Curtin students set up encampment to demand uni divest from Israel

Curtin University students have established a 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' on their Perth campus to demand the university cut all ties with Israel.

Students and their supporters set up tents on Wednesday night in pouring rain, following a rally and march through campus attended by around 400 people.

As of 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 tents had been installed on a lawn near the Chancellory building. The encampment has been organised by Students for Palestine, Friends of Palestine WA, and the Curtin Student Guild.

Speaking at the rally, Students for Palestine member Sarah Elrashid said she and her peers were determined to fight the university administration over Curtin's partnerships with weapons manufacturers.

"We cannot take this any longer," she said. "We will not be complicit in genocide. We demand Curtin University cut ties with weapons companies arming Israel. We demand Curtin cut ties with all Israeli companies. We demand Curtin cut ties with all Israeli universities."

Curtin has partnerships with the companies Lockheed Martin, Babcock Australasia and Huntington Ingalls Industries, all of which have ties to the Israeli military.

Just hours before the Curtin encampment began, news reports emerged of hundreds of police in riot gear arresting dozens of students at New York's Columbia University, where the first of the recent encampments began two weeks ago. Since then, the tactic has spread to campuses across the US, Europe and Australia.

At Curtin on Wednesday, the visible police presence was limited to two officers from the State Security Investigations Group, who filmed protesters from a distance.

Students for Palestine organiser and Curtin student Ella Marchionda told The Last Place on Earth encampments around the world were an important development in the global pro-Palestine movement.

"The fact that students are starting encampments reflects that we need to do more, and that we can do more," she said.

"We've been protesting week in, week out, on the streets and in the city, but now we're actually wanting to disrupt business as usual on campus."

"The university, they don't necessarily listen to nice words... Having the encampment is about saying that we actually will come out to oppose you publicly. We won't just sit nicely with you in boardrooms but we'll actually mobilise students to demand it en masse."

Curtin professor Adrian Baddeley told the rally that many Curtin staff were "deeply distressed by the genocide in Gaza" and supportive of student protesters.

"I've been an academic for 50 years, and in that time, universities have become much more corporate, much more authoritarian, much more coercive," he said. "Employment has become more insecure, and we now have official policies that staff members are, quote, only allowed to speak about their expertise in public... So, sorry, my name is Adrian Baddeley, I'm a professor of statistics, and in my expert opinion, at least 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza and a genocide is very likely."

17-year-old Jasmine, a Year 12 student who is also studying at Curtin through the university's advanced Rising Scholar program, spoke to The Last Place on Earth while she set up her tent on the campus lawn.

"I'm super stoked to be going to university," she said. "I'm not so stoked to find out that our university has ties with and sends research to weapons manufacturers. So I'm here doing what I can to stop that."

Jasmine said she'd been inspired by student protests at Columbia and elsewhere.

"It can be really sad finding out all these horrible things about the world, but it's really motivating to see young people just fighting against that," she said. "There's got to be hope in the future."

A Curtin spokesperson said the university recognised that "events taking place on the international stage are playing on the minds of us all."

"Freedom of speech is central to Curtin University’s values and we respect the right of students and staff to protest lawfully and peacefully on campus," she said. "Curtin is also committed to ensuring our campus is safe and the rights of all staff and students to continue to participate fully in university life are protected.

"Curtin is taking a health and safety-first approach to the protest activities and has contacted the protest organisers to ensure they are aware of safety considerations around their activities. We have also engaged with staff and students so that they are informed and know how to access help, should they need it.

"The protest activities on campus will be monitored and the University has processes and personnel in place to respond appropriately if required.

"Curtin’s research aims are to support a safe, healthy and sustainable future for Australians. We collaborate with domestic and international universities, research institutes and companies to achieve these aims. Curtin does not condone contravention of international humanitarian law."

Ella Marchionda said Students for Palestine planned to maintain the encampment for at least a week.

"We do want to see if we can go for longer if there is the enthusiasm there, to put as much pressure as possible on the university administration," she said.

The next episode of The Last Place on Earth podcast will take a closer look at the Curtin encampment and the WA contingent of the global movement for Palestinian rights. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.