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'Show solidarity': Pro-Palestinian protesters camp across Australian universities

Members of the Palestine Action Group gather ahead of a rally, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Sydney, Australia May 3, 2024. (Reuters)

By Reuters | 03 May 2024

Similar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

Hundreds of people protesting Israel's war in Gaza rallied at one of Australia's top universities on Friday demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel, in a movement inspired by the student occupations sweeping US campuses.

Pro-Palestinian activists set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at the University of Sydney, one of Australia's largest tertiary institutions.

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Similar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

Unlike in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges, protest sites in Australia have been peaceful with scant police presence.

On Friday, protesters rallied to demand University of Sydney divest from companies with ties to Israel, echoing calls from students in the U.S., Canada and France.

Standing in the chanting crowd of more than 300 with his two-year-old son on his shoulders, Matt, 39, said he came to show it was not just students angry at Israel's actions in Gaza.

"Once you understand what is going on you have a responsibility to try and get involved and raise awareness and show solidarity," he told Reuters, declining to give his last name.

Several hundred metres away from the Sydney University protest and separated by lines of security guards, hundreds gathered under Australian and Israeli flags to hear speakers say the pro-Palestinian protests made Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus.