Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Thu, May 16, 2024
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a building at the University of Melbourne have been told to leave by university officials, who say they’ve “crossed a line” by entering the building and disrupting class for thousands of students.
“Students have a right to protest but that is not a blank check,” said the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Michael Wesley in a video message distributed to media on Thursday.
“They have crossed a line when they have occupied the Arts West building … the university’s patience is now at an end.”
On Wednesday, students at the university were among thousands who rallied across the country to remember the 1948 al-Nakba or “catastrophe,” when around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes by armed Jewish groups seeking to establish the state of Israel.
Dana Alshaer, from UniMelb for Palestine, said after the rally a smaller group of students “independently” decided to occupy the Arts West building, and others supported them.
Several banners have since been hung around the room, including one renaming the building “Mahmoud’s Hall” after Mahmoud Alnaouq, a Palestinian student who had won a scholarship to study in Australia but was killed in Gaza last October.
Around 1:30pm on Wednesday, Deputy Vice Chancellor Pip Nicholson addressed the group inside the building on a loudspeaker, telling them their choices that afternoon would have “serious consequences.”
According to a video posted online, she said: “In the event that you are not out of here within an hour … the university will make decisions that will regrettably and unavoidably escalate the tension.”
Students renamed the building "Mahmoud's Hall" after a prospective University of Melbourne student, who died in Gaza. - Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images
On the video, protesters said they wouldn’t leave until the university responded to their demands, which include divesting from weapons companies and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“We come in peace,” a protester said off-camera. “We came here to learn, to study, to make an impact on the world, and the fees that we’re paying are going towards companies committing an act of genocide right now. Speak to us about that.”
By Thursday, more than 150 classes had been cancelled, affecting 6,000 students and staff, the university said. Victoria Police said it was monitoring the protest activity and hadn’t been asked to intervene.
Alshaer denied reports students had blocked the building’s doors and said the university had disabled them.
“The people here are opening the doors for anyone, students and uni staff to come in and out whenever they want. It’s not closed. It’s not barricaded,” she said.
Tension building after weeks of protest
Since the first tents appeared at universities in Australia over three weeks ago, more students have joined the protest action, demanding the institutions cut ties with weapons companies linked to Israel’s attacks.
More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a war against Hamas after its October 7 attack in southern Israel, according to health officials. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage. Around 100 are still in captivity and Hamas’ top leadership is still at large despite the Israeli onslaught.
Protests in support of both sides have flared around the world, with a widespread pro-Palestinian movement launching demonstrations at university colleges.
The University of Melbourne says student protesters "crossed a line" by occupying the building. - Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images
So far, protest sites in Australia have remained relatively peaceful, unlike sister sites in the United States, where police violently evicted some students amid clashes with counter-protesters.
Other universities in Melbourne and Canberra have put students on notice to leave.
Protesters at Deakin University said Thursday they’d received a second order to dismantle their camp on Thursday, in a letter shared with CNN that warned that failure to comply may constitute an act of student misconduct.
Jasmine Duff, from Students for Palestine Victoria, told CNN the students had no intention of leaving.
“We refuse to obey the directives of a university which is profiting from weapons research during a genocide,” she said.
Meanwhile, at least seven student protesters at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra have received letters from the university telling them to leave the site by the end of Friday.
In the letter, shared with CNN by the university, students were told the institution had received “reports regarding the negative impact of the encampment on the wellbeing and safety of the broader University community,” without specifying what they were.
In a statement, ANU said it supports students’ right to protest but said “these activities must be safe and not cause unnecessary harm or damage to our campus or community.”
One of the letter’s recipients, Nick Reich, said he and others are weighing their options.
“We have to make the decision about how much and to what extent we participate in the protests against the university’s investments in arms companies supplying Israel, but we can be certain that the encampment itself is going to remain set up and will continue to fight this fight,” he said.
In his video message distributed by the University of Melbourne, Wesley called on protesters to “peacefully end the occupation.”
“Red lines have been crossed,” he said. “The occupation is now seriously disruptive and seriously intimidating for the vast majority of our staff and students who have nothing to do with the protests and are not interested in the protests.”
