Pro-Palestine activists are turning up at University of Melbourne classrooms and photographing students after asking for a show of hands to indicate who agrees with their views on the Israel-Gaza war.
The shocking incidents and others similar have become such a problem within the university’s arts faculty that dean Lesley Stirling emailed staff this week about increasing complaints from students.
“I am writing as a matter of urgency to make you aware we are receiving an increasing number of concerns and reports from students about events occurring in classrooms and other student-facing contexts, pertaining to the Israel-Gaza conflict,” Professor Stirling wrote in the email.
“These are coming from a range of viewpoints.
“Many of the students contacting us are very distressed, and both Palestinian and Jewish students have lost family members as a result of the events which have been unfolding since October 7.”
Professor Stirling – who urges teachers to “think carefully” about how and when they express their views on the war – then goes on to outline concerning occasions in which activists have come into classrooms and taken pictures.
The Herald Sun understands this has been done by people with pro-Palestine views.
“Students in arts have been particularly concerned about activists visiting classrooms, asking for a show of hands to indicate agreement with their statements, and then taking photographs of the group,” she wrote.
Read the article by Rebecca Borg and Suzan Delibasic in the Herald Sun.