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Masked protesters storm, occupy office of Melbourne Uni Jewish professor
[Jpost] The group posted pictures and videos to their Instagram in which they can be seen taking over the office of Professor Steven Prawer, and staging a sit-in.Masked pro-Paleostine protesters wearing keffiyehs took over the office of Steven Prawer, a Jewish professor at the University of Melbourne (UMelb), Australia, on Wednesday, in an alleged protest over his academic connection to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The group, University of Melbourne for Paleostine, posted multiple pictures and videos to their Instagram in which they can be seen invading the professor’s office and staging a sit-in. They can also be seen chanting and covering the door of his office in pro-Paleostine stickers and signs. One sticker said "antisemitism is a crime, anti-Zionism is a duty," and the two signs read "Steven Prawer, your work will break your soul before it breaks the resistance" and "From the river to the sea, Paleostine will be free." The group said that they discovered pro-Israel memorabilia in Prawer’s office, including a picture of a sticker for Tel Aviv University with the world Shalom [peace] on it. In another video, a woman wearing a keffiyeh and a mask interrogates Prawer as he talks to the police outside the office. When he attempts to walk away, the woman follows him and continues to ask questions about Israel’s genocide of the Paleostinian people. Prawer, an engineering professor and head of the UMelb Materials Institute, is the academic lead of the Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD program. This, according to the protesters, was the reason for their actions. In a poster stuck on the wall of Prawer’s office, the group wrote, "Prawer spearheads a number of research projects in collaboration with Israeli research institutes, academics, and universities, such as a recent project with the Israeli Center of Advanced Diamond Technology." The protest was allegedly part of the group’s efforts to make the University cut its academic ties with Israeli universities, as seen in another poster. "It is imperative that the University of Melbourne acknowledge and utilize its privilege as a settler entity to support colonized peoples and end their complicity in the Israeli colonial project and ongoing genocide of Paleostinians," the group stated. Related: University of Melbourne: 2019-12-28 French, Australian academics jailed in Iran launch hunger strikes University of Melbourne: 2018-03-14 Will Islamists gain in Indonesian, Malaysian elections? University of Melbourne: 2008-12-02 Australian imams condemn prejudiced study Posted by: trailing wife 2024-10-13 |
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