Peace Action Wellington Statement On Student Occupations

Peace Action Wellington extends our solidarity and gratitude to students and staff of the University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau who sought to establish an encampment upon the University grounds today. This action was being led by the University of Auckland Student Justice for Palestine group with the support of many others.

We absolutely condemn the Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater for her decision to preemptively invite the police into the situation, and we reject her offensive suggestion that "significant risks" have arisen because of such encampments on university campuses across the world.

The actual risks and threats on campus have all been brought by security forces - police and paid security guards - along with far right genocide supporters - NOT by students and staff who are seeking an end to university complicity with Israel's genocide.

The violence on university campuses have happened because of the unwillingness to divest from genocide, not because students pitched tents and painted banners.

We challenge Dawn Freshwater to be transparent about the University's involvement in the genocide in Gaza.

The University of Auckland endowment fund has some $398 million much of which is invested on the global stock market.

The University of Auckland's Uniservices commericalisation arm is a member of the NZ Defence Industry Association and works with the Defence Technology Agency to commercialise new inventions.

The staff, students, alumni and wider community want to know where is the University of Auckland's money and investments located and is there any relationship with Israeli war crimes?

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