A pro-Palestine encampment at a Victorian university has been ordered to disband immediately due to “unacceptable behaviour”.
Deakin University deputy vice-chancellor Kerrie Parker ordered the “immediate dismantling and removal of the current encampment” at its Burwood campus, in an email to organisers on Monday evening.
“Your ability to undertake protest, political discourse and debate on Deakin campuses is not being infringed or curtailed,” Ms Parker wrote.
“The right to freedom of speech does not extend to the establishment of unauthorised camps which pose hygiene and safety risks and restrict the access, availability and use of Deakin premises and facilities for the benefit of the Deakin community of users.
“The closure of Morgan Walk, a restriction brought about by the unacceptable behaviour of protesters, is creating an impediment to the normal use and function of the campus,” Ms Parker wrote.
However, encampment organisers are vowing to resist and have organised a rally in response to the eviction notice for Wednesday evening.
Deakin Students for Palestine’s Jasmine Duff said the university had not been in touch before ordering the group to disband.
“We’re going to keep our protests going,” she told ABC radio Melbourne on Tuesday.
“We’re having a peaceful protest encampment like students all over the world right now because we’re protesting against war.
“Over 35,000 people, including over 8000 children have now been killed in one of the darkest atrocities of our generation, and we are peace activists standing up against that.”
In a social media post, the group reiterated its demand for the university vice-chancellor to meet with encampment organisers and divest its ties with Israel and weapons manufacturers.
Premier Jacinta Allan called for calm on university campuses.
“Universities, they can be a place for protest,” she told reporters.
“But that protest must be peaceful, it must be respectful and it also shouldn’t be compromising the safety of students who are going to university to further their education.”
It comes after more than 1000 people attended an event at Monash University’s Clayton campus on Monday night for a Yom HaZikaron event, which commemorates Israeli victims of terror.
About 100 of these were pro-Palestine supporters.
Police attended, but no arrests were made.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said protesters chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at attendees was a “provocative act”.
“One of the really disappointing things is that I reckon if you asked those people chanting it, heaps of them wouldn’t have a clue, wouldn’t be able to find the Jordan (River) on a map,” he told 3AW.
Mr Albanese reiterated the right to protest in Australia but that it be respectful.
“It’s beyond me why people would think that it advances their cause to engage in this sort of behaviour,” he said.
Monash University’s Students for Palestine group have asked supporters to join their encampment before the start of a pro-Israel rally on campus on Tuesday afternoon.
A University of Melbourne spokeswoman said its encampment was disrupted on Sunday night by counter protesters wearing masks and hooded shirts.
The small group entered its Parkville campus “aggressively harassed” a group of on the University’s South Lawn, she said.
Footage on the commotion was posted to social media but no injuries were reported.
PRO-PALESTINE ENCAMPMENTS AT AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES:
* NSW: University of Sydney, UNSW, University of Wollongong
* VIC: University of Melbourne, Deakin University, Monash University, RMIT University, Latrobe University
* SA: University of Adelaide
* QLD: University of Queensland
* WA: Curtin University
* TAS: University of Tasmania
* ACT: Australian National University
This post was originally published on Michael West.