In America, police raided student protest encampments at universities with rubber bullets and tear gas. In Melbourne, academics brought jam and scones.
There’s no electricity or fire allowed here. Phones and laptops are charged in the university library, and students make do with sleeping bags for warmth. That same day, when Monash students set up their own camp on its ”lemon-scented lawn”, that “doesn’t even smell like lemons”, according to arts student and organiser Grace Hill, counter-protesters bearing an Israeli flag arrived.
“We’ve had support of course from other pro-Palestinian groups, and the community,” she said. The weekly Free Palestine march through Melbourne’s CBD changed its route to visit the encampment on Sunday. “Not all Jewish students have the same experience, but many tell us they’re avoiding campus or, in a handful of extreme cases, have dropped out altogether,” Loven said.