Open letters written by staff and students have called on the University of Sydney to cut institutional ties with Israeli universities and companies that directly arm Israel or collaborate with its military.
On Tuesday, March 26, USyd National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branch president Nick Riemer published an open letter, addressed to Vice Chancellor Mark Scott.
Riemer contended that these ties “risk making the University of Sydney and its staff members [and students] complicit” in “the current attack on Gaza and the global arms trade more generally…this risk is unacceptable.”
On Wednesday 27 March, students also presented an open letter to the University of Sydney management, ahead of a rally and march to join the UTS contingent of Students Against War (SAW).
The terms of the petition included a public condemnation of Israel, an end to links with Israeli universities, and an end to all partnerships with weapons companies.
Recently, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it was “plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide” in Gaza;
Riemer said that “in some cases… university appointees even sit on the boards of these organisations,” referring to the outgoing Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson’s involvement with Thales.
Academic ties to Israel, evident in numerous student exchange programs and research collaborations with Israeli Universities, were also mentioned.
Riemer quoted from Israeli scholar Maya Wind’s recent book “Towers of Ivory and Steel”, reiterating that “all Israeli universities ‘operate in direct service of the state and serve critical functions in sustaining its policies, and thereby constitute central pillars of Israeli settler colonialism.’” This, Riemer said, is something “Palestinians have been pointing out for decades.”
The NTEU demanded that the University “undertake a joint audit with the NTEU of all connections” with Israeli universities, to “make the findings public”, and to “move to end these connections immediately”.
The NTEU noted that all losses as a consequence of severing ties with Israel and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) should come from the University’s internal budget, as “no staff members should lose their jobs as a result of the University complying with its basic moral obligations.”
Riemer proposed international scholarships for Gazan students “to facilitate their arrival in Australia,” and to offer asylum to Gazan and Palestinian academics, in the same way that Ukrainians have been aided through the Scholars at Risk program.
Riemer referred to the University’s ‘vision and values statement’, arguing that any fiscal support of Israel runs counter to its ideals, among them “leading to improve the world around us,” and “education for all,” on account of Israel’s destruction of all Gazan Universities, which has “thereby critically [destroyed] the prospects of higher education in a community of millions.”
“Our university can have no part in this,” Riemer said.
Riemer concluded that the “principle” behind the letter was “universal.” Universities “should not be complicit with any states or organisations systematically responsible for apartheid, genocide, or war crimes” or have vested interests or investments in munitions, Riemer said.
“We should not be contributing to the development of weapons,” he affirmed, whether in Gaza, Myanmar, or West Papua.
SAW stated that USyd has a medical exchange program with a University “which develops the bulldozers that demolish Palestinian homes in Gaza” —the Israeli Institute of Technology (Technion) — and has partnered with universities that “train the Israeli Defense Force.”
SAW also alleged that Melbourne University RMIT suspended its research partnership with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in direct response to the actions of “staff, students, BDS Australia and other activists.”
“If an institution similar to USyd can cease their partnership with Israel and Elbit Systems, there is no reason our university cannot follow suit,” SAW said.
A University of Sydney spokesperson confirmed to Honi that “we have received the letters and are preparing our response.”
“A wide range of views and perspectives exist among our community, and we believe that as a university our role is to serve as a forum for debate and discussion in line with our Charter of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech,” the spokesperson said.
“As an institution, we remain open to and encourage links with all countries with which Australia has diplomatic relations. Our researchers also have excellent skills and expertise that can contribute to national, regional and global security in order to help make Australia and the world a safer place to live and we continue to support their academic freedom to work on defence research if they choose to.”
According to the USyd spokesperson, “all our research must be conducted in a way that is consistent with our mission, core values and ethical standards. It must also comply with relevant laws and take relevant government guidelines into account, and be conducted in line with University policies and codes of conduct.”
The spokesperson noted that “our involvement in the Scholars at Risk program continues, as well as our humanitarian scholarships for students (our Humanitarian High Achiever Scholarship and our Gregg Humanitarian Scholarship for Asylum Seekers and Refugees).”
SAW’s action followed a speak-out against Tel Aviv University representatives invited to the University of Sydney to promote their exchange program last Tuesday, March 19. An hour and a half into the protest, security escorted the representatives out of the building.
The protest has drawn scrutiny and criticism from the media; Sky News reported that the Tel Aviv University spokespeople were “locked in with pro-Palestine activists”.
It has also prompted an investigation by University management.
This is not the first open letter Riemer has addressed to the academic board concerning the war on Gaza. In November last year, Riemer wrote to Mark Scott in self-described “protest” at the Vice Chancellor’s decision to ban a pro-Palestine student meeting.
He declared this a “serious affront to academic freedom, freedom of assembly, and freedom of political speech on campus.” Another USyd academic, John Keane, wrote a similar open letter.
Riemer is also one of over 70 USyd signatories (as of writing) on a nationwide ‘Statement of solidarity with Palestine’ from academics in Australian universities, and one of the leading unionists who endorsed a union members’ petition for the same cause, with over 2650 signatures, in the same month.
