0
0
On Wednesday 3rd of September, just over a year since the last one, the UQ Union held a Student General Meeting (SGM), for students to vote on the following businesses:
- Students censure the Australian government for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We demand an end to all weapons sales to Israel by Australia and Australian companies, and call for sanctions on Israel.
- Students call on all Australian universities to end their complicity with Israel’s genocide by ceasing all partnerships with weapons companies.
Doors opened just after 5 pm, and students were required to register and show their ID before entry. Bags also weren’t allowed in the room. Outside, there was a noticeable presence of political groups, namely Socialist Alternative (SALT) and Green Left.
Inside, SALT members greeted students at the door and handed out flyers with the business students would be voting on. Although the meeting was scheduled to start at 6 pm, it didn’t start until 6.30 pm, where over 300 students were in attendance.
The meeting started with an acknowledgement of Country, followed by general information, union regulations, and general housekeeping. The meeting opened at 6.36 pm.
After explaining the business to consider, Asha Coles from Students For Palestine and Socialist Alternative spoke. They opened their speech with the final words of Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif, who was murdered by Israel weeks prior. Coles stated how it is our duty to fight for Palestine and explained how the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, a famine which was manmade. They also spoke about the Australian government’s response, and quoted Penny Wong saying that Australia’s direct exports of components for Israel’s F-25 Fighter Jets were “non-lethal”. They then made some calls to action, demanding sanctions on Israel, an end to weapons trade, and for the Australian government and universities to cut all ties with Israel.
Will Sim from Students for Palestine and Socialist Alternative then spoke. He talked about similar things that Coles did, but also talked about capitalism’s role in the genocide, and why he is a socialist. Both speeches ended with chants led by Socialist Alternative.
With these speeches concluding, the floor was opened for members of the audience, looking for three speakers against the motions and three speakers for. The first speaker against was Drew Pavlou, who, upon realising he was starting to fade from UQ relevancy, decided he must make himself the centre of attention again. Pavlou opened his 5-minute speech with a minute of silence for the victims of October 7. It did not last a minute. He argued that because the SGM was talking about issues pertaining to the Australian government, it should be open only to Australian citizens. Members of the audience booed and shouted as he spoke, with most of his speech including pro-Israel rhetoric, such as supporting a two-state solution and stating that nobody is calling for Hamas to surrender. He also talked about antisemitism and briefly mentioned Ukraine. He did not stay to vote, and as he left the room, he shouted, ‘You are all mentally ill’.
The second against speaker was an unknown student from the audience. This speaker started with a definition of genocide and then made claims on how this applies to Israel. Throughout their speech, they wwere heckled by members of the audience, and paused to ask for silence. Despite video and audio recordings not being allowed in the meeting, they called for members of the audience to film. They then asked the audience if they supported LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights, in a classic pinkwashing attempt that a lot of Israel supporters like to go for. I’d argue that to fight for these groups’ rights, we should be fighting for their lives as well. We can’t help these groups achieve equal rights if they’ve all been murdered by Israel. After continuous arguing with the audience, the speaker sat down before their five minutes were up. There was no third speaker for against.
Gana Salem from BDS Youth Magandjin was the first speaker in favour of the motions. She spoke about the university and government’s silence, and how they are enabling the Israeli government. Salem also spoke about how 80% of the trees in Gaza have been destroyed by constant Israeli bombardment.
The second speaker in favour was Kaine Kennedy from Students for Palestine and Socialist Alternative. Kennedy asked how many must die before people stop blaming Hamas. They also pointed out how many people in attendance at the counter-protest for the March for Australia on August 31st were Palestinian activists.
The third speaker in favour was Shahzaib Farhan from BDS Youth Magandjin. He spoke about UQ’s censorship activities, specifically how they allegedly were cutting power to Palestine screenings, and the banning of “radical phrases”. He also explained the word “semite”, which is used to ‘describe a member of any people who speak one of the Semitic languages, a family of languages that includes Arabic, Hebrew…’ (Britannica). He also explained that to be anti-Palestine is to be antisemitic.
With the speeches concluded, the motions were put to a vote. Students voted unanimously ‘yes’. The SGM closed at 7.13 pm.
Afterwards, a march to the Great Court and a vigil for those martyred was held.
Written by El Bancroft
Author
Views: 1