Australian Students Stage School Walkout, Demand Sanctions Against Israel

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Hundreds of university students across Australia have walked out of their classrooms and marched on the streets in solidarity with Palestinians — calling for the federal government to sanction Israel.

The protests, described by organisers as the national student strikes, were held on Thursday afternoon and involved students from various universities in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane and Wollongong.

According to the social media handle of the organising student group, hundreds of students participated in the protest in Melbourne.

Students from the University of Melbourne, RMIT, Monash and Swinburne University gathered in front of the state library in the CBD and marched to the intersection of Swanston and Flinders streets, where they held a sit-in protest. Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri was also in attendance.

Police tried to open the road and removed protesters who refused to move.

Five protesters were arrested and are expected to be charged on summons, police said.

A large group of people are sitting on a street with some holding Palestinian flags during a protest.

Hundreds of protesters marched from Melbourne’s state library to Federation Square in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Credit: Gabrielle de Vietri’s/Instagram

In Sydney, hundreds more protesters gathered in front of the NSW Labor Party headquarters after protesting at the town hall.

Students from the University of Sydney, the University of NSW, Macquarie University, Western Sydney University and some high schoolers joined the protests. Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi was among those attending the rally at the town hall.

The strike has been supported by the National Union of Students (NUS) and the National Tertiary Education Union.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering a case brought by South Africa, examining whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The ICJ is yet to rule on the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has called the genocide allegations “false and outrageous”, and his government has repeatedly claimed it targets only the militant group Hamas and not civilians.

A group of protesters are marching on a city street. In the foreground, people are holding two large banners. One banner says "STUDENTS FOR PALESTINE" and the other says "THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING, STOP THE GENOCIDE". A person in the middle holds a smaller sign that reads "THE WORLD'S WATCHING, SAVE GAZA". Many other people are visible behind the banners, with some holding Palestinian flags and other signs. The buildings on either side of the street suggest an urban environment.

In Sydney, protesters assembled outside the NSW Labor Party office following their demonstration at the town hall. Credit: Studentsforpalestinesydneyuni Instagram

The organisers said the students marched to protest against the ongoing “starvation of Palestinians in Gaza”, calling for the Australian government to “sanction Israel” and universities to “cut ties” with weapons manufacturing companies. However, they did not specify any details about universities’ links with these companies.

In its statement, NUS demanded that all Australian universities end “all partnerships with weapons companies”.

In recent years, several universities in Australia have been accused of working with weapons companies. Last August, the Australian National University announced its long-term investment pool would not invest in “controversial weapons manufacturers and civilian small arms manufacturers” following protests from its students.

Last May, the University of Melbourne said in a statement it would “remove ambiguity about research being conducted at the university”, following a student encampment on its campus.

Since the conflict escalated, nearly 200 Palestinians have died from starvation in Gaza, with about half of them being children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

This echoed comments from Netanyahu, who said last week: “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.”

— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.