ANU students rally behind woman expelled over radio comments saying Hamas deserves ‘unconditional support’

Furious students at the Australian National University (ANU) rallied behind a fellow scholar who was expelled for saying Hamas deserved “unconditional support” during a radio interview. Former ANU student Beatrice Tucker was taking part in a pro-Palestine encampment at the Canberra campus when she was interviewed for the program on April 30. Ms Tucker was was asked what message they would send Hamas. “I actually say that Hamas deserve our unconditional support, not because I agree with their strategy, complete disagreements with that,” she said. “But the situation at hand is if you have no hope, if you are sanctioned every day of your life, if you’re told you’re not allowed to drive down a road because somebody who is Israeli gets to have preference and you sit there for 12 hours, the reality of life in Palestine.” It is understood Ms Tucker was expelled due to these comments. On Friday, multiple members of the Students for Palestine Canberra group took to the campus on Friday to protest against her expulsion, vowing to continue their protest at a council meeting next week. “It’s important for all supporters of Palestine to take a stand against university repression,” they said on a social media post. “We will continue to exercise our right to protest against the ANU’s ties to Israeli apartheid and complicity in genocide. “While Students for Palestine does not support this student’s comments on ABC Radio, their expulsion sets a terrible precedent for freedom of speech and pro-Palestine activism at ANU and other university campuses.” An ANU spokesman said the university would not comment on specific disciplinary matters, but would confirm that a number of disciplinary inquiries were currently underway for alleged behaviour or speech that contravened their values as a community, and went against their codes of conduct. “ANU takes these matters seriously and provides procedural fairness and support for all students,” the spokesman said. “If our codes of conduct, student discipline rule or values as a community are found to have been breached appropriate action will be taken by ANU. “ANU is a place of respectful debate and we are proud of our long history of student political engagement. “All staff and students are free to express themselves and protest in line with the University’s Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech policies. “With these rights come responsibilities.” ANU vice chancellor Genevieve Bell told a Senate Estimates hearing on Thursday that the higher education sector was facing challenges, which included encampment protests. Ms Bell said while they were committed to the ideal of academic rigour, free inquiry, free expression and the right to protest, it was not without its challenges. “Our campus is one of several in Australia, and more across the world, that have seen protest activity in recent times relating to the conflict in the Middle East,” she said. “Throughout this period, ANU has acknowledged the rights enshrined in the University’s policy on academic freedom and freedom of speech. “Unfortunately, there have been instances where individuals have behaved in ways that are unacceptable. “When this has happened, we have taken appropriate action. ANU has initiated disciplinary action under our policies against 10 students in relation to protest activity associated with the Middle East conflict.”