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Posted: 2024-08-19 07:08:11

A pro-Palestine encampment at the Australian National University (ANU) has disbanded after 110 days, with students saying the on-campus protest situation had become "untenable".  

The students set up camp on the grounds of the university in April in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Gaza war, with the group taking aim at the university's links to weapons manufacturers. 

Last week, the ANU announced it would change its long-term investment policies and would "not invest in controversial weapons manufacturers and civilian small arms manufacturers".

Tents set up with buildings in the background on the ANU campus.

The ANU pro-Palestine encampment moved to a new site on May 28 after the university issued an order to vacate. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Students claimed the move as a win and vowed to continue protesting. 

But over the weekend they dismantled the encampment, with those involved saying their activism would now take new forms under the name ANU for Palestine.

It was one of the last ongoing encampments in Australia, after similar campus protests, including at Sydney and Monash universities, disbanded months ago.

In a statement, ANU for Palestine said while the group had achieved success, it was forced to take stock due to an ongoing dispute with the university about electricity and lighting.

"Despite claiming to support our right to protest, the ANU has called the police on us, censored us, and lied about us," the students said in a statement. 

"They are now putting our basic safety at risk by telling us we are now not allowed to turn on a single light at night time.

"This decision is completely arbitrary, and has made it completely untenable for our protest movement to continue in the form of an encampment."

The ANU said power to the site was switched off last month after the students did not allow staff to inspect the site for safety hazards.

But the university added it was not aware that a direction had been made to students at the encampment in recent days that they could not use any light at night.

Al, one of the students involved in the encampment, said the situation helped to spark a discussion in the camp about the best way forward.

A person on an oval in front of a building.

Protester Al at the site of the former pro-Palestine encampment at the ANU. (ABC News: Toby Hunt)

"The whole time we have been discussing whether this is the continued best use of our resources and our energy and whether it is the best strategy to achieve our goals," Al said.

"This movement isn't necessarily about a camp, it's about achieving divestment and and cutting ties with Israel."

Al said the students were "very proud" of what they'd achieved. 

Protesters sit down and chant at the Australian National University pro-Palestine encampment.

The pro-Palestine encampment was active at the ANU from late-April. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

"We're really happy with the work that we've made for that policy to be revisited, but there's still a long way to go for us to achieve our full aims," Al said.

"We were the longest standing camp in Australia, and were up there globally with the time that we lasted.

"We've built a community, a grassroots community, to continue doing this activism to get our university to divest."

A person looks over a fence at an area of ground where the grass has been worn away.

Protester Al at the former ANU pro-Palestine encampment after protesters packed up their tents. (ABC News: Toby Hunt)

The ANU has welcomed the student's decision to disband the encampment.

"The decision to disband the encampment on the university's Acton campus was entirely voluntary and made by those involved in the protest," the ANU said in a statement.

"The safety of our community and our campus has been our priority throughout this process.

"The encampment raised several issues relating to safety and respectful conduct. 

"For this reason, the decision to remove the encampment is the right one for the university community as a whole."

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