ANU’s Shame

“Nothing in my view is more reprehensible than those habits of mind in the intellectual that induce avoidance, that characteristic turning away from a difficult and principled position, which you know to be the right one, but which you decide not to take. You do not want to appear too political; you are afraid of seeming controversial; you want to keep a reputation for being balanced, objective, moderate; your hope is to be asked back, to consult, to be on a board or prestigious committee, and so to remain within the responsible mainstream; someday you hope to get an honorary degree, a big prize, perhaps even an ambassadorship. For an intellectual these habits of mind are corrupting par excellence. If anything can denature, neutralize, and finally kill a passionate intellectual life it is the internalization of such habits”
Edward Said, (Representations of the Intellectual, Reith Lectures, 1993).

At the time of writing, over 300,000 Gazans have been slaughtered in Israel’s genocide with the use of Western bombs and artillery, and through Israeli enforced starvation. For over 23 months, Israel has dropped bombs on the besieged Gazan population, who are held in a territory blockaded by Israel that is purposely withholding food, medicine and fuel to induce starvation of the population. The Israeli government has communicated its plans to ‘Empty It of Gazans’, and is currently attempting to occupy Gaza city. All the while Gaza remains the testing ground ‘battle hardened’ military technology to be exported around the world as part of what Francesca Albanese calls the economy of genocide (UN 2025).

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers have increased their pace of stealing Palestinian land, often through violent and lethal force and under the watchful eye of the Israeli Defence Force. Resistance is crushed by Israel through their dramatic increase of arresting Palestinians without charge (called administrative detention). In east Jerusalem, Palestinian homes are being demolished and Israel has expanded approvals for further settler development to build over Palestinian lands. Recently the Knesset passed a motion to annex the whole of the West Bank.  

All the while global North governments continue trade with Israel, as well as supply weapons that are used in the mass slaughter of Palestinians, and use Palestine as a testing ground for weapon development and sales elsewhere. Our own government is currently claiming bizarrely that manufacturing F-35 components essential for these jets to drop bombs on Gaza, aren’t the lethal parts. The Department of Defence also has maintained at least 35 military export permits to Israel approved before the genocide to remain active where 90% are for lethal and military equipment.  

Many of our universities maintain investments in companies that are financing and producing weaponry for the slaughter. All this whilst our colleagues are fighting to survive this genocide. Under occupation and asking for help on October 15 2023, an open letter by colleagues at Birzeit University in Palestine addressed to International Academic Institutions, called for “international academic institutions to take concrete action to stop the genocidal war on Palestinian people and to end Israeli settler colonialism” (Birzeit University 2023). More recently, the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza has also called for help from colleagues to, “resist the ongoing campaign of scholasticide in occupied Palestine, to work alongside us in rebuilding our demolished universities, and to refuse all plans seeking to bypass, erase, or weaken the integrity of our academic institutions” (Gazauniversities 2025). All their Universities are either severely damaged or destroyed due to what is being called scholasticide - and our Universities continue to turn a blind eye. We know, that if it was white bodies being subjected to such brutality, this genocide would not have happened.

At some point, we academics will have to reckon with our individual and collective failures for being completely useless in the face of another genocide by the West. Many of us grew up learning about how the Western international order was set up in the wake of the European Holocaust to make sure ‘never again’ was possible and yet, here we are within another genocide by the West, this time live streamed into the palm of our hands. We see the current system working to protect a few rather than the majority, again.

Critique and action against this genocide and ongoing occupation has been attacked as antisemitic. Zionist discourse prosecutes the acceptance of what Raz Segal describes that night is day, and day is night: genocide is self-defence, and the victimiser is the victim. And sure some of us ‘spoke out’, challenged Zionism being conflated within definitions of antisemitism, posted on socials, signed petitions, donated, protested… but what mostly haunts me is how as a profession, we have been largely silent. People will have their reasons, but Said’s words ring loud, “Nothing is more reprehensible than those habits of mind in the intellectual that induce avoidance, that characteristic turning away from a difficult and principled position.”

