Writings from the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment: The series
On 29 April 2024, students established a Gaza Solidarity Encampment in the centre of the Australian National University (ANU) campus. The students made the following demands:
- That the ANU cut ties with all weapons manufacturing companies, starting with BAE systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and place a moratorium with any such ties in the future;
- That the ANU disclose and divest from all companies complicit in the genocide in Gaza, including all companies on the BDS list;
- That the ANU cut academic ties with Israel, including the exchange partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as any research partnerships with Israeli companies;
- That the ANU condemns and denounces the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the apartheid Israeli state, including the destruction of all universities in Gaza and the murder of Palestinian students and academics.
As of late July, the university executive has refused to visit the encampment. Instead, it has kept the encampment under constant surveillance, directed students to vacate the encampment and taken disciplinary action against those students that it could identify through surveillance.
Early in the morning of May 27th, a directive was issued for the encampment to be dismantled and the police were brought in to enforce the directive. However, by midday that day, the tents had not been removed and some two hundred protesters – students, staff and members of the community – had assembled around the encampment. The police withdrew and the university issued a new directive, for the encampment to be removed by the following midday. Overnight, students packed up the tents and reestablished the encampment in another place on campus, a short distance from the original location.
Before and after the encampment’s relocation, the university executive has invited encampment members to a meeting only on condition that the students identify themselves. Given the risk of disciplinary action associated with identification, it is understandable that students have not complied. Instead, they asked that a team of a few staff members, including myself, act as intermediaries between the encampment and the university executive. The University executive finally responded to the staff team’s numerous requests for a meeting, and so far, has met with us twice, with another meeting planned soon.
To date, the university executive has failed to address any of the encampment’s demands. However, the Vice Chancellor has assured the staff mediation team that the exchange partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is no longer in operation and has promised to have the university website revised to make this clear. In addition, she and the University Council committed the university to a review of the so-called Socially Responsible Investment Policy and launched a consultation process. Submissions closed on July 17th.
Meanwhile, of the 12 students known to have been subjected to disciplinary measures, one has been expelled from the university. Two have had charges dropped and disciplinary measures rescinded. The rest remain banned from residing at the encampment.
As Canberra’s bitterly cold winter has progressed, the number of students staying overnight at the encampment declined from a peak of 30-50 in early May to just a handful during the semester break. But with the start of second semester, the numbers are increasing again. Throughout this almost three-month period, apart from the students staying overnight, many more have been involved in daily meetings and other activities, and numerous members of the community have continued to visit and offer support. There are no plans to dismantle the encampment.
The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.
