Pro-Palestine protesters cause disruptions for students and staff

A prominent political activist claims he was unwittingly dragged into a pro-Palestine university rally after something was placed on his bag.

Pro-Palestine protesters have stormed The University of Queensland and disrupted classes, while Sydney University’s activists say they “won’t rule out” occupying school buildings and will continue their occupation if forced to vacate campus grounds.

The Courier Mail reported the Students for Palestine group planned to occupy the Advanced Engineering Building at The University of Queensland for the remainder of the day.

A student from the uni told the newspaper that the protest had disrupted his lecture.

“I’ve got a lecture that can’t start, I had a lecture an hour before but no one else could get in,” he said.

Videos posted on social media show protesters inside a building chanting: “Free, free Palestine.”

“This is a private movement that wins,” one man said through a megaphone.

“I promise you we will win this fight and this university will divest from genocide and we will keep going until we win.”

Political activist Drew Pavlou said he was “peacefully” watching the rally when somebody put a Jewish sticker on his bag.

“So I confronted the mob of 100 Trotskyites and socialists and denounced anti-Semitism,” he said on X.

A pro-Palestine protester clashes with political activist Drew Pavlou at the University of Queensland Campus. Picture: X

“This baldy guy who is not even a student tried to push me over backwards and I tried to hold onto him to stabilise myself.”

A commenter, @machadomerwhn, wrote on X that the pro-Palestine students needed to be “packed off to Palestine instead of protesting in Australia”.

A University of Queensland spokesperson said security at the campus was continuing to monitor the protest to ensure the safety of their community and to take any necessary action.

“Access to the building was temporarily restricted when the protest commenced, and noise caused some disruptions to teaching,” they said.

“The university is continuing to proactively engage with protest organisers to agree a peaceful resolution to the protest camps, and as part of this, the vice-chancellor met with both groups last Friday.”

Mr Pavlou said someone put a Jewish sticker on his bag. Picture: X

Meanwhile, at a speaking event on Thursday, Student Representative Council members affiliated with Students for Palestine USyd reported a breakdown in negotiations with the school’s faculty.

The student body has called for an acknowledgment of the university’s ties to any Israeli educational institutions, as well as an acknowledgment and divestment of its financial ties to defence industry corporations and arms manufacturers.

The meeting came over three weeks past the encampment’s foundation.

“(Australia’s university faculties) pride themselves on freedom of speech and free expression,” SRC education officer Shovan Bhattari said.

“I think however, what we’re witnessing is that in reality, above the professed aims and goals stated via university administration, far more valued are their ties to profit to the connections they have with industry, namely the connections they have to the defence industry.

“What we’re witnessing across the country is an attempt to clamp down on our protest processes, which are putting the fire at the feet of university administrations.”

The protesters have vowed to continue their occupation. Picture: NewsWire/ James Dowling

SRC vice president Deaglan Godwin said the Sydney University encampment had received a request on Tuesday to meet and discuss the group’s demand for divestment.

All prior correspondence is alleged not to have discussed the demands of protesters.

Tuesday’s correspondence reportedly asked for a private discussion between faculty and organisers, which was declined by the Students for Palestine.

On Thursday, an open letter was sent in response that demanded any negotiations happen in a public forum.

The offer was made to either meet at the encampment or in a town hall style forum at one of the lecture theatres on the Camperdown campus. A meeting time was offered for Friday, 10am.

SRC vice president Deaglan Godwin addressed the crowd. Picture: NewsWire/ James Dowling

At 3pm on Thursday, it is alleged Mr Godwin received an email from the university saying their demand for a public discussion was “impossible”.

Mr Godwin attacked vice-chancellor Mark Scott for a perceived lack of willingness to negotiate, labelling him a “PR man”.

“Mark Scott, what do you have to hide? Why are you not willing to sit in front of students and staff to hear the demands,” he said.

“We reject this demand for privacy. We have nothing to hide. Our demands are very public.

“I don’t think that there can be substantive discussion in private.”

An estimated 90 tents are at the University of Sydney.Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Estimates by the Students for Palestine placed the camp size at 90 tents as of this week.

Protest leaders said they would follow the example of activists at Deakin University and continue to occupy campus grounds if school faculty demanded they vacate.

“We will be willing to continue our encampment, even if the university requests us to leave, because we think what we’re doing is important,” Mr Godwin said.

“(This is) traditional student activism that goes back to the movements in solidarity with the struggle against apartheid, with the struggle against the war in Vietnam.”

SRC president Harrison Brennan said the encampment had not been issued any requests to vacate the university’s quadrangle gardens. No students had faced disciplinary action due to their protest involvement, he claimed.

Mr Brennan was critical of the recent Senate action against protest phrases like “intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.

He referred to recent disciplinary action against ANU students as the result of a “kangaroo court”.

He hoped that the “critical” period in which the protests took place, as graduations and exams continued across the university, would encourage the faculty to consider negotiation.

Students for Palestine protesters occupy a building at the University of Queensland. Picture: X

In Victoria, thousands of students missed out on classes at The University of Melbourne as a pro-Palestine encampment continued its sit-in inside a huge building.

A university spokeswoman said 6500 students did or would miss out on classes on Wednesday and Thursday.

The university said a camp pitched on April 25 could remain as long as demonstrators were not disruptive. Jewish students have spoken out about feeling ostracised on the campus.

The situation intensified on Wednesday when demonstrators moved into the large Arts West building. They unfurled a banner and proclaimed the building was now called Mahmoud’s Hall after a man killed in Gaza who was enrolled at the university.

Last week, a window at the Queensland university was smashed during a protest by the student group.

Police are also investigating allegations that two security guards were assaulted on campus earlier this month.

Queensland Police confirmed they had not been called to the campus on Thursday.

Originally published as Pro-Palestine protesters cause disruptions for students and staff