A student protester who said Hamas deserved “unconditional support” has been suspended from the Australian National University, pending disciplinary action.
The move came as Victoria Police pushed for more powers to shut down pro-Palestine encampments, saying if they were allowed to keep growing there was a “strong likelihood of violence occurring between protest and counter-protest groups”.
Universities have pushed back on the comments, with the Group of Eight (Go8) chief, Vicki Thomson, telling Guardian Australia police were free to come on campus when they liked and universities had acted appropriately when there had been breaches of law.
“We are in the business of de-escalation. We do not want to see action as has occurred in the US where riot police have been brought in,” she said.
“Our universities are working with all of the relevant authorities , including state-based police to ensure the safety of all members of the university community.”
The ANU confirmed on Thursday it had started disciplinary proceedings against Beatrice Tucker, who has been suspended from campus until a hearing on Tuesday.
An open letter to the ANU vice-chancellor, Genevieve Bell, from Students and Staff Against War (SSAW) ANU declared the group’s unequivocal support for Tucker, demanding the disciplinary proceedings against them and another student be dropped.
SSAW ANU has members in the encampment but does not lead it or speak on behalf of the grassroots national movement Students for Palestine.
“The right of Palestinians to resist Israel’s occupation is recognised under international law,” the letter read. “No one should be persecuted for standing in solidarity with Palestinian resistance.”
Speaking on ABC Radio Canberra on 30 April, Tucker, a member of SSAW and organiser of the university’s encampment, was asked what message they would send to Hamas.
“This is a very common question the media often throws at pro-Palestine activists,” they replied.
“It’s seen as a bit of a scapegoat … it’s a distraction from the issue at hand, which is actually there’s a genocide going on.
“Hamas deserve our unconditional support – not because I agree with their strategy – complete disagreement with that, but the situation at hand is if you have no hope … nothing can justify what has been happening to the Palestinian people for 75 years.”
A spokesperson for ANU said it could not provide specific details of investigations for privacy reasons but confirmed “appropriate disciplinary action is being taken in this case”.
“Racism or hate speech, including antisemitism, is unacceptable at ANU,” they said.
Universities are facing mounting pressure to break up the pro-Palestine encampments amid reports of attacks.
At the University of Adelaide, security was increased after two alleged firecracker attacks on an encampment, while Deakin University closed off the main walkway of its Burwood campus where protesters are established after recording protesters directing “hate speech” at community members.
On Thursday, the Victoria Police deputy commissioner, Neil Paterson, wrote to university vice-chancellors at RMIT, Deakin, Monash, La Trobe and the University of Melbourne asking them to “carefully consider the risks” of allowing camps to continue.
“While acknowledging people’s right to protest, he noted police are being called to incidents on a daily basis and expressed his desire to avoid further escalation as seen in universities around the world,” a Victoria police spokesperson said.
“Police believe there is a strong likelihood of violence occurring between protest and counter-protest groups, as well as other criminal offences occurring such as property damage if the encampments continue to grow in size.
“Police are also concerned about the number of protesters who are not students inflaming the situation.”
Free Palestine Melbourne organiser Bella Beiraghi said the comments from Victoria Police were “concerning and mischaracterising”.
“Our campuses remain safe,” she said. “This is a peaceful protest for the Palestinian people … we have the right to peaceful assembly.”
Asked whether Paterson’s advice would be heeded, a spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said the campus was a public, open space that members of Victoria Police could attend at any time, while RMIT said no incidents had been reported.
Victoria police have set up surveillance cameras near the Monash University encampment to “proactively monitor any activity that may require intervention and/or enforcement”, Monash said in a statement after protesters clashed on Wednesday.
Security staff have also been requesting the identification of protestors to verify if they are students.
Encampment organiser Josiah Downey said protesters had been told verbally by management they could be reprimanded for using certain phrases. He said it “was racist” to ban the word intifada.
“[It’s] a term that translates to uprising in English,” Downey said.
He said the group would put out an open letter calling for the withdrawal of the policy, as it “impedes on the free speech of students on campus”.
Monash University did not respond to questions about this but in a statement on its website said it had become aware of posts on social media saying “Zionists … are not welcome” on its campuses and had asked the social media platforms to “remove the unacceptable posts”.
Other Group of Eight universities, including the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide, have fallen short of banning the terms, instead imploring protesters to use “clear phrases” instead of slogans “open to different interpretations or misinterpretation”.
Thomson said Go8 universities had “no plans” to shut down the camps unless they broke the law or disrupted the core activities of universities – which did not include chanting the phrases.
Universities are having active discussions about time and place provisions, including moving the location of a camp during an exam period so teaching and learning wasn’t disrupted.
“Universities are gearing up for end of semester exams and students have a right to sit their exams without interference,” she said.
“While there have been some isolated instances on some of our campuses, in the main the protests have, to date, been reasonably peaceful.”