University of Melbourne cancels classes as pro-Palestinian activists defy orders to disband encampments
Maroosha Muzaffar
Thu, May 16, 2024
University of Melbourne cancels classes as pro-Palestinian activists defy orders to disband encampments
The University of Melbourne cancelled classes on Thursday as pro-Palestinian students blockaded an arts building following weeks of campus tensions.
Protesters spent the night in tents inside the Arts West building at the Parkville campus, disregarding the university’s request to vacate on Wednesday afternoon.
The Victoria police said the University of Melbourne was “presently managing the situation” and has not asked it “to intervene or to remove these protesters”.
“Victoria police is liaising with Melbourne University to provide assistance when and if that is required,” they said in a statement on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian protesters renamed the Arts West building “Mahmoud’s Hall” in honour of Mahmoud Alnaouq, a Palestinian killed in an airstrike on Gaza in October. Reports said Alnaouq was meant to start his studies at the university before he was killed.
The sit-in marked an escalation of an encampment on the university’s south lawn that has been ongoing since Anzac Day and is one of the several protests about the war on Gaza that have heightened tensions at Melbourne’s universities. Anzac Day is observed on 25 April every year and honours members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) who lost their lives in foreign conflicts.
Callers to Australia’s radio station 3AW reported that classes on Thursday had been cancelled due to safety concerns. One said: “(The notification from the university) said the activity at the building was too unsafe.”
The university said in a statement there was no access to the Arts West building on Thursday due to the disruption and “safety issues” caused by the protesters. “Classes will therefore not take place in that building,” the statement added.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our priority and we are working closely with the appropriate authorities to address this matter as soon as possible and to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” a university spokesperson was quoted as saying by ABC News.
“This week we expressed our deep concern about the disruptive intent of some external visitors to our Parkville campus and made clear that, where there are instances of unacceptable behaviour, we will investigate and take appropriate action,” the spokesperson said.
At least 6,500 students have been affected by the cancellation, The Guardian reported.
On Thursday morning, signs that read, “Uni Melb stop supporting genocide! Cut ties with Israel now!” were affixed to the glass at the Arts West building:
The entrance of the building was also graffitied with “Mahmoud Hall”.
The protest is aimed at the university’s relationship with aerospace and defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
The university said in a statement on its website: “Since 2016, the University of Melbourne has received $3.5m in funding from Lockheed Martin Australia to support PhD scholarships and research projects in areas such as artificial intelligence/machine learning, resource allocation and optimisation, and quantum sensing. Student projects have been in areas such as powerline safety monitoring and simplified drone control for first responders (ie fire-fighting).”
“This is indefinite. This is about disclosing and divesting and nothing will change until the demands are met,” Gemma O’Toole, an arts student involved in the occupation, was quoted as saying by The Age.
“We don’t want to be at a university that funds research for war,” she noted.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry CEO, Alex Ryvchin, said the protest camps should be disbanded.
“It’s time for all encampments to go. The time for indulging and appeasing insolent children running amok has passed.
“If the university can’t ensure the immediate safety and security of all students and staff, the police need to.”
Meanwhile, students have vowed to continue their occupation until the university ends its research agreement with companies supplying defence technology to Israel.
The protest coincides with Nakba Day on 15 May, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians during the founding of Israel.
University of Melbourne’s acting provost, Prof Pip Nicholson, had earlier warned that there would be “serious consequences” if protesters remained on site.
She said on Wednesday afternoon that if the students did not vacate the building, “the university will make decisions that will regrettably and unavoidably escalate the tension”.
“The choices you make this afternoon will have serious consequences,” she added.
Victorian liberal senator James Patterson said: “Vice chancellors have been far too accommodating with these protests for far too long, and they need to take action. It is not acceptable what is happening at Melbourne University.
“The university must take action, must call in the police, and must ensure that the campus and the buildings on the campus are open to all students, not just extremists.”
Among students, the class cancellations evoked mixed responses. “I think it is just and it is right. It’s a part of protecting and standing for humanity,” University of Melbourne student Eartha Davis, who had her philosophy class cancelled on Thursday, told ABC News.
“So, if we have to surrender one class for what is good and what is right then there’s no complaints on my end.”
In Melbourne, nine students at Monash University are facing potential suspension or expulsion following clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups.
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