On the morning of day 16, Wednesday 8 May, it was clear that the encampment had remained resilient despite the rain over the week. Campers reported that the University’s gates at University Avenue are now being closed overnight due to reports of late-night Zionist interference.
The University organised a fire engine and ambulance to make sure the space was still accessible and fireproofed. The camp cleared these checks early Wednesday morning.
Day 16 also saw two teaching events facilitated — one was run by Joel Geier, at the Quad alcove, speaking to his experience in the UC Berkeley free speech movement. Students Against War (SAW) ran the second, a disruptive walking tour to campus buildings where USyd is conducting weapons research and development. Destinations included the Nanoscience Building, F23, and the United States Studies Centre. The walking tour emphasised the link between USyd and weapons manufacturers like Thales and Safran; for example, the Sydney Nano Institute works with the RAAF on campus, and the Pro Vice Chancellor, Ben Eggleton, leads a research in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and the RAAF.
During this walking tour, SAW confronted Vice Chancellor Mark Scott on a walk back to his F23 office, recorded in an uncomfortable video. Despite repeated questions and statements from students, Scott failed to answer questions. Scott is still yet to meet with any campers.
The Encampment have posted community guidelines and resources, asking campers to abide by certain rules regarding respect of the land, housekeeping, media liaison and legal advice.
After raising more funds than necessary through the public GoFundme, the Encampment have decided to donate $5000 to evacuate a Palestinian from Gaza. They explained their reasoning on an Instagram post, stating that “with the current escalation in Rafah, it would be an insult to Palestinians in Gaza for us to use it to make ourselves more comfortable while our peers are currently struggling to raise funds to evacuate their families from Gaza to so-called Australia”. The donation will go towards evacuating “a family member of a dear friend of the camp”. The Encampment have promised to post a “receipt of the transfer”.
Within graduations occurring inside the Great Hall, the encampment is being acknowledged at the beginning of the ceremony. The speaker repeats the University’s well-established talking points, emphasising that free speech is a key part of the University but antisemitism and Islamophobia are not tolerated. Through the opening video, they also situate protest as a key part of the university’s history.
This unfolds in the wake of police emergency response teams being established in Sydney and Melbourne, in the context of rising protests, especially at Monash. This adjoins the Education Minister Jason Clare’s report that the tertiary education regulator had also set up a taskforce.
After a tweet on May 7 from the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) tweet, stating ‘nobody should be surprised if members of the public take matters into their own hands’, the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) have reported AJA to the police, and is now pursuing legal action against them for ‘a blatant incitement to violence’.
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