On Tuesday August 20, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branch at UNSW passed a motion endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) while the Melbourne NTEU branch meeting took place today with 315 people present and a 97% vote in favour.
In landslide votes, they each called on their respective universities to endorse an academic boycott, divestment from weapons and arms manufacturers and end its relationships with Israeli universities, in accordance with the demands of Palestinians.
The UNSW deemed the motion as befitting an “urgency of action” given the International Court of Justice (ICJ) preliminary ruling that Israel is “plausibly committing genocide”, as well as the destruction of all universities in Gaza and the targeting of academics.
The UniMelb motion similarly noted that Israel is “committing genocide in the Gaza Strip” detailing the physical, human, scholastic, medical, and institutional facets, and backed the 19 July by the ICJ which confirmed that Israel is “responsible for the crime of apartheid” and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
They emphasised the “direct involvement of Israeli universities in perpetuating genocide in Gaza and Israeli apartheid, through their roles in weapons research and military training”, and therefore UniMelb’s institutional ties to universities and “weapons manufacturers that arm or support Israel and other repressive regimes.”
As such, the “potential exposure of staff and students to moral and even legal censure” via this connection to war crimes was highlighted, and that because of the ICJ’s ruling for states, there is an obligation for all institutions to “not to enter economic, trade, or investment relations with Israel” that assist and maintain Israel’s occupation.
The UNSW NTEU demanded that Management:
- Disclose total monetary figures awarded to UNSW in research contracts with complicit companies
- Disclose subject matter of said research
- Cut ties with all organisations enabling violence in Gaza
- Establish international scholarships for Palestinians arriving from Gaza and partnerships with Palestinian academics and universities
- Replace the funding of all staff whose positions depend on arms manufacturers with research for the public good
- Ensure protest on campus and academic freedom in relation to Palestine is protected
The UniMelb motion shared the aforementioned demands, in addition to calling for:
- Management to cut ties with and cease partnerships with “the defence industry/sector, the weapons industry and militaries in general”, including research collaborations
- Amendments to its Gift Policy “to abstain from accepting gifts from donors in the defence sector”
- Amendment to its anti-racism commitment by ending its adoption of the controversial (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism which conflates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism
- Join the Scholars at Risk program and host endangered Palestinian academics
Both branches specified that this motion “does not prevent collaboration with individual academics” rather any collaborations with Israeli universities or those “officially mediated” by Israeli institutions.
The UNSW branch also reiterated that “support for Palestine and a commitment to justice is union business” having previously passed motions condemning the 2021 forced evictions of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, and another in solidarity with Palestinians experiencing genocidal violence after the October 7 attack, calling for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid.
Following a Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, UNSW was revealed to have ties to companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who have research contracts with the US Department of Airforce, Army, and the Navy, and institutional partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Similarly, UniMelb is known to have ties to Lockheed Martin, Boeing and BAE Systems, and partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Technion — Israel Institute of Technology.
When asked to comment on the passing of the motion, a spokesperson for UNSW said they are “committed to driving positive societal impact which includes contributing to the security and cohesion of Australia and the wider global community.”
They reiterated their unequivocal support for academic freedom and commitment to “conducting and managing research responsibly and with integrity” including in “joint research and collaboration with international research partners… critical to Australia’s success, security and advancement.”
“The University’s mandatory disclosure scheme for foreign affiliations and partnerships enables consideration of potential risks of our international engagements and fulfilment of our disclosure obligations to government.”
The spokesperson also spoke to the establishment of an Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Advisory Group which will “further focus alignment and reporting” on “environmental, social and governance goals and outcomes” as well as review “investment frameworks, supply chains, policies, procedures and practices… [and] more proactive and transparent reporting.”
David Gonzalez, NTEU branch president at UniMelb said in a press release that “staff and students have been surveilled, silenced and intimidated repeatedly by University management when expressing views against the death and destruction unfolding in Gaza.”
Gonzalez went on to address Chancellor Jane Hansen and Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell, asking them to end the University’s “institutional support of a genocide” and “stop asking staff to be complicit.”
Both NTEU branches concluded by calling for a widespread pressure campaign on the University and called upon NTEU branches across Australia to pass similar motions.
USyd’s NTEU branch passed a motion in favour of an academic institutional boycott of Israel on May 9 of this year, which also provided the basis for UniMelb’s motion.
