USYD investigating ‘inappropriate’ student conduct
"Universities should be places for respectful discussion, but Sydney University has let us down," said MP Allegra Spender.
The University of Sydney is investigating reports of inappropriate conduct at a student general meeting and has sought police advice on the legality of certain material used to promote the event.
A motion calling for a single Palestinian state and affirming the right of Palestinians to “armed resistance” was passed during the meeting at USYD on Wednesday night.
The students, who call themselves “Students Against War” and “peace activists”, also called for a “mass, militant student movement on campus”.
It’s understood Jewish students from AUJS were in the room, but were prevented from speaking. Activist Freya Leach spoke to a room full of around 800 students, but she was largely drowned out by jeers.
AUJS vice president Zac Morris told The AJN that what happened during the meeting was not activism, “it was antisemitism that has become normalised on our University campuses”.
“Jewish students are not responsible for the events in the Middle East, but we are seriously impacted by them. Instead of being offered support and a platform to share our experiences, we are seeing the proliferation of age-old antisemitic tropes all around us and the trivialisation of our experiences,” said Morris.
“For the past 10 months, Jewish students have been targeted, ostracised and excluded and now they have to walk on campus knowing their peers support the attacks of October 7.”
“Expressing support for the brutal terrorism of October 7 as ‘resistance’ is an explicit endorsement of violence. For Jewish students who study and live on campus, that is absolutely terrifying.”
“Every single student deserves to feel safe on campus, and right now Jewish students do not.”
A USYD spokesperson said any demonstration of support for Hamas or terrorism will result in disciplinary action and other possible legal consequences.
“Less than one percent of our student population attended the SRC meeting – student representative and student-led groups are independent of the University and certainly don’t represent our institutional position nor do they represent the majority of our student body,” the spokesperson said.
“Their members are required to abide by our policies and codes of conduct and we don’t hesitate to take action if there has been a breach. Our Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) has written again today to the SRC president reminding them of their obligations.
“Central to democracy is the freedom for individuals to express diverse and differing opinions and any attempt to intimidate, silence or exclude views is contrary to who we are as a university.”
Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender said she was, “appalled to see young Jewish students treated with disrespect when they explained the facts about Hamas”.
“People in our community were horrified by (Wednesday) night’s student motion at Sydney University,” said Spender.
“Last night’s motion excuses the actions of Hamas and was passed without meaningful debate. No thoughtful person who considers the facts could support such a motion.
“Universities should be places for respectful discussion but Sydney University has let us down. I urge the university administration to do more to create constructive and respectful conversations on campus. It is their responsibility to provide leadership to their students.”
During the anti-Israel meeting, undergraduates were encouraged to vote on two motions, the first demanding USYD disclose and divest from its ties with Israel and endorse the BDS campaign, and the second calling for a single Palestinian state “from the river to the sea”.
“We recognise the right to armed resistance Palestinians have under international law as an occupied people,” the motion states.
“All the violence in Palestine and Israel is a result of the Israeli state.”
The students also defended student activist Beatrice Tucker, who was expelled by the Australian National University for saying Hamas deserve “unconditional support”.
AUJS NSW co-president Michael Grenier claimed the USYD administration view such hateful and violent rhetoric as “academic freedom of speech”.
“We have seen several such examples where meetings glorifying the kidnapping of civilians and events of October 7 have been classified as ‘academic freedom of speech'”, he said.
“There is no illusion as to what ‘armed resistance’ means – we saw it on October 7.
“We again call upon the administration to stop approving these events to take place – and note that all such events have been actively approved by campus security in the event booking process.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the motions are a further attempt to “isolate and demonise” Jewish students and staff, while NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip questioned whether expressing support for violent terror tactics “breaches Australian law”.
Meanwhile, ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim has welcomed an announcement by the university’s new chancellor David Thodey and his immediate predecessor Belinda Hutchinson that USYD is in the process of commissioning an external review to ensure its campus is safe and welcoming for all students and staff.
“Jewish students and other staff at the university have been through a harrowing ordeal these last few months,” Wertheim said.
“They will no doubt have much to say to the review about their experiences and what is widely perceived to be a mishandling of the recent protests by the university administration. We will be encouraging them to come forward.”
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