What happened last night?
Last night, a group of students from the encampment marched to and entered the F23 building, where the chancellor resides, to reiterate their demands for the university to divest and cut ties with weapons manufacturers and Israel. Protesters reiterated the clear encampment demands — the disclosure of and divestment from all university ties to Israel.
An official letter from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Peter McCallum was circulated last night, outlining what calm cooperation will look like for the upcoming graduation, and “respecting” the encampment for their “restraint” during the ANZAC Day dawn ceremony held last Thursday.
Today, on Tuesday April 30, the encampment held a rally which commenced at the Quad lawns at 1pm, followed by a march to F23.
Rally
Protesters saw steady showers falling over the encampment and today’s rally, affecting turnout and encampment safety. Organisers posted a call out today to mitigate these conditions, requesting resources like pegs, tents, water weights for gazebos, and plastic tubs.
Jasmine Al-Rawi, the SRC Welfare Officer, chaired the rally and began with a call to support all encampment efforts around the nation and beyond.
A spokesperson from Freedom Flotilla kicked off the speakout and vocalised solidarity with the encampment. The Freedom Flotilla is a global grassroots movement who have been advocating against the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2010 and spoke to the encampment about “the power of the people” in the face of a “live-streamed genocide”.
Like the encampment’s launch last Tuesday, Greens senator David Shoebridge spoke to protesters, noting the solidarity between First Nations struggles, both in Australia and in Palestine.
Shoebridge spoke to how weapons manufacturer Thales is “making record profits from the war in Gaza.” He confronted the “repeated denial” of the genocide in Gaza from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong. He implored Albanese and Wong to look to the genocide convention, “like many of you have,” he said, addressing the crowd.
Hannah, a Palestinian activist at Sydney Uni, then addressed the crowd — imploring people to consider the university students in Gaza who share the same dreams and interests as us, who are unable to continue their studies.
“Gazans have been living in constant fear,” she declared. “Gaza is full of people just like you and I.”
She encouraged everyone to hold up a peace sign, to reiterate the value of peace which is central to the Students for Palestine movement, countering allegations of violence and anti-semitism across the media.
The protest moved from the Quad lawns, with the crowd marching down Eastern Avenue to the F23 building, to complete the speak-out outside the office of Mark Scott.
The protest continued with chants including “From the river to the sea, Albo to the ICC” and “Israel, USA, how many kids have you killed today?” Banners held by protesters read “Stop Arming Genocide” and “Join the encampment for Palestine.”
Speeches continued outside the building with Jewish Pro-Palestine Activist, Yaakov, Tzedek Collective, and Jews Against the Occupation members all delivering remarks.
He addressed the crowd and discussed the dangers of conflating Zionism with Judaism, speaking to the importance of pro-Palestine activism in the face of a crisis “with no precedent in my lifetime.”
“The international community and the students at USyd are waking up to these lies,” he said. “They understand that standing up to these lies is not antisemitism, it is our moral duty.”
He addressed the audience, stating, “I see no antisemitism here,” and continued to proclaim that “we have no time for Zionist crocodile tears.”
It was during his speech that a Zionist counter-protester heckled the speakers by yelling “bullshit” while attempting to approach the speakers. A camera person followed him to record the stunt. Campus security was present and quietly addressed the interference on the crowd’s fringe.
Next to speak was Rand, a Palestinian student activist at USyd, spoke to the importance of anti-colonial solidarity and a “campus that is for liberation” for all Indigenous students.
“We are here today because we have a duty to stand with the people of Palestine.”
“We have a duty, and an honour, to be in solidarity with them.” She said.
She extended her solidarity to the universities in the US. “Why are they oppressing our right to stand against genocide?”
Rand spoke to the “years of motions put forward” by the University of Sydney Students Representative Council, and asked why the university was not listening to, nor engaging with, the demands of students.
Nasser Mashni, President of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, addressed the crowd after having flown into Sydney this morning, and visiting encampments in Victoria in the past days.
Nasser reiterated that the state of Palestine promotes equality between all Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He spoke to the movement as “anti-racist, anti-colonial,” and a “love filled movement.”
“Everyone is welcome here — except if you’re hate filled,” he said, speaking to the movement.
He declared to the crowd — “We are not disturbing the peace. We are disturbing the war.”
Honi Soit spoke to Mashni to ask for his message to the students at our encampment and beyond.
“My message to every student, every encampment all over the earth. Know how important your struggle is, how important your solidarity is, how important the visibility of what you’re doing [is.] That sacrifice is being felt all over the world, particularly in Gaza. You’re inspiring a nation, and a world of tomorrow — a world of inclusion, of diversity, of belonging.”
Mark Rivine continued the speak out by addressing the growing crisis of weapon manufacturing and anti-proliferation activism, emphasising the necessity to consult with students and academics activism efforts.
Rivine encouraged the encampment movements building across Australia and stated “just remember, you are a part of a global movement. It’s not just for Palestine but for your future. Keep fighting.”
The protest returned to the chair, Jasmine Al-Rawi, who argued that the Australian universities does not listen to their students and claimed the “political establishment is so afraid of the power of students.”
Al-Rawi said, “this is the start of a movement that we can actually build and continue to put pressure on our universities to cut ties with weapons manufacturing companies.”
Moving to the last speaker, Shovan Bhattari the SRC’s 2024 Education Officer started with a chant inspired by the American protests, “until Palestine is free”, “until Gaza is free”, “until Rafa is free” and “until everyone is free”.
Bhattari explicated the links between Palestine liberation movements and broader student activist struggles and affirmed the encampment’s mission “to protest because Israel has carried out genocide right before our eyes with utter impunity”.
She discussed the purposes of universities as “institutions of social good” and yet criticised their ongoing connections to weapons manufacturers.
“We draw our strength from the millions of people around the world who are taking up this struggle as well. We say we will not be complicit in genocide and slaughter,” Bhattari concludes.
After the rally, protesters moved briefly onto City Road to recite their chants, stopping traffic as cars beeped loudly, before crossing back.
What to expect next
It was revealed this morning that Monash University is the next university set to join the encampment efforts starting May Day at 11am.
It is unclear how the encampment will respond to the negotiations set to unfold with university management, which were suggested in last night’s email.
Yesterday, Tuesday 30th, students who have graduation ceremonies in upcoming weeks were sent an email from Vice Chancellor Mark Scott. The email reassured students that graduations would be going ahead, with the VC stating that “[management] are actively engaging with the protestors civilly and peacefully.”
He continued to note the “long tradition” at USyd of “peaceful protests” being important “demonstrations of free speech.”
The email reiterates the zero tolerance for “any form of racism, antisemitism or Islamophobia.”
Additionally, the email noted that other “unacceptable conduct” included “disruption of lectures and classes,” “harassing or intimidating staff and students”, “preventing free movement around campus,” and “damage to property.”
More to come.