University of Queensland protesters vow to stay on campus - once holiday is over

Students activists say a directive from Queensland’s biggest university to pack up a protest camp will not be followed and they’ll be back - after a break.

Students activists say a directive from Queensland’s biggest university to pack up a protest camp will not be followed and they’ll be back - once their holiday is over.

In a statement released on Saturday, UQ said they had reached an agreement with the UQ Muslim Students for Palestine and the UQ Student Union (UQU) in relation to the encampment at St Lucia.

The camp has been the centre of a number of fiery exchanges between pro-Palestine and pro-Israeli activists.

But Students 4 Palestine organiser Oula Shihan told The Sunday Mail activists were only packing up because it is the end of semester.

“At this moment we just don’t think it’s useful when there are no students or staff around to speak to,” she said.

“But we reject the universities deal and have not signed our name to anything,” she said.

Ms Shihan said university transparency was “not enough.”

Oula Shihan from Students 4 Palestine at the UQ activist camp last month. Picture: David Clark

“The university should provide transparency without restricting our right to protest,” she said.

Ms Shihan said it felt like the university’s main intention was to remove the encampments.

“Basically we don’t think this deal is addressing the demands of the entire campaign.”

Students 4 Palestine is a separate group to UQ Muslim Students for Palestine.

UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said she knew the past few weeks had been difficult and divisive for staff and students.

“I want to sincerely thank the representatives from the UQ Muslim Students for Palestine, Camp Shalom and UQU for sharing their valuable perspectives over the past few weeks.

Their contributions have played a significant role in helping us progress towards an end to the encampments,” she said.

Prof Terry said the university would continuing to engage with nominated protest representatives, to agree a peaceful resolution to the current camp arrangements.

“The university’s objective is to discontinue the camps as soon as possible,” she said.

In a statement, UQ Muslin Students for Palestine said they would vacate the encampment today and ensure there were no disruptive protests during exams and graduation ceremonies.

“The UQ Muslim Students for Palestine agrees to these terms while maintaining our rights to freedom of expression and assembly,” the statement said.

“Retaliatory actions against peaceful protesters would contradict UQ’s principles of political expression and academic freedom.”

UQ has promised to draw on its academic capability and diverse community to host a dedicated speaker series.

“This work will inform the development of a university-wide anti-racism commitment,” the university said in a statement.

“The university will also double its refugee and humanitarian scholarships, with a new focus on students from Gaza and increase our support for academics impacted by humanitarian crises through its global Scholars at Risk network membership,” it said.

UQ said it would continue to engage with student activists who remain on campus, with a focus on ensuring that student assessments and exams are not disrupted over the coming two weeks.