More than 500 students showed up to join a Student General Meeting (SGM) for Palestine at UNSW on 25 September.
Students overwhelmingly endorsed three motions put forward by Students for Palestine—that UNSW disclose and divest from its $2.9 million in financial investments in weapons companies, cut its research partnerships with weapons companies, and that students “stand for a Free Palestine”.
This follows large SGMs supporting Palestine on a number of campuses, including an 800-strong meeting held at Sydney Uni in August.
Organisers had to move the meeting outside to the International lawn to accommodate the unprecedented number of attendees.
The mood was electric and inspiring, as chants demanding divestment and cutting ties echoed throughout lower campus.
There were speakers both for and against the motions, with a number of pro-Israel speakers including the Vice-President of the Australian Union of Jewish Students addressing the crowd.
But their arguments made little impact, with speakers against the motions facing roars of boos ringing throughout the crowd.
This political marginalisation of supporters of Israel is significant at a university campus that has historically been a stronghold for Zionist students.
The official count for the motions was 501 for and just 17 against. The students then marched toward Anzac Parade in a show of solidarity and strength.
The SGM has no binding effect under either the Arc’s (UNSW’s student services organisation) constitution, nor the Student Representative Council Charter.
Student election ticket 365forSRC is attempting to organise a separate Arc General Meeting for Arc to divest from weapons companies and end any association with companies on the BDS list.
But the SGM remains a powerful statement of the growing student opposition to Israel’s crimes in Gaza and support for Palestine, as the largest student political meeting on campus in many years.
The challenge is to turn this into student mobilisation through a robust campaign to force the university to cut ties with Israel.
By Midhat Jafti