And yet still while our Universities and our disciplines have largely been immobilised across the West, encamped students armed with critical consciousness have lead efforts to refuse the violence, and demand divestment in companies who are arming the genocide.

University students showed us a way, and yet Universities failed them.

Students from where I teach–the ANU–were part of this mighty movement.

Early on, documents provided through FOI showed that the ANU has at least one million dollars invested in weapons manufacturers contributing to the slaughter. This included half a million dollars invested in BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. These companies supplied the Israeli military with a range of military equipment and components and technologies integrated into equipment such as combat aircraft, missiles, drones and armoured vehicles, for example. In response to the unfolding genocide, ANU students set up an encampment on the university campus to take a stand against the University’s complicacy in genocide, and demand it divest from the genocide and illegal occupation. They were making an impact with their education and critical thinking skills–a message long preached within University advertising campaigns, and university values (ANU 2020).

And yet instead of being met with support, students at the ANU were met with police. On May 27, Reconciliation Day public holiday in the ACT, the University called the police to disband the encampment. ANU became the first and only University in Australia to call the police on their students.

This action was totally unnecessary.  For over four weeks since setting up the ANU’s Gaza Solidary encampment, students had been inviting (former) Vice-Chancellor Bell and senior university leaders to the Encampment to discuss their demands to divest in the genocide and occupation in Palestine.

Earlier, the University management pursued at least eleven students with orders to leave the encampment or be liable to disciplinary action. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that students did not wish to submit their names to university management–a requirement by the VC if they were to engage in negotiations with the University. A team of academics were approached by the students from the encampment to mediate, of which I was one. We had approached management for a meeting to discuss ways forward. The University never responded to these requests before calling the police.

I was there that day when the police were called. I held my kid’s hands and watched as the police surrounded our students. I watched them stand tall and together in the face of arrest. They were brave and unwavering. For Palestine.

The University was cruel. Management sent their men to oversee the police as they cracked down on freedom of speech and the right to protest.

But as awful as this is, what troubles me most is how the majority of academics at the University did not speak a word against what happened to our students. This is not in reference to those that had to stay quiet–it’s true that we are in a structurally racist environment, and many colleagues had genuine cause for being cautious (and even still, these colleagues pushed back). I am talking about colleagues that on some level thought people deserved it, or even believed the media lies that campus was rife with antisemitism. Worse still, as the genocide has continued, many have still stayed silent, uttering not a word publicly. Some even writing in support of it. A community that seems to have bought the kool-aid sold by the University management that their updated Social Responsible Investment policy is enough, or it’s too complicated, or it’s the Middle East (such racist framing), it’s antisemitic to critique Israel and its genocide, OR is it even genocide? Then there is just the silence…

Edward Said’s words ring loud, again.

At some point, scholars will need to reckon with how useless our profession has been in the face of genocide, on top of illegal occupation, apartheid, and colonisation. We will also need to reckon with how we stood by and watched the attacks on our students, armed with University teachings. We have fancy words and titles but are empty when things matter the most.

But to the students. I want to say
thank you.

You have taken what this place is meant to stand for–what is meant to be so celebrated in a University education, knowledge and critical thinking–and you have put it into action.

You have shown how our lives are linked to the genocide… through investments this University and others make in weapons companies.

You called for a very critical measure: to divest. To break ties with institutions on occupied land.

And yet you have been met with such disdain and non gratitude.

With a University that would speak against you in the Federal Senate

That would use the code of conduct against you without giving you due process or even telling you what you are being accused of in the first instance

A university that would call the police
on you.

That would report you to the AFP.

That would allow mainstream media
to defame you.

That would cut your power.

All this rather than simply work with
you to divest.

Well, I want to say thank you.

I say thank you for showing such moral leadership in the absence of leadership from those that are paid to show it.

Leadership amidst this violent and cruel circus. It has been the encampments that have exposed the violent work of Universities and given us a sober assessment of how far we are from where our University needs to be.

But thank you for showing us a way to get back there through how you conducted the encampment. Hosting hard conversations respectfully. Holding space for diverse views and backgrounds, acting on the evidence base, and the willingness to stand for what is right.

History will be on your side.

And to the University, shame on you.

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Banner image: Siân H