Last month, the University of Melbourne expelled two students and suspended two others for participating in a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus.
The disciplinary action came amid a deepening assault on democratic rights by the federal Labor government of Anthony Albanese, aimed at outlawing all opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which Australian imperialism has fully supported.
In October 2024, students staged a sit-in at the office of Professor Steven Prawer, who heads the university’s collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an institution that trains IDF personnel. The protesters peacefully requested an end to this partnership, displayed a Palestinian flag, and put up stickers declaring, “Antisemitism is a crime, anti-Zionism is a duty” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The university responded in an authoritarian fashion. One expelled student attended the sit-in for merely 10 minutes without engaging in any sanctionable actions, yet the disciplinary committee ruled this constituted “harassment and intimidation.” The revelation that Melbourne University tracks students through Wi-Fi surveillance exposes the police-state infrastructure being deployed against dissent.
Anti-war and anti-capitalist sentiment is surging internationally, particularly amongst young people. The Melbourne University expulsions express the deep fear of the Australian ruling elite towards this radicalisation and its potential to link up with a broader movement of the working class.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality’s club at the university has been campaigning among students on campus over the past weeks in opposition to these attacks. Students interviewed by the IYSSE expressed their outrage over the expulsions and connected them to the global assault on democratic rights.
Lily, who is studying ancient world history, said: “I think what we’re seeing is the mobilisation of anti-bigotry policies, which are then used by the university and government to control narratives, especially about the genocide in Gaza. ‘Antisemitism’ is the one that’s being used at the moment, but other things as well could be used soon to criminalise protesters. It sets a very dangerous precedent: the policies are meant to keep students safe from discrimination, but they’re being used for the opposite.”
On Gaza, she said: “This is clearly a genocide. There’s nothing that can be said against that. The Australian government is behind it, that’s the case for most western governments. This is unequivocal support for barbaric policies in the Middle East. Islamophobia is used to justify any amount of atrocities committed against people throughout the region.”
Alan, a law student, said the expulsion of students was linked to attempts by governments internationally to shut down opposition to war and anti-immigrant policies, particularly in the US.
He said the Trump administration’s deployment of the military against protests in Los Angeles was part of a plan to overthrow the US constitution and establish dictatorship. “Trump is attempting to use a false assessment of events, that this is an ‘invasion’ and an ‘insurrection,’ so that he could misuse the Insurrection Act, overturn the constitution and establish a police state. He has already subverted the Supreme Court with his own judges.”
Hazel, an international student from China doing computer science, said: “This is all about opposition to war, right? I have no experience of war myself, but I think war is a disaster. People need to live in peace, while war hurts people physically and mentally.”
Axel said: “It’s horrible. I think it’s a sign of the systematic silencing of students’ voices. Students have always been at the forefront of social movements. The university should respect that, and also recognise that these are important human rights issues that deserve to be raised and don’t deserve to be subject to punishment like this.
“There’s talk of the university’s investment or involvement in various industries that are active in Israel. I also think universities have always been resistant to students raising their voices and causing what they would call disruptions. I don’t think university administrators are these progressive actors that maybe people often think they are. They’re often forced to act like that by students. And we’re seeing now another case of pushback: it happened in the 60s and 70s, and it’s happening now. So their suppression of opposition is related to the basic institution of universities, and it’s also related to their specific alignment with interests involved in Israel.”
On Labor’s active support for the genocide, Axel said: “It’s horrible and cowardly. During apartheid in South Africa, a lot of governments did take a stance against it. This today is an instance where one of the most demonised peoples on earth, Arabic people, often Muslim people, are the ones being oppressed. Our government has not stood up to this.”
IYSSE campaigners fought to clarify among students that the Australian government’s support for genocide was not an aberration, but inseparable from Australia’s growing integration into US imperialist war plans. That includes preparations for a catastrophic conflict with China in this region.
This underscores the futility of individual protests and moral appeals to the very capitalist government complicit in the genocide. The only way to stop the genocide and the broader threat of world war, the IYSSE insisted, is through a political struggle against Labor and its imperialist allies in a socialist movement uniting students with the international working class—the only social force capable of ending war by overthrowing the capitalist system that produces it.
At online meetings held by its different clubs around Australia, the IYSSE successfully passed a resolution to mobilise opposition to the university’s attacks. It reads as follows:
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality strongly opposes the disciplinary measures by the University of Melbourne against four students, two of whom were expelled and two suspended, for their involvement in a pro-Palestine protest on campus.
University management’s decision marks a further shift to outlaw political free speech on the campuses and in society more broadly. It is connected to the Anthony Albanese Labor government’s assault on basic democratic rights, under the fraudulent pretext of combating “antisemitism.”
Labor, along with all the major capitalist powers from the United States to Europe, has fully supported the US-Israeli genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and the destructive rampage throughout the Middle East, which directly threatens world war. Faced with growing mass anti-war sentiment among workers and youth, the Australian government and its imperialist allies are moving towards dictatorial forms of rule.
The IYSSE calls on all students, staff and those who defend civil liberties to oppose this attack, as part of a larger campaign to build a global anti-war movement. We also encourage other student clubs to join the IYSSE in passing resolutions opposing the disciplinary actions levelled against anti-genocide students, and call on your members to join the campaign against the attack on free speech on campuses around the country.