By RNZ

University of Auckland students are planning a rally, in solidarity with Palestinians caught in the Israel-Hamas conflict over the last seven months.

A post on the University of Auckland Student Justice for Palestine Facebook page initially invited people to gather with their tents outside the university library from 3pm on Wednesday, in what they said would be a show of support for justice and peace.

It said there would be guest speakers, discussions and networking opportunities, with an end time of 7am on Thursday.

However, in a public statement posted on social media, the organisers said the protest had been changed from an encampment into a rally.

“The decision to shift to a rally was not easy, but it was driven by our desire to mobilise a larger and more diverse audience within the campus community.”

When contacted by RNZ, the organisers said they would not be commenting any further on their plans ahead of the rally.

In an email to students, the university’s Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater said they fully supported the right of students and staff to engage in protest, but that the university advised against an overnight encampment being set up.

Professor Freshwater said the university had consulted police and was trying “to work constructively” with students so that the protest remained “peaceful and lawful”.

It did not want to see the protest affected by “the significant risks that such encampments have brought to other university campuses”.

She said the university expected “civil and respectful discourse” on campuses and the university also needed to be mindful of its health and safety responsibilities.

A Palestinian flag flutters in the wind during a pro-Palestinian encampment inside Columbia University campus on Sunday in New York. Photo / AP

In the US, New York City’s Columbia University has begun suspending students involved in a pro-Palestinian protest on campus after they defied a deadline to disperse.

Students at the Manhattan campus took over a campus building nearly 24 hours earlier and have occupied a tent camp at the Ivy League school for nearly two weeks.

The New York university has become the focal point of the country’s debate over the war in Gaza and US support for Israel, as well as fears that anti-semitism is putting Jewish students in danger.

In Texas, police moved to end another protest at the University of Texas in Austin, leading to multiple arrests.

The October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza, and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, have unleashed the biggest outpouring of student activism across the US since the anti-racism protests of 2020, Reuters is reporting.

Many of the demonstrations have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded as antisemitic for criticising Israel’s government and expressing support for human rights.

In dealing with the protests, university officials have struggled to strike a balance between allowing freedom of expression and stamping out hate speech, Reuters says.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.