Image: A pro-Palestinian protester demonstrates at the University of Sydney. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
by RAQUEL BLANKEVOORT
On Tuesday April 23, students from the University of Sydney (USyd) began their encampment on university grounds, gathering in solidarity and support of Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza. With 40-60 students gathered on the Quadrangle lawn each night, they have inspired students across the nation to join them, calling out the Australian Government and Universities to be held accountable for supporting their ties with the Israeli Trade.
The Students Against War have vowed to keep protesting until their demands are met, which are to cut ties with weapon manufacturers, as well as with Israeli universities, and for Minns to drop the charges on pro-Palestinian protestors at Port Botany and to scrap the draconian anti-protest laws.
The calls come in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The nearly seven-month war began on October 7th after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people at a music festival and taking 250 people hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory attacks have had a devastating impact on Gaza’s residents. According to health authorities, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are women and children. At the time of publication, more than 75 per cent of the population has been displaced.
Students at the university have repeatedly expressed their outrage over USyd maintaining ties with the US Department of Defense, Israeli universities and weapons companies – companies such as Safran, Thales, and Lockheed Martin all have active partnerships with USyd, who is helping them develop technology and weapons to aid Israel.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Students Against War said, “We are part of a fight at universities across the country.”
“Students Against War has local campaigns calling for ANU, UNSW, UTS, and USYD to cut ties with all institutions complicit with genocide, including Israeli universities and arms companies.”
Hind’s Hall: protests at Columbia
Sydney students were inspired to pitch their tents on campus after news spread of similar encampments at the prestigious Ivy League Columbia University in New York City on April 17th. Columbia students began posting daily on social media platforms with universities and colleagues across the country establishing encampments of their own, all with the same goal: for their respective universities to end their support of Israeli forces and demand a ceasefire.
At Columbia, pro-Israeli protests have since commenced directly opposite the encampments, with universities threatening suspension or outright expulsion of any students associated with the pro-Palestinian encampments. Tensions reached a breaking point on Tuesday April 30 as more than 280 students were arrested for occupying Hamilton Hall.
New York Police Department also separately arrested student protesters at City College of New York (CUNY).
Students had broken into the hall in a move reminiscent of the 1968 protests against the Vietnam war and of the 1985 protests, when students demanded that Columbia divest from companies with financial interests in apartheid South Africa.
During those protests, students renamed Hamilton Hall “Mandela Hall” after the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
This time, students renamed the hall “Hind’s Hall”, in memory of a Palestinian girl aged 6 who was killed by the Israeli military in January while trapped in a car.
“There are no universities left in Gaza”
Jake Stubley, a Political Economy and Sociology student studying at USyd, has been involved Students Against War since day one, helping them set up camp. He spoke to City Hub about the motivation behind the encampment.
“There are no universities left in Gaza. And our university is directly involved in that. And as a student here, I could not be more angry about it,” he said.
“But I do think it gives us a very clear target of, okay, this is what we can do as students, this is our the small part that we can do to actually strike a blow against the entire system globally.”
The response from students and the community at large has been impressive, he continues, adding that people have been dropping off food for those in tents.
Students have also done class announcements during lectures and tutorials, and printed out leaflets, all with the intention to encourage conversation.
The university has largely ignored the group, and security guards are reportedly friendly with the protestors.
“Security response has been really chill and really nice to us, security is often very nice. Cops are much more complicated, they have not been called on campus for us,” he said.
“The most abrasive elements that have come against us have been the Student Liberal Party, harassing us and driving past playing loud music from their cars and waving the Israeli flag.”
“It’s been very performative and very strange,” he continued. “We’ve also had a bunch of adults and Zionist come up and try and start a fight with us but we have a camp rule of no engagement with antagonistic behaviour, so we just leave them and refuse to engage with them.”
“We are just not interested.”
“An important exercise of a democratic and civic right”
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) have also expressed their support of the Gaza Solidarity Encampments.
The council is known for their representation of human rights, stance on justice of underrepresented minorities and support for the freedom of speech, and were highly critical of the arrests made at the Port Botany protests.
In a statement released on Thursday May 2, President Lydia Shelly said, “We stand in solidarity with the student activists within the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and support their calls for the Australian Government to show meaningful leadership with respect to Palestine.”
“History will show that our Government was on the wrong side of humanity and that the students demonstrated leadership when their government failed to do so.”
Their statement includes commentary from a myriad of leadership individuals from the Greens Party, Muslim Women Australia, Palestine Justice Movement Sydney, and Jews Against Occupation 1948, all stating their support of the student-led encampments.
The NSW Greens Party Room commented on the importance of protest, saying, “When our Governments fail, protest provides one of the most foundational tools citizens in a healthy democracy are able to wield.”
Australian National Imams Council also expressed their support, saying “The protest action by students at the university is an important exercise of a democratic and civic right to highlight the aggression and conduct of Israel being inflicted on a civilian population.
“It is heartening to see students taking an interest in pursuing basic human rights and holding nation States to account for their conduct at a time when there is a global concern about genocide unfolding in Gaza and human right violations in the West Bank.”
The university should also be commended for permitting the exercise of a freedom of speech, the council said.
Protests and encampments across the country continue to be co-ordinated as students stand against their educational institutions, and will remain camped until real change has been made.
Jake confirmed this, telling City Hub, “Our camp’s current official stance is we are here indefinitely until our demands are met.”
“But the more of us there are here, the hotter it becomes and the harder it becomes to repress us.”
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