The University of Melbourne says campus protests against the war in Gaza have been infiltrated by outside agitators, but students reject the claim.
The University of Melbourne has given police the green light to break up a pro-Palestinian protest occupying a major building on campus, opening the door for a potentially ugly confrontation.
Melbourne University student and one of the protest organisers Varisha Ariadna said claims the protest been taken over by non-students were untrue.Advertisement At the camp outside the Arts West building on Thursday night, all was quiet bar the soft sounds of a drum and tambourine. Most protesters had taken to their tents or sought warmth inside, though plans were made for a sing-a-long after dinner.
Ariadna, who has been part of the University of Melbourne camp since Anzac Day, said she was unaware of any property damage on campus. The meaning of the two slogans is contested on both sides of the conflict. To Palestinian supporters, they represent demands for the end of occupation; for some Israelis, the chants are an antisemitic call for their destruction. The Senate on Thursday passed with bipartisan support a motion condemning the use of the chant.Justin McManus
Notices were issued on Thursday prohibiting any protesters who weren’t staff or students from entering the university grounds. “I could only imagine how our students, particularly our Jewish students, would feel having to make their way to class through that,” Wesley said. “I spoke to a student earlier today and he basically said, ‘I think they are a bunch of wankers and I just want them to leave’.”
The Arts West occupiers have renamed the building Mahmoud Hall, in honour of a Palestinian student killed alongside his family in Gaza at the start of the war.
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