On the 8th of August, the university released a statement regarding the Student General Meeting that fails to address any of the concerns or arguments that were raised.
Response to the University of Sydney’s Statement on the Historic Student General Meeting
On Wednesday the 7th of August, 600 participate in a mass general meeting that discussed the university’s ties to Israel, facilitated by the Students’ Representative Council. An overwhelming majority voted for the motion demanding the university end ties to weapons companies involved in the genocide in Gaza, and The university’s ties to Israeli universities that have a proven record of collaboration with the Israeli defence Force and that operate on stolen Palestinian land.
This was a historic show of opposition by the student body to the complicity of our university in the genocide that is taking place in Gaza. It was the largest action for Palestine that has taken place on this campus in history and the largest SGM in decades. According to a letter published in the Lancet Medical Journal, 186,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel's latest attack. Every one of the 12 Gazan universities have been destroyed by Israel. The vote on Wednesday night was a sign that the students do not want our university to have tangible connections with a state carrying out such a genocide. The meeting was an opportunity for students to exercise their democratic rights and have their voices heard.
On the 8th of August, the university released a statement regarding the Student General Meeting that fails to address any of the concerns or arguments that were raised. The statement does no acknowledge the record number of students who attended. The university does not substantiate any of its allegations of breaches of university policy or the law with evidence. This is an attempt to cast aspersions on what was a peaceful democratic event.
The university then cites the conflicting views on the genocide in Gaza as a reason for it’s recent implementation of the draconian new Campus Access Policy. This policy does not safeguard free speech but severely curtails it, by requiring approval for a range of regular activities, such as using a megaphone at a rally, or erecting a table for a stall. The university now requires that organisers provide 72 hours notice of any protest, otherwise it is considered unauthorised and prohibited from going ahead. University security have now been given the power to detain students and deliver them to the NSW Police if they don’t abide by instructions.
The most recent statement demonstrates the utter hypocrisy in the university’s rhetoric and conduct. They talk of championing free speech while curtailing those who speak up against them. They write about safety being paramount, yet have research partnerships with weapons companies, companies which by definition make the world more unsafe. They talk about democracy while denigrating mass, participatory democracy of the student general meeting. Mass meetings of both the National Tertiary Education Union and the SRC have condemned the university’s ties to Israel and still the university refuses to sever these ties.
The University of Sydney SRC is the Independent representative organisation for undergraduate students. We regard the university’s statement, along with their introduction of the Campus Access Policy, as a threat to the independence of the SRC. The university should not have the right to comment on the processes and actions of the SRC. Political student unions are important bodies that defend students’ rights and express their political opinions, especially when those opinions are critical to the university.
We call on the university to cease with their baseless slander against pro-Palestine activists. We call on the university to respect the vote of the largest meeting of the student body in decades and end its complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We call on the University to cut their ties with weapons companies that help to facilitate a genocide, and end their exchange programs with Israeli universities that help to justify and assist Israel’s apartheid regime. We call in the university to rescind the Campus Access Policy immediately and restore the democratic and civil rights of all students.