Students occupying a University of Melbourne building have been threatened with “disciplinary action and police action”, as at least three other universities seek to crack down on pro-Palestine encampments.
In a video released more than 24 hours after activists “crossed a line” by starting a sit-in at the Arts West building, the University of Melbourne’s deputy vice-chancellor, Prof Michael Wesley, said management’s patience was “now at an end”.
Wesley said some protesters could be disciplined under the university’s codes of conduct and may face police action.
“If those codes of conduct are contravened, as they have been now, the people who are carrying them out will face disciplinary action and police action, if necessary,” Wesley said.
“We are in ongoing discussions with the police. They are advising us about how we keep this situation under control and they are giving us advice about how we might move forward to end the protests in the occupation.”
He said “there could be criminal charges if [activists] continue to defy the orders of the university and the orders of Victoria police”, and if they refused to leave peacefully then “we will have to go down the more forceful route”. He also said another on-campus encampment should be disbanded.
Student protesters at three other universities have also been threatened with disciplinary action – including some as serious as suspension or expulsion – due to the ongoing protests.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters flooded the building and unofficially renamed it “Mahmoud’s Hall” after a Palestinian who was killed with his family in Gaza before he could start his studies in Australia.
About 100 students camped in the building overnight, ignoring the university’s request for them to leave. The university’s management cancelled all classes in the building for Wednesday afternoon and all of Thursday.
Protesters at Deakin University defied a second order to disband their pro-Palestine encampments on Thursday, as they vowed they would “not be moved” until their demands were met.
On Wednesday evening, a rally attended by about 200 people was held at the university a day after the protesters were told to dismantle their camps.
“It is gross hypocrisy for Deakin to talk about safety while carrying out explosives and guided weapons research for one of the world’s largest arms companies,” organiser Jasmine Duff said. “What about the safety of people in Gaza?”
In an email sent to staff and students on Thursday, the vice-chancellor, Iain Martin, said students had breached the university’s code of conduct due to “unacceptable language and behaviour”.
A separate email sent to Duff from the deputy vice-chancellor, Kerrie Parker, warned she could be subject to student misconduct procedures if she did not obey the order to immediately dismantle.
A University of Melbourne spokesperson said more than 5,000 students and staff had been affected by the ongoing disruption, and 150 classes rescheduled.
Victoria police said on Thursday morning that the university was “presently managing the situation” and had not asked officers to remove the protesters.
It comes as nine students at Monash University have been accused of misconduct and threatened with suspension or expulsion by the university for incidents at the encampment on 7 May.
Student Josiah Downey said the university had chosen to “persecute students who are peacefully standing against the genocide” while ignoring their demands to disclose and cut any ties they have to Israeli institutions and weapons manufacturers.
A Monash spokesperson said it was “committed to considering all formal reports of student general misconduct related to protest activity”.
“We are reviewing and investigating the complaints in line with our policies and procedures, which has resulted in a number of formal notices of student misconduct being issued,” they said.
Students have until 20 May to respond to the allegations. Guardian Australia understands the behaviour of counter-protesters is also being investigated.
On Wednesday, seven students were brought in to a meeting with ANU and advised to vacate their camps by Friday or risk breaching the university’s code of conduct.
In a letter sent to the students on Thursday, deputy vice-chancellor Prof Grady Venville said she was “concerned about the health and safety of participants within the encampment”, adding “similar directions will be issued to all those identified as residing in the encampment”.
In Brisbane, video has emerged of a brief scuffle at a University of Queensland sit-in on Thursday.
A group, led by Students for Palestine, occupied the university’s advanced engineering building for several hours, temporarily restricting access and disrupting teaching.
A spokesperson for UQ said the vice-chancellor met with the contingent and counter-protesters last Friday and was “continuing to proactively engage … to agree a peaceful resolution to the protest camps”.
– with Andrew Messenger
