Uni’s ultimatum to pro-Palestine camp

University of Sydney staff have ordered protesters at a controversial pro-Palestine encampment on campus grounds to vacate after months of attempting a peaceful resolution failed.

Protesters have occupied the grounds since April in protest of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, demanding the university disclose and divest from their ties to Israel.

The Students for Palestine USyd Instagram account has documented the state of the encampment on the lawn of the Sydney campus.

But the encampment is now being packed up, with protesters told to vacate as security and clean-up crews move in.

In a statement, a University of Sydney spokesman said the encampment had taken over the campus’ shared space “to the exclusion of others” and the move was forced by the protesters’ last rejection of their proposal for a peaceful resolution.

“For some weeks we have tried to negotiate with encampment representatives to come to a peaceful resolution,” the spokesman said.

“The front lawns are a shared space, and as we have said previously, our shared spaces should be welcoming and inclusive to all members of our community.”

The spokesman said staff had worked with encampment representatives since the protest began in April to keep the area clean and hygienic.

Broken items and rubbish are being removed from the encampment, along with tents not being used overnight.

“We have repeatedly stated since the encampment began that we support the right to peaceful protest, provided it does not cause significant disruption to core university operations,” the spokesman said.

“We consider preparations for Semester 2 to be core University operations, and any activity that impedes our ability to prepare for them in the usual fashion constitutes a significant and unacceptable disruption.”

But members of the Students for Palestine USyd group say they were not given any notice of what constituted the lost property and unattended items being removed.

“Many of our tents have been indiscriminately packed down by security,” one representative from the group said in an Instagram video.

“This also comes after we received an email from vice chancellor Mark Scott demanding we vacate the camp so the university can go ahead with their welcome week celebrations uninterrupted.”

The two men – pictured standing in the rain at the encampment – say protesters will not be moving, calling on others to help “defend” the encampment.

“We need people to defend the USyd Gaza solidarity encampment right now! Management and security are trying to claim that the camp and its tents are unattended so that they can clear the site out,” another says in the video.

Sydney’s encampment was one of the last remaining in the country, after universities across Australia ramped up their actions towards similar encampments.

One in Melbourne disbanded after reaching a resolution with University of Melbourne staff.

But an Australian National University encampment in Canberra was met with police after they refused an order to vacate.

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