CHANTAL ABITBOL
A POPULAR student website has banned an anti-Israel group from using its site after a spate of anti-Semitic postings were uncovered last week.
The comments were published under a group registered as “BoS anti-Israel League” on the Sydney-based site,
Bored of Studies - Student online community, resources, notes, past exams, UAI Calculator, ENTER Calculator, HSC, VCE, which in recent years has become a well-known resource hub for students sitting their HSC exams.
Among the threads was a post about finding synagogues in Sydney and featured information on how to make a Molotov cocktail. Another thread, titled “F—- Israel”, included a posting from a blogger, which read: “Kill all da f—-ing Jews … f—-ing hate every single one of them … I hope Iran nukes them big time.”
Deenu Rajaratnam, a spokesperson for the site, this week told The AJN he was alerted to the offensive material on December 16 and immediately moved to delete it and ban the group from its site. He has also spoken with moderators and taken steps to tighten their surveillance.
“Obviously, we don’t endorse anything of that nature,” he said. “It’s not something we think is acceptable.”
“It was a good wake-up call,” he added. “It’s the first time that it has happened. We’ve decided to be a lot more serious about action and pay more attention to it.”
Further investigation by The AJN, however, uncovered additional anti-Semitic comments and postings that had not yet been removed.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff, who originally brought the material to the publisher’s attention, applauded their quick action, but said “it is clear that vigilance is needed”.
“It was unfortunate that a respected forum, which is designed to assist students with their studies, could be hacked into by people with a racist agenda,” he said.
He also called on other internet publishers to be more vigilant. “All publishers should exercise care to prevent such damaging material appearing on their sites and to remove it immediately if it appears.”
