Pacific law lecturer says it's imperative people 'to stand up' for Palestine

A senior law lecturer at the University of Auckland says a “harmful precedent” has been set for future protests on campus.

Dylan Asafo, a senior law lecturer at the university has been in the role since 2020 after graduating from Harvard with a Master of Laws.

His comments follow Vice-Chancellor, Dawn Freshwater’s announcement to not support the establishment of an encampment by students protesting in solidarity with Palestine.

And an open letter signed by over 130 staff members at the University of Auckland has called for Freshwater to reverse her decision.

Asafo says her response is concerning and an unreasonable limitation on the right to protest.

“It’s saying you’re able to protest but only according to the kind of circumstances or the limitations that we’re willing to allow and that, we feel is really dangerous for the university.

“The university should support protests. The thing with universities including the University of Auckland is that they celebrate and they teach protests long after they’ve happened.

“But when they are happening in the current moment, there’s this resistance and there’s this inhibiting of students' rights.”

Following PMN's request for further clarification from the University of Auckland, a spokesperson provided this statement:

"To clarify, the University fully supports the rights of students and staff to engage in peaceful and lawful protest. This was witnessed with the protest on 1 May. There was no encampment on this day, and the student protestors decided, of their own volition, to end their protest on the same day.

"It is also important to appreciate that the protestors had previously approached Auckland Council about siting their protest elsewhere, with the NZ Police notified before the University engaged with the students about their change of location to the Campus.

"The University supports the right to protest, however we do not approve or authorise the establishment of an encampment."

The statement also stated that the university had also responded directly to senior lecturer Dylan Asafo about his concerns.

Asafo reiterates the need for Pacific people to stand in solidarity with Palestinian people.

“We’re seeing the New Zealand government being complicit and participating in the genocide that’s happening by the Israeli military against the Palestinian people.

“These are the people that represent us in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s our taxpayer dollars that are being used to support and to allow these people in power to basically say to Israel that you are our friends even though they are actively massacring indigenous people.

“So it’s absolutely important for us to stand up.”

Watch the full interview with Dylan Asafo below: