Zionist thugs attack Adelaide University Gaza encampment

In an echo of the Zionist attacks against Gaza solidarity encampments in the United States, fireworks were thrown at the Adelaide University encampment on Monday night.

“There was a big flash of light and a massive bang”, Students for Palestine spokesperson Briana Symonds-Manne told Red Flag. “It was very loud, and we all ran out to see who had done it and make sure nobody was hurt.”

Thankfully, nobody was directly hit—only a few tents had been damaged.

“We understood it was an attack and immediately tried to look for who had done it”, Raph, a protester at the camp, explained to Red Flag, but the perpetrators had seemingly run away into the night. “Campus security was useless. They asked if we had done it, and we said, ‘No, why would we blow up our own camp?’”

Campus security staff aimlessly wandered around the scene in the attack's aftermath. A Palestinian camp member implored them to take it seriously. If he had attacked students with explosives, he argued, it would be treated as a violent terrorist assault. But there’s one rule for Zionists and another for Palestinians and their supporters.

Less than an hour after the first attack, activists ducked for cover as two more fireworks were hurled from the roof of a nearby building. Luckily, these did not hit the camp.

Eventually, the police showed up to begin an investigation. Despite the obvious parallel with a similar firework attack on the UCLA encampment by Zionists in the US, local police shrugged their shoulders and suggested that it was just some kids messing around.

After the police left, a Zionist approached the camp waving an Israeli flag and yelling about Israel, but soon lost his nerve and made a quick retreat.

Briana told Red Flag, “There’s a lot of effort to paint Palestine activists as the violent ones, but it’s the pro-Israel Zionists who are using violent tactics to shut down a non-violent encampment”.

“With the current horrific attacks that are happening in Rafah, it’s more important than ever that students across the world show their support for Gaza”, Raph added. “The camps are an incredible way that students have been doing that. I think a lot of students are with us and want to support Palestine, but we have to show it in numbers. That’s how we win against the Zionists.”