University of Sydney students refuse to condemn Oct. 7 massacre

Hundreds of students at the University of Sydney in Australia voted to reject a motion to condemn the Oct. 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations in southern Israel.

The Student Representative Council's (SRC) Student General Meeting (SGM), which took place on Aug. 8, featured only two pro-Israeli speakers, who were booed and humiliated by a crowd of young people.

As seen in a recently released video, many of the students were waving Palestinian flags and wearing a kufiya, a traditional Palestinian headdress. 

Instead of approving the proposal to condemn the brutal Oct. 7 massacre, a resolution was passed in support of the terrorist group Hamas and its "right to resist" against Israel and another calling to "cut ties with the genocide in Gaza."

‘They don't see you as human anymore’

One of the pro-Israeli speakers was student Satvik Sharma, who as reported by the university's student weekly, Honi Soit, presented the proposal to condemn the Hamas attack.

During the event, Sharma addressed the students and expressed, "You guys have just voted against condemning the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust."

Student Freya Leach, another pro-Israeli speaker in the audience, said, "You cannot support human rights and not condemn a radical jihadist terrorist regime." She added: "You cannot say you support queer people and not condemn Hamas who take a shariah law view of gay people and suggest they should be thrown off buildings."

After the speech, Leach spoke with Sky News Australia and stated that students laughed when she mentioned the rape of Israeli women, Hamas' treatment of homosexuals and the importance of human rights.

"I had one girl screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ in my face. They don’t see you as human anymore," she expressed.

The Australian Jewish Association said on X that the event shows that the University of Sydney is no longer "a safe place" for Jews.

The University of Sydney is investigating the event

The University of Sydney issued a statement following the conference in which it said it unequivocally condemns violence, terrorism and any violation of human rights. In addition, the institution noted that less than 1% of all students participated in the event.

The university also indicated that it is investigating reports of inappropriate behavior during the gathering and has sought advice on the legality of certain materials used to promote the event.

In response to the institution's statement, the SRC posted a statement on its Facebook page accusing the university of "hypocrisy" and "defamation" of the democratic process conducted at the conference.