Pro-Palestine University Staff and Students Are Facing Severe Disciplinary Action

A press conference from Students for Palestine this morning, held at the University of Sydney, has shared that students and staff from multiple universities across Sydney are facing severe disciplinary action for their pro-Palestine views and activism.

University of Sydney student and co-convenor of Students for Palestine Yasmine Johnson is facing disciplinary proceedings that could result in her suspension.

Johnson says she is facing the disciplinary action after organising a pro-Palestine rally on campus.

“In response to a mass of pro Palestine sentiment that’s broken out, particularly on university campuses, where students and staff have come out to say they don’t want their universities to be complicit in genocide, we’ve seen attacks from pro-Israel organisations against those activists, as well as attacks on freedoms of speech and academic freedoms,” Johnson said at a press conference this morning.

When questioned as to why action was being taken against her, the university cited a lack of timely communication about the rally, students gathering on the quad lawn, and the use of megaphones.

Johnson stated she is breaking a confidentiality clause by speaking out, possibly incurring further punishment. Although she intends to challenge the university, appeals are rarely successful.

Two university staff members face HRC complaints for pro-Palestine views

Two staff members at the university, Professor of Politics John Keane and senior lecturer Nick Riemer, have also had complaints lodged against them with the Australian Human Rights Commission (HRC).

Riemer calling the attacks nonsensical attempts to silence them.

“The complainants are profoundly deluded if they imagine they will succeed even for a moment.”

Similar scenes are playing out at other institutions — the Students for Palestine society has been suspended at UNSW and UTS.

Students were banned from distributing a leaflet describing Israel’s actions in Palestine as “genocide”, with the Vice-Chancellor personally stepping in to stop them.

Last month, two students at Western Sydney University were arrested after a Pro-Palestine rally, charged with allegedly assaulting police and security guards.

Greens MP Kobi Shetty backs protestors & right to peaceful protest

Anti-protest movements have been expanding across the state, with laws introduced in 2022 threatening activists with up to two years in jail and a $22,000 fine.

Balmain Greens MP Kobi Shetty said her party would always support protests on campuses, and warned against a “slip into authoritarianism.”

“Peaceful protest is a valid way for people to hold decision makers to account, whether that’s the government of the day of universities, that play an important role in social movements,” said Shetty.

Although the official death toll in Palestine sits at 40,000, a study published by medical journal The Lancet estimates the real number exceeds 100,000.