On Day 18, overcast weather continues to linger over the encampment. Students are enduring the muddy lawns on the quad, while management has instructed that they are not permitted to pitch tents on wooden pallets due to concerns over damaging the lawns. The encampment has complied with these demands.
The growth of tents in the encampments’ second week is palpable. The campers have told Honi that the supplies and support are continuing to flow but are encouraging more people to join. Campers also said that there were no further attempts of intimidation overnight.
There were less activities scheduled for Day 18, after the student strikes that took place yesterday across USyd and UTS campuses.
The Students for Palestine open meeting occurred at 1pm on the Quad. Discussion followed the acknowledgement of historical protest movements, situating the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as a defining political moment of our time. The meeting spoke to the “re-energisation” of the movement, and a need for an intersectional and unified approach in the midst of the current ground invasion of Rafah, which commenced on May 6.
The Rally for Rafah at 2pm, organised by Sydney University Muslim Students’ Association (SUMSA), UTS Muslim Society, Macquarie University Muslim Students’ Association (MUMSA), invited Shayk Ahmed Abdo and Dr Uthman Badar to speak. The Rally poster read, “Stand as one to denounce the genocide and demand actions from the University of Sydney. Inviting students and the wider community!”
Alexander Bray, who was raised Catholic, stated at the rally that the “common duty of Abrahamic religions [is] to fight against this genocide,” and noted the interfaith nature of the encampment — there are “Christian and Jewish” adherents that “come to every rally.” Alexander continued that the onus is on the University to cut ties with Israel and weapons companies.
Dr Uthman Badar spoke to the use of the “most advanced weaponry being used on a defenceless population,” experiencing a “genocide propelled by lies, propaganda, and obfuscation.”
“They said ‘never again,’ and here we are,” he exclaimed.
Since the rally, the SUMSA Instagram account has shared further requests, in a post titled “our demands,” extending from the initial Gaza Solidarity Encampment requests with the addition of others. The post first references the ICJ judgement, that Palestinians in Gaza were facing a plausible risk of genocide, living on now inhabitable land, and experiencing a scholasticide. The demands read:
“1. Disclose and publish a review of any and all financial investments in Israel […]
2. Divest from all such investments and cut ties with global weapons companies […] (Thales, Raytheon, Safran and Lockheed Martin)
3. Boycott and suspend all partnerships with Israeli universities with clear links to the IDF
4. Denounce Israel’s violations of international law and call for an immediate ceasefire
5. Invest in international scholarships for Gazan students […] and offer asylum to Gazan and Palestinian academics[…]”
The request for scholarships for those fleeing from Gaza derived from the measures that the university has taken with Ukrainian academics and students.
A petition for a Student General Meeting has been launched by Students for Palestine Sydney Uni. 200 signatures are required so that a meeting can be held to discuss the University’s disclosure and divestment of its ties to Israel.
For more coverage, follow Honi Soit on Instagram and Twitter as well as Students for Palestine Sydney Uni’s instagram page.
