By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a building at the University of Melbourne have been told to leave by university officials, who say they’ve “crossed a line” by entering the building and disrupting class for thousands of students.
“Students have a right to protest but that is not a blank check,” said the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Michael Wesley in a video message distributed to media on Thursday.
“They have crossed a line when they have occupied the Arts West building … the university’s patience is now at an end.”
Dana Alshaer, from UniMelb for Palestine, said after the rally a smaller group of students “independently” decided to occupy the Arts West building, and others supported them.
Several banners have since been hung around the room, including one renaming the building “Mahmoud’s Hall” after Mahmoud Alnaouq, a Palestinian student who had won a scholarship to study in Australia but was killed in Gaza last October.
Around 1:30pm on Wednesday, Deputy Vice Chancellor Pip Nicholson addressed the group inside the building on a loudspeaker, telling them their choices that afternoon would have “serious consequences.”
On the video, protesters said they wouldn’t leave until the university responded to their demands, which include divesting from weapons companies and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“We come in peace,” a protester said off-camera. “We came here to learn, to study, to make an impact on the world, and the fees that we’re paying are going towards companies committing an act of genocide right now. Speak to us about that.”
By Thursday, more than 150 classes had been cancelled, affecting 6,000 students and staff, the university said. Victoria Police said it was monitoring the protest activity and hadn’t been asked to intervene.
Alshaer denied reports students had blocked the building’s doors and said the university had disabled them.
“The people here are opening the doors for anyone, students and uni staff to come in and out whenever they want. It’s not closed. It’s not barricaded,” she said.
Tension building after weeks of protest
Since the first tents appeared at universities in Australia over three weeks ago, more students have joined the protest action, demanding the institutions cut ties with weapons companies linked to Israel’s attacks.
Protests in support of both sides have flared around the world, with a widespread pro-Palestinian movement launching demonstrations at university colleges.
So far, protest sites in Australia have remained relatively peaceful, unlike sister sites in the United States, where police violently evicted some students amid clashes with counter-protesters.
Other universities in Melbourne and Canberra have put students on notice to leave.
Protesters at Deakin University said Thursday they’d received a second order to dismantle their camp on Thursday, in a letter shared with CNN that warned that failure to comply may constitute an act of student misconduct.
Jasmine Duff, from Students for Palestine Victoria, told CNN the students had no intention of leaving.
Meanwhile, at least seven student protesters at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra have received letters from the university telling them to leave the site by the end of Friday.
In the letter, shared with CNN by the university, students were told the institution had received “reports regarding the negative impact of the encampment on the wellbeing and safety of the broader University community,” without specifying what they were.
In a statement, ANU said it supports students’ right to protest but said “these activities must be safe and not cause unnecessary harm or damage to our campus or community.”
One of the letter’s recipients, Nick Reich, said he and others are weighing their options.
In his video message distributed by the University of Melbourne, Wesley called on protesters to “peacefully end the occupation.”
“Red lines have been crossed,” he said. “The occupation is now seriously disruptive and seriously intimidating for the vast majority of our staff and students who have nothing to do with the protests and are not interested in the protests.”
The-CNN-Wire
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