Pro-Palestine Protesters: Australian Universities Warn Of Disciplinary Action, 2 Arrested On Queensland Campus

Two pro-Palestine protesters were taken into custody after they climbed the rooftop of a building at the University of Queensland.

A police spokesperson confirmed the arrest and added that a public safety response unit has been deployed at the university. No injures were reported, news.com.au reported.

As pro-Palestine protesters camping across universities continued to defy orders to stop protests and disband encampments, managements were on the offensive warning the students of disciplinary actions.

According to The Guardian, the University of Queensland management had warned students of disciplinary action for raising chanting anti-Israel slogans or using the word "intifada." Deputy vice-chancellor Kris Ryan wrote to the protesters asking them to refrain from using the term "intifada" -- the Arabic word for uprising that was displayed on some posters on the campus.

In an email sent to the protesters on Friday, Ryan stated the "expression" could be considered intimidating to some people. The email also warned against raising the slogan "out, out, Israel out." "The use of the words 'out, out, Israel out' at the protest yesterday in the context of harassing and intimidating behaviors, and the placement of antisemitic stickers on windows and students, go beyond the limits of free speech," the email stated.

The La Trobe University warned protesters about initiating "misconduct proceedings" for ignoring the order to disband. "Today the university informed the organizers of the student encampment at our Melbourne (Bundoora) campus that it will commence misconduct proceedings against them for their failure to comply with our 17 May directive to disband the encampment," the university said in a statement.

Earlier, La Trobe University had permitted the students to protest without an encampment. The students refused to disband, saying the university was "attempting to crush pro-Palestine encampments."

University of Melbourne, on Monday, threatened to expel the activists from the Arts West building, saying it posed a safety and fire risk. Protesters have been holding a sit-in protest at the building since last Wednesday. They vowed to continue their protests till the university snap ties with Israeli weapons manufacturers.

Meanwhile, University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott defending the right of pro-Palestine protesters to use antisemitic phrase "from the river to the sea," at the rallies saying universities must be "bastions of free speech." "We recognize the difficult debate about phrases such as 'intifada' and 'from the river to the sea'," Scott stated.

Though he conceded the incident was an act of "intimidation of Jewish students and teacher," he said attempts to remove encampments could lead to violence similar to what occurred in campuses across the United States.