Melbourne
\nHundreds of people protesting Israel\u2019s war in Gaza rallied at one of Australia\u2019s top universities on Friday demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel, in a movement inspired by the student occupations sweeping US campuses.
\nPro-Palestinian activists set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at the University of Sydney, one of Australia\u2019s largest tertiary institutions.
\nSimilar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.
\nUnlike in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges, protest sites in Australia have been peaceful with scant police presence.
\nOn Friday, protesters rallied to demand University of Sydney divest from companies with ties to Israel, echoing calls from students in the US, Canada and France.
\nStanding in the chanting crowd of more than 300 with his two-year-old son on his shoulders, Matt, 39, said he came to show it was not just students angry at Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza.
\n\u201cOnce you understand what is going on you have a responsibility to try and get involved and raise awareness and show solidarity,\u201d he told Reuters, declining to give his last name.
\nSeveral hundred metres away from the Sydney University protest and separated by lines of security guards, hundreds gathered under Australian and Israeli flags to hear speakers say the pro-Palestinian protests made Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no space for anybody else, walking through campus chanting \u2018Intifada\u2019 and \u2018from the river to the sea\u2019 it does something, it\u2019s scary,\u201d said Sarah, an academic who declined to give her name for fear of repercussions.
\nUniversity of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott told local media on Thursday the pro-Palestinian encampment could stay on campus in part because there was not the violence seen in the US
\nWhile several police cars were parked at the entrance to the university, no police were present at either protest.
\nLong a stalwart ally of Israel, Australia has become increasingly critical of its conduct in Gaza, where an Australian aid worker was killed in an Israeli attack last month.
\nPro-Palestinian protesters said the government had not done enough to push for peace and led the crowd in chants against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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