University of Newcastle (UoN) pupils took to the streets this week as part of a nationwide Student Strike for Palestine.
The scholars skipped tutorials on Wednesday 11 March to demonstrate against what organisers describe as Australia’s complicity in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The National Student Strike for Palestine, coordinated by Students for Palestine groups across the country, saw rallies held simultaneously in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Newcastle.
At the UoN, they gathered on campus before marching into the CBD, with organisers demanding the university sever ties with weapons manufacturers and Israeli-linked companies.
Newcastle’s protest coincided with the uni’s study break, meaning no classes were formally cancelled.
But, organisers said this did not diminish the message.
Irem Kocer, a history student at the UoN, explained why she and her fellow students felt compelled to act.
“We actually want to draw the ties between what’s happening in Palestine to our own governments and our universities, because there are ties there,” she stated.
“Despite the ceasefire in Gaza, hundreds of people have still been killed.
“We think that education should be for the betterment of society, not to help in developing weapons.”
Finn Penter, a first-year history student, described being shocked to learn the extent of his university’s connections to the defence industry.
“I was absolutely appalled to find out that my uni has ties to companies that develop weapons and funnel university students into the military-industrial complex,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.
At the core of the Newcastle students’ protests is a partnership between the UoN and Lockheed Martin Australia.
The company is a local subsidiary of the world’s largest weapons manufacturer and has publicly stated its role in the security of Israel.
In 2022, Lockheed Martin Australia donated $20,000 to sponsor the university’s Science and Engineering Challenge, a long-running nationwide STEM outreach program.
Critics of the partnership argue it amounts to “STEM-washing,” using educational programs to normalise weapons manufacturers and attract the next generation of defence industry workers.
Free Palestine Newcastle-Muloobinba group also called on the UoN to terminate the sponsorship, arguing it exposes children as young as nine to a company that supplies weapons to Israel.
For Ms Kocer and Mr Penter, this is not just a foreign policy issue, it is a question of what their university stands for.
“I just think it’s atrocious that we’ve been living through a live-streamed genocide for two years,” the latter said.
For university students, the movement shows no sign of slowing down.
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