Just a few weeks ago, pro-Palestine Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi refused to call for Hamas to be axed. You won’t believe her new role

GroenLinks vice-chairman Mehreen Faruqi, who has been heavily criticised for her refusal to condemn the Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas, will participate in an investigation into anti-Semitism.

The New South Wales senator, who also holds the Greens’ higher education and anti-racism portfolios, has been added to a Senate committee looking into anti-Semitism at Australian universities.

The investigation is the result of complaints from a number of students and staff members from various institutions. They believe that anti-Jewish statements on campus have become normal, and that there are also ongoing pro-Palestinian protests.

More than 170 submissions from students and staff have been posted on the committee’s website, describing their experiences with discrimination or outright racial hatred.

During a debate to refer the bill to committee, Ms Faruqi said the coalition was “trying to use anti-Semitism as a weapon and attack those who oppose the Israeli genocide in Gaza”.

In July, she repeatedly refused to call for the dissolution of Hamas, telling ABC’s Insiders program that the people of Palestine should decide for themselves whether to dismantle Hamas.

She also downplayed pro-Palestinian graffiti on the Australian War Memorial, labelling it as “paint on a building”.

Last year, she posted a photo on Instagram of herself and student protesters holding pro-Palestine signs outside Sydney Town Hall. One read “keep the world clean” and featured an image of an Israeli flag that could be thrown in the trash.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who called for an inquiry in May, now questions why Ms Faruqi feels drawn into the investigation.

“Given the range of things she has said and done in this room, I think she needs to explain her motivation for participating in this inquiry,” he told The Australian.

He pointed out that the inquiry had been sent to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, meaning Senator David Shoebridge would be the best person from the Greens to join.

“Why is Senator Faruqi on this committee? What is her motivation for specifically participating in this investigation?” he asked.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia her involvement with the committee “makes a mockery of the inquiry”.

“Senator Faruqi could not unequivocally condemn a terrorist organization and is himself guilty of sharing an image online with ugly anti-Semitism,” he said.

“Senator Faruqi and the Greens are part of the problem, not the solution. She is famous for her anti-Israel stunts and it appears she has inserted herself in an attempt to thwart an important investigation.

‘The Jewish community will not be intimidated by Senator Faruqi. We will challenge antisemitism on campus and wherever it occurs, and 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.

A total of 191 submissions were uploaded to the committee’s website, mostly written by Jewish organizations, students, staff and senior members of the Jewish community whose immediate family members were murdered during the Holocaust.

A 19-year-old student who was born and raised in Australia said in his statement that he had never felt threatened before the Hamas attack on October 7.

“I now feel anxious about going to campus,” he wrote.

‘What graffiti, posters and leaflets will I see today calling for my death and the destruction of the state that might have provided refuge to my 122 relatives murdered in Auschwitz, had that state existed then?’

A 32-year-old man, who is not Jewish, said: “What I have seen my Jewish friends and family members in Israel go through since October 7 and what I have seen with my own eyes, brings pain and anger to my whole soul.”

He engaged with people who were spreading anti-Semitic rhetoric online, eventually leading to a member of the psychology faculty at the University of Sydney sending ‘abusive DMs, voicemails and ultimately threatening my family’.

“He told me to go back to Poland (I am Anglo-Australian), made comments about how “you Jews run everything”, derogatory comments about the fact that I am apparently Jewish and other similar anti-Semitic comments,” he wrote.

Others told the commission they had lost more than 100 family members in the Holocaust and were concerned about Australia’s future.

The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network condemned racism in its submission, saying Jews should not be held accountable for Israel’s crimes. However, it said punishing students who protest is damaging to democracy.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said it was concerned about “genuine anti-Jewish racism in communities” but also said some of those examples were being confused with legitimate concerns for Palestinians.

The committee called the investigation “unnecessary and counterproductive” and said universities “must create an environment that supports diverse views, allows for robust debate and addresses all forms of racism with a comprehensive, intersectional approach.”

Since the October 7 attack, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.

The number of deaths in Israel is unclear, but it is estimated at around 1,500.