University of Sydney students push Palestine vote

Anti-Israel student activists at the University of Sydney are calling for one Palestinian state at their upcoming Student General Meeting while affirming ‘the right of Palestinians to armed resistance’.

The pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Sydney in May. Picture: AFP

Anti-Israel student activists at the University of Sydney are calling for one Palestinian state at their upcoming Student General Meeting while affirming ‘the right of Palestinians to armed resistance’ and defending the views of a student who was expelled by Australian National University for saying Hamas deserved “unconditional support”.

The small activist group known as Students’ Against War, who were active during the University of Sydney campus protests, were also circulating pamphlets on campus on Tuesday with the Hamas red triangle symbol on it, which were found in lecture theatres by Jewish students.

A USYD spokesperson said they were “looking into the matter and will take any required action as appropriate, in line with our policies and codes of conduct”.

The SAW motion, if passed by students at the SGM on Wednesday afternoon, would see the pro-Palestine Student Representative Council (SRC) “endorse the call for a single, secular democratic state across all of historic Palestine and affirms the right of Palestinians to armed resistance as an occupied people under international law”.

The Australian understands some members of the left-wing and socialist SRC support a single state.

Part of the pamphlet by Students Against War.

One of the main pro-Palestine encampment groups Students for Palestine USYD has put up a separate SGM motion, moved by two SRC officers, which repeats demands made throughout the student protests for the university to cut ties with weapons companies and divest from financial investment in the Jewish state.

It also calls for the university to abolish the unit of study called ‘Experience Israel’, which introduces students to Hebrew language and culture through a partner university in Israel.

Posters around the campus of the University of Sydney promoting the SGM.

Staff say the posters feel oppressive for Jewish students.

Australia’s peak Jewish body has called the activist groups “extremists” and said the motions needed to be withdrawn or risked the university falling “further into disrepute”.

A Jewish staff member from University of Sydney, who asked not to be named, said seeing the words “support the right for a single Palestinian state and the right to resist” on posters around campus was “frightening for many Australian Jewish students and staff”.

“It is basically advocating for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews living there.

“Australian Jews believe Israel has the right to exist ... They feel threatened and the result is verbal and even physical abuse for Jews on campus,” the staff member said.

In their motion, SAW said to “win” the campaign for Palestine at USYD student activists “must commit themselves to building a mass, militant student movement on campus” which “backs the call for a single, democratic, secular state from the river to the sea”.

“By clearly supporting a single secular Palestinian state where Muslims, Jews, and people of all faiths and backgrounds have equal rights, we can argue against the smears of antisemitism which are used to delegitimise the movement,” the motion states.

It adds: “All the violence in Palestine and Israel is a result of the Israeli state, its occupation of Palestine, and the apartheid system inflicted on Palestinians. The violence of the oppressed is never equivalent to the violence of the oppressor.”

SAW, in an article titled “Globalise the Intifada! One Palestinian State!” in the student magazine Honi Soit said “supporting a one-state solution and Palestinians right to armed resistance” was not antisemitic, and group spokesperson Jacob Starling told The Australian “a single, secular, democratic state, with rights and freedoms for all people ... should not be an extreme position”.

The group also defended pro-Palestine activist Beatrice Tucker, who was expelled after telling ABC Radio Canberra that Hamas deserved “unconditional support”, saying that her expulsion “was justified by ANU on the grounds that their support for the right of occupied peoples to armed resistance constituted an endorsement of terrorism”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin. Picture: NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin called the motions “divisive” and “hateful”.

“At a time when our security agencies are warning about youth radicalisation amid the Israel-Hamas war, these resolutions are a further attempt to isolate and demonise Jewish students and staff by calling for the destruction of the Jewish national home,” he said.

“The anti-Israel boycott campaign has always been steeped in racism, it borrows heavily from Nazi boycotts of Jews which were also framed as a righteous act of self-defence. “They also show the inherent weakness of their hateful movement. These extremists are desperate to keep Australians from visiting Israel and engaging with Israelis because they know that when they do, they will discover the beauty and humanity of Israel and their lies about the state and its people will be exposed.

“These divisive, hateful resolutions grounded in prejudice and lies have no place in our society. They must be withdrawn or the university and its students will fall further into disrepute.”

A University of Sydney spokesperson said the “student representative and student-led groups operate independently and do not represent the views of the University, however we know a wide range of perspectives exist among our community and that many students hold strong views on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”

The University of Sydney ordered students to leave an encampment in mid-June, almost two months after the first tent was pitched.

The SGM needs a minimum of 250 students to attend to conduct the vote.