We the undersigned members of the Victoria University community, sign this petition to urgently appeal to Victoria University to take a principled stance against Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people.

The United Nations has called on the international community to “prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people”. This is a call history teaches us we cannot ignore. 

As of January 4, 2024, the death toll in Gaza has risen to 22, 438 thousand people killed, including 9,600 children. However, with over 7,000 Palestinians still missing under the rubble with little chance of survival, the death toll likely exceeds 30,000, 12,000 of whom are children. Over 50,000 Palestinians have been wounded and 1.9 million –  half of them children – have been internally displaced. Since October 7th, Israeli settler violence and army raids have also been on the rise in the occupied West Bank, killing 325 Palestinians, including 83 children, in what was already a year of increasing violence by Israeli settlers. 

For over three months, Israel has been indiscriminately bombing Gaza, destroying or damaging 60% of its housing units, 352 educational facilities (including the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University), 22 hospitals and 52 health care centres, 102 ambulances, 3 churches and 101 mosques. As Israel has cut off water, food and electricity to the Gaza Strip and has restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, Palestinians also have little to no access to safe drinking water and are now at high risk of famine.  

This is not the first time the world has witnessed such atrocities, and we often look back with horror on the genocides of the 20th century and wonder how the public could stay silent in the face of them. However, in response to intensifying bombardment and loss of life in Gaza, on the 29th of December 2023, the Republic of South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice for violations of the Genocide Convention relating to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This is welcome news and the Republic of South Africa is to be commended for acting on its obligation to prevent genocide. 

Victoria University has a proud history of being on the right side of history, and it has often reflected a strong commitment to social justice, cultural inclusion and anti-racism. As an academic institution in Melbourne’s West that reflects and supports the region’s cultural heritage and values, we implore VU to follow in the footsteps of Maribyrnong City Council, and stand with them in supporting peace in Gaza. We also call for our Chancellor to join the over 250 current and former Australian members of Parliament and councilors who have signed a statement calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the recognition of Palestine as a state, the end of the Israeli occupation and a re-assessment of Australia’s relationship with Israel. Everyday working Australians and Melbournians stood on the right side of history against the South African apartheid regime. We must do the same today, and urgently. In the words of Desmond Tutu, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Instead, on Monday 9th of October 2023, VU staff and students received a vague email entitled “Concerning world events” which made reference to “violence on both sides of the Gaza strip”. This statement is ahistorical and insufficient. We reject the “‘two-sides”’ narrative as it obscures the inherent power asymmetry between Israel as a major military colonial power and Palestinians resisting structural settler-colonial violence. It also fails to recognise the 75 years of systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians have suffered under the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime. VU made no further comment following this email. We therefore call on our senior leadership to take a clearer and more active stance on the unfolding genocide and siege on Gaza. There are no “two sides” to genocide. 

Staff, students and alumni at both Melbourne University and Monash University have taken principled stands against Israel’s indiscriminate assault on civilians. Israeli bombs have completely wiped out academic life and indeed all possibility of education in Gaza. The school year of 2023 – 2024 has been suspended, and there is no education or schooling taking place in Gaza. As a university, by definition a site of open and rigorous debate and academic freedom that should lead to meaningful change for all, when could our motto of We Care and We Act be more appropriate than now? 

The Australian government recently responded to pressure from grassroots movements and ordinary people – among them many VU staff and students – and finally joined the overwhelming majority of the international community in calling for a sustainable ceasefire. However, calls for a permanent ceasefire and the complete end of the genocidal violence against Palestinians are still urgently needed.

We urge Victoria University to act immediately on the following calls to action:

• Release a statement of solidarity with Palestine, which condemns the genocide of the Palestinan people and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. 
  
• Call on the Australian government to impose sanctions and other countermeasures against Israel until a ceasefire comes into effect and Israel lifts the siege on Gaza, ends the apartheid regime and military occupation of all Palestinian territories
  
• Divest, boycott and cut ties with corporations, Israeli universities and research institutions that support the Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
• Release a public statement clarifying that VU does not have a partnership with BAE systems, who manufacture crucial components of weapons currently being used on Gaza’s civilian population.
• Ask our Chancellor, The Hon. Steve Bracks, to join his former colleagues in the ALP and sign the Statement by Current and former Australian Elected Representatives on the Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
  
• Ensure students and staff are able to safely organise and express their political views, religious beliefs and cultural identity on campus without fear of intimidation or censure.  
  
• Ensure the enforcement of VU policies which protect students and staff from discrimination, racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia, and ensure that support is made available to anyone who is a victim of, or witness to, any incident. 
  
• Arrange support for all staff and students who are directly affected, through Victoria University’s Student Support Services and Employment Assistance Program.