Pictured: Peter Varghese, Chancellor of the University of Queensland
The University of Queensland will involve police and take disciplinary action against students involved in pro-Palestinian protests after alleged incidents of assault, property damage and hate speech on campus.
UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese said the behavior went beyond a legitimate protest and was in breach of the university’s codes of conduct.
The UQ Senate met on Thursday and while it remained committed to freedom of expression, Varghese said this did not extend to actions on campus that disrupted classes or endangered the safety of staff and students.
“Anti-Semitism and other hate speech have no place on our campus,” he said.
“The Senate noted that the freedom to protest is not absolute. The university has a duty to promote the well-being of employees and students.’
Tensions continue to rise between rival pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli camps set up on the main campus of the University of Queensland (pictured)
Students have been warned they are ‘not going anywhere’ despite being told to leave campus as soon as possible (pictured)
Mr Varghese said the university was now taking steps to end camps set up on campus to avoid further disruption and security ahead of the examination period, and that he had met protest representatives.
But students told the story Courier mail they are ‘not going anywhere’ despite being ordered to move on as quickly as possible.
A student and member of Students for Palestine Liam Parry said the university had failed to communicate with his group about the decision to evict protesters.
“Honestly, this is news to us. As far as I know, the university has not told us we have to close,” he said.
“I know the university doesn’t like the existence of the camps – they’ve said so – but they haven’t told us to close in the first place.
“From our perspective, we have freedom of speech and the ability to continue to protest. We’re definitely not leaving. We’re not going anywhere.’
The University of Queensland will involve police and take disciplinary action against students involved in pro-Palestinian protests (photo, tents on campus)
Another student and member of the pro-Israel camp Shalom Idan Benesch said his organization would respect the move if ordered.
“I think this is the best thing for the university, for the students and also for our camp,” he told the Courier Mail.
“I was in the food court at lunch the other day, minding my own business with other students and it got disrupted.
“I know the purpose of a protest is disruption, but at a university where a bunch of tired students bombard their brains with information and then in their only peaceful lunch moment a protest starts.
‘It’s just not fun for any student. “I feel like the university’s request to leave is something we will respect.”
Political activist Drew Pavlou confronted protesters at the University of Queensland after a person allegedly put a Jewish sticker on his bag (pictured)
On Thursday, about 100 protesters from the group Students for Palestine occupied the Advanced Engineering Building, leading to classes and lectures being canceled as people could not enter the building.
Videos on social media showed protesters inside chanting: “Free, free Palestine.”
“This is a private movement that is winning,” one man said through a megaphone.
“I promise you that we will win this fight and this university will rid itself of genocide and we will continue until we win.”
Political activist Drew Pavlou said he was watching the rally “peacefully” when someone put a Jewish sticker on his bag.
“So I confronted the crowd of a hundred Trotskyists and socialists and denounced anti-Semitism,” he wrote on X.
“This bald guy, who isn’t even a student yet, tried to push me back and I tried to hold him to steady myself.”
Last week a window was reportedly smashed during a protest at the university.
UQ Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry (pictured) said the university was in discussions with nominated protest representatives to reach a peaceful resolution
UQ Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry said they were in discussions with nominated protest representatives to agree a peaceful solution to the current camp arrangements.
“The UQ Senate has endorsed this approach and the statement from UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese reaffirms our commitment to freedom of expression, while recognizing that there are limitations around safety and disruption to campus activities and operations,” she said .
“The university will continue to ensure that we take appropriate action when incidents occur that do not comply with our codes of conduct, while we do everything we can to achieve a peaceful resolution.”