Students Call to Action for Upcoming Palestine Protests
SRC Environment Officer Emma Terry and Councillor Avasa Bajracharya let you know what you can do to get involved in activism on campus this term.
1,400 calories. That is the average amount a Gazan consumes each day, or 67% of what the human body needs to actually survive. This is a pre-calculated number, a deliberate number that the Israeli government has mustered up over the last few decades to starve the population. Now, mass starvation has become the weapon of choice for one of the worst crimes of humanity since Vietnam. From the total blockade of aid imposed by Israel in March, there has been a restriction on vital medication, food and supplies to the 2 million people left in Gaza.
UNRWA staff describe the population as “neither dead nor alive - walking corpses” as 147 people, including 88 children, have now starved to death since October 2023, according to health officials in Gaza. This is all while UNWRA aid trucks 20 minutes from the Gaza border are parked, waiting and unable to pass through.
While this horror occurs, the Australian Labor government has only issued rhetorical statements while continuing to back Israel as they have done for decades. A Declassified Australia report came out that Australia is still directly trading Australian-made F-35 parts and Elbit Systems drones to Israel. It is quite a hypocrisy as Albanese states that what is happening in Gaza is “a breach of decent humanity and of morality” while refusing to do even the simple task of recognising the state of Palestine.
Now is the time to fight for Palestine and against our government’s crimes in this genocide. We need a mass movement that can shake up the status quo and put real pressure on our government to end the weapons trade and sanction Israel. That's why Students for Palestine are calling on students to attend and help build two key events.
The first is the March for Humanity across the Harbour Bridge protest. This will happen this Sunday, 3rd of August, at 1 pm, starting from Lang Park, near Wynyard station. This extraordinary situation requires a mass response that will attract global attention to the cause and our government’s complicity. The protest has already been blocked by the NSW Premier and police, threatening to shut down the peaceful protest for the “chaos” it will cause. So Palestine Action Group are calling for all Palestine supporters to come out in our tens of thousands to stand for humanity.
Pledge your support for this important rally here: https://shorturl.at/MQnDF and clear your schedule to come to it.
The second is the National Student Strike 4 Palestine, called by Students for Palestine and the National Student Union. On Thursday the 7th of August, all students nationally will leave their classrooms to show support for Palestine. A UNSW contingent will be leaving lower campus at 11 am on the 7th of August in Week 10 to head to the city together via the light rail. Students are demanding that weapons companies be kicked off campus, for the government to sanction Israel, and to end the repression of Palestine activists.
This is particularly relevant for UNSW students. A Government Information Public Access request submitted last year by Students for Palestine uncovered that our university has $2.9 million invested in key weapon companies such as Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. This includes a $250 million Defence Trailblazer partnership with the ADF and companies like Northrop Grumman. Many of these companies are well known for supplying to, or buying weapons from, Israel, which they use against the Palestinian population. Our university is therefore complicit in this genocide, and we must oppose our research and fees being used to aid these weapons companies.
Like the movements against South African apartheid or the Vietnam War, we need hundreds of thousands to show their solidarity for Palestine and to demand action from our universities and governments. We hope that students join us on the right side of history.
