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Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at the University of Sydney in Sydney on 3 May 2024. (Ayush Kumar/AFP)
- Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have rallied at
Australian universities demanding divestment from companies with ties to
Israel, inspired by similar student movements in the US, Canada, and France. - The protests in Australia have remained peaceful with
minimal police presence, contrasting with the forceful removal of protesters in
the US. - Counter-protests have emerged, with participants claiming
the pro-Palestinian demonstrations make Jewish students and staff feel unsafe.
Hundreds of people protesting Israel’s war in
Gaza rallied at one of Australia’s top universities on Friday demanding it
divest from companies with ties to Israel, in a movement inspired by the
student occupations sweeping US campuses.
Pro-Palestinian
activists set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at
University of Sydney, one of Australia’s largest tertiary institutions.
Similar
camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other
Australian cities.
Unlike
in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian
protesters at several colleges, protest sites in Australia have been peaceful
with scant police presence.
On
Friday, protesters rallied to demand University of Sydney divest from companies
with ties to Israel, echoing calls from students in the US, Canada and France.
Standing
in the chanting crowd of more than 300 with his two-year-old son on his
shoulders, Matt, 39, said he came to show it was not just students angry at
Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“Once
you understand what is going on you have a responsibility to try and get
involved and raise awareness and show solidarity,” he told Reuters,
declining to give his last name.
Several
hundred metres away from the Sydney university protest and separated by lines
of security guards, hundreds gathered under Australian and Israeli flags to
hear speakers say the pro-Palestinian protests made Jewish students and staff
feel unsafe on campus.
“There’s
no space for anybody else, walking through campus chanting ‘Intifada’ and ‘from
the river to the sea’ it does something, it’s scary,” said Sarah, an
academic who declined to give her name for fear of repercussions.
READ | DEVELOPING: Israel announces Gaza-held hostage death as mediators await Hamas’ ceasefire response
University
of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott told local media on Thursday the
pro-Palestinian encampment could stay on campus in part because there was not
the violence seen in the US.
While
several police cars were parked at the entrance to the university, no police
were present at either protest.
Long
a stalwart ally of Israel, Australia has become increasingly critical of its
conduct in Gaza, where an Australian aid worker was killed in an Israeli attack
last month.
Pro-Palestinian
protesters said the government had not done enough to push for peace and led
the crowd in chants against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government.
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