is her motivation for participating in this particular investigation?” he asked.
Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory told the Daily Mail Australia that his involvement in the committee “makes a mockery of the inquiry”.
“Senator Faruqi failed to unequivocally condemn a terrorist organisation and is herself guilty of sharing an image containing disgusting antisemitism online,” he said.
“Senator Faruqi and the Greens are part of the problem, not the solution. She is known for her anti-Israel manoeuvres and appears to have engaged in an attempt to derail an important investigation.
“The Jewish community will not be intimidated by Senator Faruqi. We will denounce antisemitism in universities and wherever it occurs, as well as the far-left instigators who are behind much of the antisemitism in Australia today.”
Ms Faruqi declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
Pictured: Protesters at a ‘Free Palestine’ rally in Brisbane in March. Greens leader Adam Bandt addressed the rally
Pictured: Banners at a pro-Palestine protest at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Pictured: Melbourne University students speaking at a press conference during a pro-Palestine protest.
A total of 191 proposals were posted on the committee’s website, written mostly by Jewish organizations, students, staff and older members of the Jewish community whose close relatives were murdered during the Holocaust.
A 19-year-old student who was born and raised in Australia said in his speech that he had never felt threatened before the Hamas attack on October 7.
“I feel apprehensive about going to campus now,” he wrote.
‘What graffiti, posters and leaflets will I see today calling for my death and the destruction of the state that could have provided refuge for my 122 relatives murdered in Auschwitz if it had existed then?’
A 32-year-old man, who is not Jewish, said: “What I have witnessed my Jewish friends and family members in Israel go through since October 7 and what I have seen with my own eyes makes my entire soul ache with pain and anger.”
She began chatting with people who were spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric online, which ended with a University of Sydney psychology faculty member sending “abusive direct messages, voicemails and eventually threatening my family.”
“I’m being told to go back to Poland (I’m Anglo-Australian), comments about how ‘you Jews run everything’, disparaging remarks about my apparent Jewishness and other equally anti-Semitic comments,” he wrote.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser (pictured, right) appears in Parliament on Thursday. He was asked why Senator Faruqi joined the Senate committee on antisemitism.
Others told the committee they had lost more than 100 relatives in the Holocaust and were worried about Australia’s future.
The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network condemned racism in its submission, saying Jewish people should not be held responsible for Israel’s crimes, but argued that penalizing students for protesting was damaging to democracy.
The Australia-Palestine Advocacy Network said it was concerned about “genuine anti-Jewish racism in communities” but said some such examples were being confused with legitimate concern for Palestinians.
She said the research was “unnecessary and counterproductive”, arguing that universities should “foster an environment that supports diverse viewpoints, embraces rigorous debate and addresses all forms of racism with a comprehensive and intersectional approach”.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the October 7 attack.
The Israeli death toll is unclear, but is estimated to be around 1,500.