Syd Uni students endorse ‘one Palestinian state’, refuse to condemn October 7

Sydney University students demanded their university “cut ties with genocide in Gaza”, affirmed the Palestinian “right to resist” and endorsed “one Palestinian state” in a fiery student general meeting on Wednesday night.

Students who attempted to add a balancing amendment condemning Hamas’ massacre in Israel on October 7 were booed and sworn at, and that motion was resoundingly defeated.

The events are the latest in a series of encampments and protests which have spurred a burst of antisemitic incidents on campus and left Jewish students feeling under siege at many Australian universities.

Sydney University was strongly criticised by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry after it entered into an agreement to allow Muslim students to review the University’s investments and defence and security-related research activities, as part of a deal to close encampments.

This week’s activities were not the actions of the university but of the Student Representative Council (SRC), an independent entity which called a student general meeting solely to target Israel.

The University released a statement saying it was investigating reports of inappropriate conduct at the meeting.

"We do not tolerate any pro-terrorist statements or commentary, including support for Hamas - and any demonstration of support will result in disciplinary action and other possible legal consequences. "

The statement said the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) has written to the SRC president reminding students of their obligations under the university's code of conduct. It noted that attendees at the meeting represented less than one per cent of the student body.

Two motions were passed at the meeting, both by an overwhelming majority. The first demanded the University of Sydney “cut ties with genocide in Gaza”. The preamble to motion cited university partnerships with weapons companies “known to be part of the Israeli military's supply chain”, including Thales and Lockheed Martin.

The second motion supported “One Palestinian state and affirmed the right to resist”. In the preamble to this motion, the students supported armed resistance and objected to the expulsion or suspension of Australian students disciplined for endorsing terrorism and threatening Jewish students.

“We must consistently defend the legitimacy of armed resistance in the face of genocide in accordance with international law. The real terrorism is that of the Apartheid state of Israel,” it said.

A procedural motion was passed to prevent anybody speaking against the motion. Allegedly due to lack of time, only the proposer and seconder of the motion were allowed to speak.

An attempted ammendment including a condemnation of the Hamas October 7 attack, was overwhelmingly defeated with shouts of "We don't care" and posters declaring "Resistance is justified".

Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) National Vice President Zac Morris said Jewish students who attended the meeting or opposed the motion faced hostility.

“What we saw at the University of Sydney SRC Student General 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.” 

Morris said the refusal of the meeting to condemn the Hamas October 7 attack was distressing for many students.

“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.”

After the meeting, students protested outside the office of Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott.

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender released a statement condemning the student motion, and the treatment of Jewish students who had attempted to explain the facts of Hamas..

"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."

She called on Sydney University to do more to "create constructive and respectful conversations on campus".