Student protesters angry after Curtin's deal with Guild, vow to continue Gaza encampment

Protesters at Curtin University say they'll maintain their Gaza Solidarity Encampment after the Student Guild negotiated a deal with the University over the camp's demands, allegedly behind the backs of other campers.

"We feel like camp democracy hasn't been respected," Students for Palestine organiser Ella Marchionda told The Last Place on Earth.

Students for Palestine has been the main organising group behind the encampment, in collaboration with the Student Guild.

"Our main anger is at the University because the University has not met any of our demands," Marchionda said. "The reason we're annoyed at the Guild is because we feel like they have almost taken the side of the University in undermining the camp now."

Marchionda said most of the campers intend to stay and hold another rally on campus next week, despite the Guild withdrawing from the encampment.

Curtin University and the Student Guild signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday. The University agreed to annually disclose a list of weapons manufacturers, defence-related organisations, and foreign government agencies to which it has teaching and research ties.

The agreement also says the University will 'aim' to investigate the ethics of suppliers when renewing or reviewing procurement contracts and divest from suppliers that are unethical.

The Guild said in a statement published on Thursday: "Through the dedication and unity of students and the community, the Curtin Student Guild has achieved a crucial step with the university’s commitment to disclose ties with weapons manufacturers, marking significant progress in our shared pursuit of ethical practices and human rights.

"Disclosure has been achieved as a direct result of the commitment of the encampment and the Curtin community to fight for the people in Gaza. Hundreds of attendees at rallies, thousands of signatures on the open letter,  the Curtin Palestinian Society lobbying directly with the University, and the support of the community have made this win possible."

Ella Marchionda of Students for Palestine said the agreement was "totally insufficient."

"It doesn't address our main demands of Curtin University cutting ties with weapons companies or even any pro-Israeli company like HP Tech or Amazon Web Services."

Students for Palestine says publishing an annual list of research partners is also insufficient disclosure.

In a media release, the University denied it "directly or indirectly" invested in weapons manufacturers.

It also said the Guild had agreed to move to end the encampment.

Marchionda said the Guild had pulled all support from the camp early on Friday morning, removing banners and structures.

Last week, Guild Education Vice-President Veronika Gobba told The Last Place on Earth that before an agreement was signed the Guild would be "taking it around to the camp and the organisations involved in this encampment and seeing what they like".

Students for Palestine say this did not occur.

The Last Place on Earth has approached Guild representatives for further comment.

Students for Palestine also took issue with a public statement the University made as part of the agreement.

According to the statement, Curtin acknowledged "the devastating death of tens of thousands of Palestinian people and acknowledges the suffering, fear, acts of identity-based violence, and oppression against the people of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank." It also said Curtin acknowledged "Israeli people have endured terrible acts of terrorism and have suffered the loss of loved ones and fear for the safety of those they know, living in Israel."

"We are also concerned about growing rates of antisemitism around the world," the statement went on to say.

"Curtin is proud to lead constructive conversations to explore how to enhance Australia’s national resilience and security in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment."

Marcionda said the statement was inadequate because "most of the emphasis of it is on protecting Australia's national resilience and security."

"It also equates the suffering of Palestinians with the suffering of Israel, which I think is unacceptable in the context of a mass genocide by Israel on the Palestinians," she said.

Tensions flared between the Guild and Students for Palestine earlier this week when the Guild condemned a protest organised by Students for Palestine that took place inside the University's Engineering Pavilion.