A protest stand-off at a Melbourne university continues as universities around the nation refuse to give into the demands of pro-Palestine demonstrators.
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Saturday marks the fourth day demonstrators have occupied a building at the University of Melbourne in Parkville and students say they have no plans to leave after failed talks with university leaders.
The encampment inside the Arts West building prompted 247 classes to be rescheduled, affecting more than 8000 students over three days.
The university says the protest is safety risk and police "may choose" to attend campus at any time but so far have not been asked to intervene.
A spokesperson said the protest has caused fear and distress, while anyone taking part who was not a student might also be referred to law enforcement.
But demonstrators say they will not go anywhere until the university discloses and divests any links to weapons manufacturing companies.
"They're trying to threaten us and intimidate us with the threat of police and then bring us to the table and pretend that they are serious about negotiating when clearly they are not," an organiser told reporters on Friday.
Demonstrators refer to the building as "Mahmoud Hall" in honour of Mahmoud Alnaouq, a Palestinian man killed in the Israel-Hamas war who was meant to study at the university.
Meanwhile, an encampment at Monash University was disbanded late on Friday.
Monash protesters claim their camp was "forcefully dismantled" however the university claims organisers told them of plans to pack up the encampment.
It was one of five set up at Victorian universities, with one in every other state and the ACT.
Student protesters at Australian National University were told to leave by the end of Friday, otherwise the university could consider action including disciplinary action.
La Trobe University in Melbourne told protest organisers to disband their encampment at the Bundoora campus late on Friday.
"Although the protests at La Trobe have been relatively peaceful and no classes have been interrupted to date, the University has considered the risks associated with the continued encampment activity and has taken this decision in the interests of the safety, wellbeing and amenity of all campus users and visitors," a statement said.
At the University of Sydney, demonstrators wanted Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott to attend a public forum on Friday however he declined.
They have promised to continue the encampment and have not ruled out moving inside like students in Melbourne.
Australian Associated Press
