Key points
- PM Albanese labels encampments as “provocative” and responds to discourse on “from the river to the sea”.
- Protest of Israeli National Day of Remembrance event at Monash University, Clayton campus.
- Deakin University, Burwood campus requests students dismantle encampment.
- Melbourne University students occupy ArtsWest, renaming it Mahmoud’s Hall and University of Queensland students rename building in honour of writer Refaat Alareer
- USyd Gaza Solidarity encampment release open letter requesting open meeting with university management, management responds not meeting their demands.
What has happened in the last few days?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke on Melbourne’s 3AW radio on Tuesday morning to criticise pro-Palestinian encampments at universities across Australia amidst claims of anti-semitism at Deakin University overnight.
Characterising the encampments as a “provocative act”, Albanese stated that shutting the encampments down “is a matter for the authorities.”
When asked about the chant “from the river to the sea” heard at many student-led rallies and encampments around the country, Albanese stated that “if you asked those people chanting it, heaps of them… wouldn’t be able to find the Jordan River on a map.”
He went on to say that “we in this country have a right to protest” but that it is important to “be respectful”, and that the way students protest “reflects on whether that protest is winning or losing support.”
Albanese’s interviews comes hours after reports that around 100 pro-Palestinian protestors attended an event for Yom HaZikaron at Monash University’s Clayton campus on Monday night. Known as Israel’s National Day of Remembrance, the gathering was dedicated to commemorating fallen Israeli soldiers and civilians.
In particular, Albanese asserted the conduct of protestors at Monash University had displayed “hatred and ignorance.”
Tuesday morning also saw Deakin University become the first tertiary education institution in Australia to request students dismantle their Gaza solidarity encampment at its Burwood campus.
Deakin University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Kerrie Parker called for “the immediate dismantling and removal of the current encampment” in the interests of “safety, security and amenity of all campus users,” in a letter to the encampment’s organisers.
Parker’s decision was celebrated by Australia’s Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson. In a statement on X on Tuesday, she said: “This is leadership. Labor and all universities must show the same commitment to the right of every person to access and enjoy a safe and secure learning and working environment, free of impediment, intimidation and harassment.”
Protestors at Deakin initially indicated that the encampment would remain in-place between May 7 and May 10. When it continued over the weekend, the University established barricades around the tents and called them an “impediment.”
In response, campers announced a rally to support the encampment on Wednesday at 6:30pm. In an open statement, they reiterated the camp’s demands for Deakin to “divest its ties with the state of Israel and all weapons manufacturers.”
As of May 16, the encampment remains at Deakin’s Burwood campus.
What’s happening at other Gaza solidarity encampments around Australia?
A video was also posted to the Empire Times four days ago, showing one of a few instances in the last week where firecrackers were allegedly set off by Zionist agitators at the University of Adelaide’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment. More information to come.
On May 13, the discourse regarding “from the river to the sea” was put into practice as Bill Parasiris, who works at Western Sydney University, Parramatta campus, explicitly told student and staff protestors not to chant the phrase. In the video, Parasiris can be seen discussing the suspension of a student, singled out as an organiser who had agreed to not repeat that slogan. One protester could be heard saying, “you can suspend me, I don’t even go to this uni.”
One staff member who intervened was Anti-Zionist Jewish Professor Alana Lentin, who addressed Parasiris, reiterating the notion of academic freedom and asking “who is being hurt”. Protestors collectively chanted “we are all organisers” until Parasiris walked back the suspension, and walked away.
As for the University of Melbourne, multiple attempts to breach the encampment have occurred via glass bottles, bats and fire extinguishers. In one video, security is watching but not intervening on behalf of the students’ safety, and someone can be heard saying, “Fuck Palestine”.
UniMelbforPalestine has since asked the community to provide support in numbers to defend the camp, whether that be by showing up during the day or sleeping in a tent at night. For more updates, refer to Farrago Magazine’s coverage of the encampment.
On Wednesday 15 May, University of Melbourne students occupied Arts West Building in memory of prospective student Mahmoud who died in Gaza, and renamed it “Mahmoud’s Hall”. The situation is still unfolding as the university is pressuring students to leave or face disciplinary action. For more information and day-by day updates, refer to Farrago Magazine’s coverage.
The following day, University of Queensland students occupied the advanced engineering building and renamed it the “Refaat Alareer Hall” in honour of the Palestinian poet who was killed in an Israeli airstrike late last year.
Gaza Solidarity Encampments continue, and so will the coverage by student journalists nationwide.