By Caitlin Maloney and Gabi Ohmer
The word ‘genocide’ is not banned on campus at the University of Technology Sydney the university’s administrators have said, but may be a health and safety risk in some circumstances.
The university responded to allegations that the word ‘genocide’ had been banned, after students were prevented from handing out leaflets promoting a forum “exposing UTS ties to genocide”.
Students were told by UTS Security on October 16 to stop handing out flyers that contained student election information on one side and information on the forum on the other.
Students for Palestine activist Yasmine Johnson spoke about the incident at a protest outside the UTS Tower on October 23, claiming: “At UTS last week, we were told that we couldn’t hand out a leaflet because it had the word ‘genocide’ on it.
“Apparently the word ‘genocide’ constitutes hate speech.
“To me, the crime in the world is that Israel is massacring Palestinians, is that Israel is bombing the south of Lebanon. To me, it is a crime that weapons companies have made tens of millions of dollars in the last year by facilitating this genocide.”
A UTS spokesperson told Central News: “The word genocide is not banned at UTS.
“An operational decision was made to prevent the handing out of leaflets containing language judged to pose a health and safety risk.
“The students were advised that the leaflets were permitted to be posted on relevant student noticeboards. UTS reserves the right to make these sorts of operational decisions depending on the circumstances and context.”
A university insider told Central News the security team at the university had since been told privately that the decision to stop the flyer being handed out had been a mistake and was not to happen again.
Further clarification was delivered in a letter on Tuesday from UTS Vice-Chancellor Andrew Parfitt to the UTS Students’ Association’s Mia Campbell and UTS NTEU representative and creative writing lecturer Dr Sarah Attfield, who had both sought clarification on the decision to stop the flyers being handed out. In the letter, which Central News has obtained a copy of, Parfitt assured them that students are free to conduct activities on campus, including handing out leaflets, petitioning and promoting public events.
The university’s response to Dr Sarah Attfield and Mia Campbell.
The letter stated: “I am advised that on the 16th of October, an operational decision was made by UTS Security to temporarily prevent the handing out of some leaflets. I understand these leaflets had student election-related content on one side, and the promotion of a public forum on the other, which contained the term genocide.
“Security made the assessment that this material, being handed out in an already tense campus environment and in areas of the university that staff and students had no choice to walk through, constituted a health and safety risk.
“The assessment was that this risk was two-fold: 1) there was a risk to the mental health of staff and students who were accepting a leaflet about student elections, but also inadvertently accepting a leaflet containing content that they may have found distressing; and 2) there was a risk of physical altercation if the recipient of the leaflet had a strong reaction to unexpected content.”
The letter went on to say security consulted with “several university leaders” who “supported the decision to prevent the handing out of the leaflets in the current environment”.
The Vice-Chancellor said student leaders were also told they could place the leaflets in designated areas around UTS, although did not indicate how doing so would not conflict with the university’s contention that seeing claims of genocide could be detrimental to the mental health of some students. While the university allows posters on noticeboards on campus it robustly removes any from poles or bus stops around the university, whether on university grounds or the public sidewalk.
While the university’s letter makes no mention of Israel, the Vice-Chancellor wrote: “I can confirm that staff and students are not required to seek permission to distribute leaflets on campus, in line with our Campus Policy.
“I also want to make very clear that the term genocide is not banned at UTS and I agree with your assertion that any suggestion that it be prohibited from public discourse at UTS is untenable.”
However, Parfitt said UTS does “reserve the right to make operational decisions depending on circumstances and context”. He added: “Trying to find the balance between fostering robust discussion and debate and the fredom to express political views, with ensuring safety and inclusivity is a difficult exercise.”
In an email to staff in February Parfitt defended the university as a place where different views should be tolerated and discussed, while “making sure everyone feels welcome at UTS, whilst not limiting freedom of speech”.
Israel has been accused by South Africa and a number of other countries in the International Court of Justice, of conducting a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. United Nation’s Special Rapporteur to Palestine Francesca Albanese and several noted genocide scholars have also accused the Netanyahu government of an active genocide in which at least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed, over 100,000 injured and tens of thousands remain missing under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The majority of victims have been children and women.
The pro-Palestinian rally at UTS on October 23, organised by Students Against War with support from Students for Palestine UTS, Sydney Uni and UTS staff, focused on pressuring the university to cancel its current partnership with the Israel Institute of Technology, commonly known as Technion.
The Israeli university has been condemned for its role in the war in Gaza, helping develop the D9 remote-controlled bulldozer, which has been used to destroy Palestinian homes.
Protesters occupy the foyer of building 11 at UTS. Photo: Caitlin Maloney.
The UTS Faculty of Science has had a memorandum of understanding with Technion since 2010, that is due to run until next year.
Students marched from the University of Sydney to join UTS students outside the main tower and also staged a brief occupation of the foyer of building 11, to protest the MOU, chanting “UTS hear our cries. Cut your ties with genocide”.
Student protestor, Omar El-Sobihy, who is of Palestinian descent, told the rally he had lost 86 family members since October 7 last year. He said he will never be able to see Rafah, where his father grew up, or see his childhood home.
“Our existence is resistance,” he said. “We as Palestinians will continue to resist.”
Main image by Caitlin Maloney.
