Dear The Hon. Steve Bracks AC, Vice-Chancellor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor John Germov, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Lisa Line, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Andy Hill, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Wade Noonan and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Wayne Butson.

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 April 8, 2024, the death toll in Gaza has risen to 33, 175 thousand people killed, including 13,000 children. However, with over 8,000 Palestinians still missing under the rubble with little chance of survival, the death toll likely exceeds 40,000, 15,000 of whom are children. Over 75,000 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 459 Palestinians, including 117 children, in what was already a year of increasing violence by Israeli settlers.

For over six months, Israel has been indiscriminately bombing Gaza, destroying or damaging 60% of its housing units, 80% of educational facilities (including the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University), 26 hospitals and 70% of health care centres and 267 mosques and churches. 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. At least 28 children have already died of starvation or dehydration.

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. The Republic of South Africa is to be commended for acting on its obligation to prevent genocide. The court agreed that there was a plausible risk of genocide and issued provisional measures, which Israel has not acted on.

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
• 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.

This petition was updated on April 9. If you wish to sign it, click here.

Signed by:

Staff Signatures

Kathleen Butler, Aboriginal Academic Teaching and Research
Jessica Grimes, Academic and Course Chair of Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education
Gary Foley, Professor
Nardo Wai, Academic Sessional
Siobhan Day, Academic Sessional
Natasha Ritchie Alumni, Archivist & research assistant
Kim Burrell, Archivist
Shiffana Jaupher-Nafiyz, Assessments and Resulting Officer
Alison Baker, Associate Professor Youth and Community Studies
Matthew Klugman, Associate Professor of Sports Studies
Jacques Boulet, Casual Lecturer
Luca Cernaz, Casual Swim Instructor
Rana Abou-Sinna, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist
Cindy Tran, Clinical Placement Administrator
Clare Land, Director of Research, Moondani Balluk
Tessa Benson, Director, Advisory & HQ
John O’Rourke, English and Humanities Teacher
Paul Russell, Teaching Focussed
Lew Zipin, Honorary Fellow
Marie Brennan, Honorary Professor
Paola Balla, Indigenous Lecturer & Researcher
Michael Skinner, Learning Advisor
Demet Divaroren, Learning Advisor
Karen Sievewright, Learning Advisor (Writing)
Jenna Corcoran, Lecturer
Jackie Hammill, Lecturer
Ro Le Pere, Moondani Balluk
Christopher Sonn, Professor
Selcan Kurnali, Project Officer
Annie Wohlgehagen, Project officer
Will Bracks, Research Archivist – Aboriginal History Archive
Sam Keast, Research Officer
Roshani Jayawardana, Researcher
Grace Killmer, Researcher and Sessional Teacher
Noor Alkazali, Senior Coordinator
Sara Austin, Senior Coordinator; Equality, Inclusion & Belonging
Brandy Cochrane, Senior Lecturer
Fleur Taylor, Vice-President, Professional staff, VU Branch, National Tertiary Education Union
Carla Luguetti, Senior lecturer
Nicole Oke, Senior lecturer
Rachel Riley, Sessional Lecturer
Benjamin Dawborn, Student Library Assistant
Peter Spring, Student mentor, student service assistant, and it support
Barbara Wagner, Teacher
Lutfiye Ali, Teaching Focussed Academic
Jack Hynes, Teaching Focussed Academic
Paul Russell, Teaching Focussed Academic
Karen Jackson
Paul Dodemaide
Madeleine Nicholls
Kim Kruger
Taylor Wild
Amy Quayle
Liz Kianidis

Student Signatures

Taliah Muliaga
Basma Ibrahim
Aleda Davies
Inam Boru
Samya Nigussie
Daniel Frederiksen
Melannie Madarang
Dinesha Gunatillake
Juan Camilo Riano Rodriguez
Gayle Carr
Angela Paredes Castro
Paddy Gordon
Rachel Jones
Isabella Johnson
Adrienne Harvey
Christopher Burke
Rica Carao
Jiale He
Rahul Karki
Hediye Ali
Aimee Jinkins
Siham Abdullahi
Alev Aşılıoğlu
Chandra Altoff
Danielle Cassar
Kerry Dallat
Ayshe Kara
Alex Diviny
Lana Laham
Siham Luqman
Bibi Mousavi
Leila Ordonez-Alefosio
Manar Rida
Mary Quinsacara Stephen Windahl
Hajer Jemai
Alisa Balla
Ella Galea
Jordan Webster
Alumni Signatures
Natura Lia, Aspire Young Muslim Women Leadership & Governance Program – Graduates
Esma Kurt, Clinical Psychologist
Faiza Yunus, Counsellor
Ceylan Yerlitas, Teacher
Annie Feith, Former Fieldwork Coordinator, International Community Development
Nicole Davis, Lawyer
Faisal Haroon, Marriage Mentor
Natalie Calleja, PhD Student, Tutor, and Research Assistant
Shariffah Shahirah Alqadri, Secondary School Teacher
Lana Al bijawi,
Annie Belcher
Natasa Ciabatti,
Annabelle Artemis
Teba Mazin
Max Muscat
Yuksel Siva
Bill Swannie
Adriana Ridzwan
Greta Williams
William Da Luz
Gina Le