UWA knocks back ‘from the river to the sea’ banner-painting event

Pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Western Australia have complained they were denied permission to paint a banner on campus with the slogan ‘from the river to the sea’.

From the River to the Sea sign at Pro-Palastine camp, UQ Campus St. Lucia. Picture: Liam Kidston

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Pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Western Australia have complained they were denied permission to paint a banner on campus with the slogan “From the river to the sea”, a phrase the American Jewish Committee says can be used to call for the elimination of Israel and ethnic cleansing of Jews living there.

The Australian has confirmed the university’s student guild declined to give necessary permissions for the proposed banner-painting event on Wednesday under rules introduced last year amid nationwide pro-Palestinian protests and growing concerns about anti-Semitism. In early 2024, Perth’s oldest university introduced extra vetting for any event on campus relating to conflict in the Middle East.

UWA’s satirical newspaper Prosh was forced to apologise for a cartoon on the front page. Picture: UWA

The UWA student guild declined the request by Students for Palestine on the same day the guild was forced to apologise for a cartoon on the front page of its satirical newspaper Prosh, which Jewish leaders said perpetuated anti-semetic tropes.

The satirical newspaper is an annual fundraiser for charity and known for crudity. The front page of the latest edition featured a drawing of Elon Musk bending Donald Trump over a desk while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked on with glowing red eyes. The headline was: “Lobbied up the a$$”.

The cover of satirical newspaper Prosh.

Prosh featured on the social media accounts of Labor MPs Patrick Gorman – the minister assisting the Prime Minister and whose electorate of Perth takes in the orthodox Jewish Carmel School and the Holocaust Institute of WA – and President of the Senate Sue Lines.

In its apology, UWA Student Guild said it strongly opposed any degree of racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism.

Lewis Todman, a member of Students for Palestine, said UWA had also been trying to ban lecture announceemnts before class. Mr Todman said lecture announcements were a tradition in which students alerted classmates to anything from a party to a protest. Students for Palestine also objected to the extra vetting of campus events.

“It’s our belief that the new rules were put in place to curtail all pro-Palestine speech on campus and criticisms of the university for their ties to Israel,” Mr Todman told The Australian.

A UWA spokesperson said the new rules did not restrict freedom of speech.

“In order to ensure that all students at The University of Western Australia feel safe and welcome on campus and can participate in their studies without fear of intimidation or harassment, an additional step in the event planning process has been added for events relating to the conflict in the middle east,” the UWA spokesperson said.

“This does not restrict freedom of speech or prohibit protest, rather it assures the UWA community that activities on campus are peaceful and will not harm the wellbeing of its community.

“The University remains committed to the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech and expects all discourse to be civil and respectful.”

The Students for Palestine committee had intended to invite supporters to jointly paint a banner with the words: “From the River to the Sea: Palestine will be free”.

Last year Anthony Albanese backed an assessment by leading security and intelligence expert Dennis Richardson that use of the chant at pro-Palestinian protests posed a danger in Australia and could “very easily flow over into actions of violence against communities”.

Vashti Fox, spokesperson from Friends of Palestine WA, said there was nothing offensive about the use of the phrase.

“Multiple civil liberties organisations have defended this phrase,” Ms Fox said.

The American Jewish Committee says that while the phrase’s origins are unknown, in the 1960s and 1970s it became the signature phrase of the Palestine Liberation Organization to indicate the replacement of the State of Israel with a State of Palestine extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea including the expulsion of Jews who entered the land after 1947.

“The phrase soon after became a rallying cry for terrorist groups including Hamas, the group responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage,” the American Jewsih Committee says on its website.