PM ‘concerned’ by social cohesion after uni protests
Anthony Albanese is concerned about rising tensions on university campuses as student protesters clash over war in the Middle East and the foreign minister warns Israel against another ground invasion in Gaza.
Police stand between members of the Jewish community and a Pro-Palestine encampment. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
Pro-Palestinian encampments have been set up at several Australian universities, following wider protests in the US, calling for the tertiary institutions to divest funds from Israel and for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Tensions have heightened in recent days following the arrival of Israeli supporters near the encampments.
Anthony Albanese is alarmed by the divisions in Australian society over the conflict in the Middle East.
“Social cohesion is being frayed at the moment, I’m very concerned at what we’ve seen,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
There has been a rise in anti-Semitism, there has been a rise in Islamophobia, we need to make sure that people in positions of authority use that authority to not promote division but to promote social cohesion.
It’s really important also that people don’t seek to bring conflict, which is here in Australia.
Overwhelmingly Australians don’t want that.”
The Israeli military has begun evacuating civilians in parts of Rafah before a planned ground invasion.
More than one million Palestinians are sheltering there after evacuating other parts of Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had made it clear Israel “should not go down this path”.
“Australia is gravely concerned by the prospect of a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah,” Senator Wong said.
“Australia, the G7 and so many countries have called on the Netanyahu government to change course.”
On Thursday, university vice-chancellors rejected calls for police to break up the protests on their campuses.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has received reports of students afraid to attend campuses.
“If people feel afraid to go to university then that’s intolerable,” he said.
There would always be a place for protests in a democratic society, Mr Clare said.
“What there’s no place for though is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination, and certainly no place for anti‑Semitism or Islamophobia.”
Mr Clare repeated calls to lower the temperature of debate about the conflict.
“What’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart,” he said.
“We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.”
Opposition spokeswoman Sarah Henderson called for hate speech to be banned on university campuses, saying the government was not doing enough to stamp it out.
“The level of hate speech, intimidation and harassment against Jewish students and staff and visitors on university campuses is absolutely appalling,” she said.
“The encampments must go, the codes of conduct must be enforced.”
University vice-chancellors have rejected calls for police to break up the protests.
The university protests follow renewed conflict in the Middle East after Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist organisation by the federal government, attacked Israel on October 7, killing an estimated 1200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage.
AAP
