The Western Sydney University for Palestine (WSU4P) collective held a rally at Western’s Parramatta South University on the 13th of August 2025. Professor Alana Lentin, a long-time scholar of race and racism, and self-proclaimed Jewish anti-Zionist, was among three speakers.
She stated, ‘Everything that I will say is said in my name only and in no way represents my employer, Western Sydney University’, a reference to the University’s code of conduct policy.
Syqe is an Israeli medical company who has developed cannabis vaporisers to allow controlled doses, with two global partnerships in Australia and Malta.
According to Australian Associated Press (AAP), Syqe provides cannabis vaporisers to veteran Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers suffering from PTSD. According to Lentin, Western’s backing of Israel can be seen in initiatives like the use of Israeli-made cannabis vaporisers in Western’s NICM Health Research Institute study funded by Syqe.
Lentin argues there is an ‘obligation for staff and affiliates to avoid and report any possible corruption or misuse of university fund’.
She condemns the University for accepting cannabis vaporisers ‘developed by Israeli company Syqe’ for research into medicinal cannabis treatment diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Western’s website states that the research has the potential to drive meaningful public health advancements. Lentin argues the University’s curriculum and journal articles on racism are “worthless” if staff and students do not practice what the University teaches.
‘Our words in the classroom and our journal articles are worthless if we do not do as we say’, says Lentin.
