Attacks on political organising spread to RMIT
The university management at RMIT in Melbourne has introduced a policy to prevent or severely limit campus protests, meetings and political organising.
The move comes after a year of Palestine solidarity activism, during which students demanded that the university cut economic ties with Israel and close the Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre, at which research for weapons companies is conducted.
One aspect of the policy is restricting the use of classrooms. No room may be booked for “protest or protest-related activity”. Events likely to put RMIT’s “financial or repetitional” risk will have their bookings revoked. This applies to “any other events or activities as required”—an open-ended clause allowing management to shut down whatever they want.
The policy is a blatant attack against Students for Palestine and socialists, but could have wider implications.
Will pointing out RMIT’s ties to weapons companies count as causing reputational damage? What about teachers who strike or protest for better pay and working conditions—will they be denied the right to meeting spaces to discuss their demands?
Another clause in the policy bans sleeping or camping on campus—a clear response to the Gaza Solidarity Camp, which RMIT students ran for a month earlier this year.
Students will also not be allowed to “set up or maintain a structure”. What counts as a structure is unclear, but it might even include information stalls commonly used to collect signatures on petitions and display leaflets.
This policy has not been made official, but management has started intimidation tactics. When the Socialist Alternative Club hosted a public meeting about events in Palestine over the last year, RMIT attempted to make us pay for security.
We refused, but management still dispatched a security guard to wait for us in the meeting room. The guard claimed to be there “for our protection,” but it was a clear attempt to intimidate. A guard was also watching the lifts near the room, and two more guards stood at the stairs—they turned away a non-student who wanted to attend the meeting.
While RMIT student activists have stood firm in the face of the intimidation, the pressure will likely mount next year.
Attacks on student organising across Australia are part of a broader crackdown on Palestine solidarity activism. We must keep the solidarity movement alive—and we will need to build our numbers to stand against the intimidation.
