University of Melbourne officials have revealed how pro-Palestinian protesters gained entry to a Jewish professor’s office.
The university’s interim vice-chancellor has told a royal commission how campus rules were changed after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a Jewish professor’s office after a door was left open.
The Royal Commission heard on Tuesday that University of Melbourne physics academic Steven Prawer was targeted in 2024 over his role in a joint PhD program with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Interim vice-chancellor Glyn Davis said on Wednesday that the university later received a letter from a Victoria Police deputy commissioner asking it to carefully consider the risks of allowing a related pro-Palestinian encampment to remain on campus.
More than 20 tents housing about 50 protesters were erected on campus on the day the letter was received.
The protesters were ordered to leave by then vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell but refused, prompting a lengthy negotiation process.
In one incident, it took four police officers to remove one protester, Professor Davis said.
The university later changed its bylaws to prohibit camping on campus.
Separately, Professor Prawer said the university had not kept him informed about its investigation into the office occupation.
He said he was not told the identities of the protesters and was therefore unable to avoid them on campus.
Professor Davis defended the university’s approach on Wednesday, saying that while he understood his colleague’s concerns, confidentiality was important because the process involved “young adults at the start of their life, their professional career”.
“The way the process is structured is to try not to make a stain on the rest of their lives by an adverse decision by the university,” he said.
Protesters were able to occupy the office only because a door had been left open while a new security swipe system was being installed in response to the earlier targeting of Professor Prawer.
“Life is full of ironies,” Professor Davis said.
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is spending the week hearing from university staff and students about their experiences of hatred and discrimination while examining the distinction between hate speech and criticism of Israel.
By Lucinda Garbutt-Young/AAP