Student protest at University of Melbourne packing up encampment

The student protest at the University of Melbourne has concluded after 10 days of encampment, ending with the university agreeing to one of their key demands.

University of Melbourne students have officially concluded their 10-day-long campus protest, during which they occupied the Arts West Building and camped on the South Lawn to rally against the university’s connections with weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli army.

Posters were torn off windows, tents dismantled and chairs folded up as students departed, many carrying pillows and blankets as they trudged out of the building they renamed Mahmoud’s Hall in honour of Mahmoud Alnaouq, a 25-year-old Palestinian student killed with his family in an Israeli airstrike on October 20. Alnaouq had accepted a scholarship to study a master of international relations at the university.

Many students covered their faces with masks and keffiyehs as they left and the space remained closed to students, staff and visitors due to ongoing security concerns. Campers were seen sweeping the floors and packing up their belongings inside the hall – but left the white-chalked Mahmoud’s Hall sign untouched. With the exception of the chalk writing, the interior of the hall appeared clean and largely unblemished.

A sign posted by Melbourne University regarding the student camp set up at the Carlton campus in support of Palestine and against the current genocide being committed by Israel. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Andrew Henshaw

In a social media post, UniMelb for Palestine said even though protesters were packing up, they “will not stop”.

Pro-Palestine protesters have finally ended their occupation of The University of Melbourne’s South Lawn. Picture: Rebecca Borg

The packing up of the encampment comes as the university announced it would declare all partnerships and ties to weapons makers.

University officials said they appreciated the protesters’ decision to leave the campus.