by Tim Anderson

Zionists have trolled the University of Sydney student newspaper Honi Soit with misinformation, in attempts to cover up secret Israeli funding for Australia’s oldest University.

I have previously written about private Israeli donations to the University of Sydney, and they amount to more than half a million dollars each year: https://ahtribune.ca/world/asia-pacific/australia/4503-israel-lobby-sydney-university.html

At about the same time as that article, Honi Soit published a piece on the NTEU appeal in my case (where I was sacked for offending Israel). This also touched on the Israeli funding: https://honisoit.com/2021/01/nteu-appeals-tim-anderson-federal-court-ruling/

However, subsequently, local Zionists got in touch with Honi Soit, claiming that the ‘Fund for Jewish Higher Education’ had no connection with the Israeli World Zionist Organisation.

Accepting them at their word, and likely under a threat of defamation proceedings, Honi Soit amended its article and added this apology:

“The article ‘NTEU appeals Tim Anderson Federal Court ruling’, originally published on January 21 2021, asserted that the Fund for Jewish Higher Education (FJHE), an Australian charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, is “a sub-branch of the Israeli World Zionist Organisation”. This statement was false. Accordingly, the article was amended online on January 25 by deleting the references to the FJHE. The FJHE has no association with the Israeli World Zionist Organisation. It provides funding to support language programs in the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies and teacher training in the School of Languages and Cultures. Honi unreservedly apologises to everyone associated with the FJHE, and to Jewish students and the Jewish community.”

However the original information was correct.

A screenshot from the (now redacted) online USyd CV of Emeritus Professor Suzanne Rutland, shows that Dr Rutland cited herself as the “Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Jewish Education for Australia, for the World Zionist Organization”, as well as the “Honorary Secretary and Academic Chair of the Joint Committee for Jewish Higher Education”.

The ‘Joint Committee for Jewish Higher Education’, tagged on donations in 2012, was referred to in later (2017-2020) donations as the ‘Fund for Jewish Higher Education’. Given Dr Rutland’s stated links to both the ‘Committee on Jewish Education for Australia’ (for the World Zionist Organization) and the ‘Joint Committee for Jewish Higher Education’, it seems pretty clear that they are versions of the same thing.

In other words, this Fund is the same network which provides the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences with more than half a million dollars each year.

The secret funders of Australia’s oldest university are covering their tracks.

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