The Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of Adelaide has been targeted multiple times with fireworks over the month of May. Student protesters report drones were involved. (Image: Students for Palestine Adelaide rally outside the University of Adelaide. Source: Robert Hicks)
By Robert Hicks | @_roberthicks
Last month saw student-run pro-Palestinian encampments set up at university campuses across Australia, with students from the University of Adelaide among them.
Their goal is to pressure universities to disclose and divest ongoing funding towards Israel and companies that support Israel.
These largely peaceful protests have been met with non-violent counter protests.
But they have also been met with opposition — Adelaide’s camp being no exception.
Fireworks have been thrown into the camp, causing soccer ball-sized burns in tents and increased security measures from both the protestors and university security.
Some of these fireworks were reportedly dropped remotely via drone.
Someone who witnessed the fireworks, University of Adelaide student and Gaza solidarity encampment member Artemis Bishop, was shocked: “When’s the last time you heard about fireworks being dropped on people in Adelaide?”
There had been numerous fireworks thrown into the encampment — Bishop was there for the incidents on May 6, 8 and 10.
It was her first night there; Bishop said she was “just chilling next to [her] tent” when the first firework went off nearby.
At that point, the encampment had been up and running for four days.
There hadn’t been any physical violence or threats of it until that point, just verbal altercations; Bishop said counter protesters yelled things to the effect of, “hey, we hate you”.
“So, I’m sitting there and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, about two metres behind me, right in the middle of four of the tents, a firework goes off,” Bishop said.
“I went into shock and started crying because it was quite scary and quite loud.
“Everyone ran over immediately and, thankfully, everybody came and comforted me.”
Then, she said, about an hour later two more fireworks went off on the roof of the closest building to the camp.
“Thankfully, nobody was hurt,” she said.
“We believe those, and then some later attacks, were done using a drone.”
By May 8, the university had increased security to deter further incidents, and the protestors had their own night watch.
Bishop was on night watch at around 11:30pm when fireworks were thrown again.
“[The firework was] aimed and directed right towards where everybody would usually be standing … at the front,” she said.
“It hit the banner, it didn’t fully explode, but the important part of that one was it left the shell of the firework …
“So, we got a good look at the firework and this one pretty clearly had been ordered from somewhere.
The leftover firework packaging (source: supplied by the protesters)
“[For the first firework] we found scraps … that one was very clearly homemade.
“But there was the other one … it’s from a manufacturing company in Melbourne.”
The next firework exploded in the early morning of May 10 about 1:45am.
“[When] we were asleep another firework attack happened, this time though, thankfully, somebody had set up their phone on the steps of the Barr Smith [Library] pointed towards the camp recording,” she said.
“The big question we’d had the whole time was ‘are people dropping these or are they dropping them with drones?’
“When I went and made the security report I was chatting with security, and they were watching the footage.
“They said they’d be able to see someone light it cause [it would] show up on cameras.
“The head of security looked up and said to me … ‘Did anybody hear or see a drone?’”
Nobody had — it was too dark to see something so small and so black in the sky.
Bishop thought the question odd, though, and so did the other protestors; that security guard’s query became the catalyst for their belief that it was a drone.
She has not been able to see the CCTV footage, but, as far as she knows, security has provided it to police: “they said after the report was made they would send it to them.”
As of publication, she has not been contacted by police following her report.
Despite the fireworks, Bishop and the other protestors focused on “positive vibes” to lift their spirits and ignore the intimidation attempts.
“These people are doing this stuff to intimidate us, so, the best thing we can do is not be intimidated,” she said.
“Let’s continue. Let’s have some fun. Like, take some time to recover.
“They are just being stupid … but, at the same time, had I been close to that blast… could have lost my legs cause they’re pretty powerful fireworks.”
The protestors had a brief respite for nearly five nights, but on May 16 another firework incident occurred.
“They dropped another firework from a drone and this one lit one of the few tents that didn’t have a fire-proof tarp on it,” Bishop said.
“It lit that tent on fire and burned a big hole in the side.
“Thankfully nobody was inside that tent.”
By that point, Bishop had left the encampment — but the effect it had on her lingered.
“I, after the first two [fireworks], was getting auditory hallucinations,” she said.
“I was at home, and I was trying to take a nap and I kept waking up to the sound of fireworks.
“I guess the context for us is that as much as this is scary, we’re, like, ‘well, these are just fireworks.’ Imagine what it’s like for the Palestinians living in Rafah — in Gaza — right now, who have been bombed and [have been] hearing those sounds.
“Especially for the children living under that.
“It’s so far removed from our experiences here in Australia that it’s just crazy to think about.”
If you have any information regarding the firework incidents at the University of Adelaide contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.
The University of Adelaide was approached for comment but declined due to an ongoing police investigation.
The Gaza solidarity encampment announced their intention to discontinue their camp on May 28.
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