Simon Cunich, Sydney

In defiance of Sydney University management, 30 students attended a forum organised by Resistance on August 30 titled “Hezbollah: terrorist organisation or national liberation movement?”

A week earlier, university officials threatened to cancel the room booking for the forum and asked the organisers to provide the names of all students who attended to campus security officers. The university administration also gave security personnel permission to remove any posters that “take a stand” on Israel, including the one advertising the Resistance forum.

The forum went ahead, addressed by Green Left Weekly journalist Mike Karadjis, who debunked many of the myths surrounding Hezbollah. Karadjis explained the origins of the organisation in the movement against the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Throughout the 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, the great majority of Hezbollah’s actions were directed against Israeli military targets, not civilians. This was also the case during Israel’s recent war against Lebanon.

The forum participants also discussed how to respond to the university’s attempts at intimidation and censorship in the lead-up to the forum, and decided to circulate a petition demanding an end to the policy of allowing security officers to remove political posters.

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