Scores of pro-Palestine encampments are being erected at universities across the country as American campuses are crippled by violent clashes at encampments of students expressing solidarity with Gaza.
Newcastle University was the latest to attract crowds pitching tents around university buildings and hoisting Palestinian flags in protest of the ruinous war in the Levant.
Leeds students also announced plans to camp ‘indefinitely’ outside their student union, occupying land opposite the building and pledging to remain until the university, in their view, is ‘no longer complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people’.
In Bristol, hand-painted banners were erected between tents, emblazoned with messages of defiance as students lobbied their university to cut ties with arms companies and back calls for a ceasefire as the war rages on.
Tents, banners and gazebos have also been set up in Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Warwick with demonstrators refusing to leave until the universities meet their demands.
People gather during a protest in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Newcastle University, in Newcastle on May 1
Protesters say they are willing to stay ‘indefinitely’ at universities across the UK in solidarity
A protest at the University of Newcastle organised by pro-Palestine supporters
Universities in Britain have staged sit-ins similar to those emerging in the United States
Newcastle University was the latest to attract crowds pitching tents around university buildings
Last night Jewish community leaders urged universities to shut down encampments over fears Jewish students may be ‘harassed and excluded’.
Bristol University told The Bristol Tab they ‘fully respect the rights of our students to peacefully protest within the law’.
The ‘bristoloccupy4palestine’ group took part in an occupation of university buildings last month, but were shut down by the university, the outlet reported.
A member of the group said they were ‘steering clear of… asserting too many demands’ at present until they can be ‘fleshed out in a more democratic way’.
In Leeds, demonstrators with the Leeds Students Against Apartheid Coalition rallied against what they claimed was the university’s ‘complicity in Israel’s crimes against humanity’.
‘Its partnerships with arms companies and Israeli universities are especially dangerous in light of Israel’s incessant bombing campaigns in Gaza and intensifying settler violence in occupied Palestine,’ the coalition said in a statement.
A banner reading ‘IDF off campus’ was seen at the event where activists are planning to host fundraisers and know-your-rights training by the end of the week.
In February a Jewish chaplain at Leeds University was forced into hiding with his young family after receiving death threats over his role as an IDF reservist.
In Sheffield, a coalition of ‘staff, students and alumni’ from both the universities of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam began a similar encampment.
They said there had been a mass walk-out from lectures, and that many were ready to camp ‘indefinitely’ in support of Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel’s ground and air assaults since Hamas’ bloody incursion into Israel on October 7.
‘We’ve got gazebos and picnic tables and a generator for power. We’ll stay indefinitely until the university meets our demands,’ a student said, as reported by The Guardian.
And in Newcastle, students protested an alleged partnership between the university and defence and security company Leonardo SpA, claimed to have involvement in producing equipment for Israeli jets.
Last October, the company did open a technology research site in the city and hosted an event attended by at least one faculty member from the university – although it was unclear to what extent the firm worked directly with the institution.
Leonardo did launch a data science partnership with the National Innovation Centre for Data hosted at the university last summer.
Last weekend, Warwick University students staged a sit-in protest, acknowledging the adjacent demonstrations in the United States and calling on their peers in Britain to do more to ‘escalate’.
David Maguire, the vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia (UEA), said that protests had so far been peaceful but agreed that US-style clashes ‘could happen here’, as reported by The Guardian.
More camps are due to be set up at universities including Swansea, Edinburgh and Lancaster.
Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, said: ‘Universities should take immediate legal action to remove these encampments before Jewish and other students are harassed and excluded.’
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator (C) is beaten by counter protesters attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), May 1
Counter-protesters hold objects at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, May 1
A spokesman for Jewish charity Community Security Trust said: ‘While the right to protest is important, university authorities must ensure that other students do not have their lectures or exams disrupted, and that any examples of hate speech or support for terrorism are dealt with robustly.’
The demonstrations follow protests on US campuses, where demonstrations have turned ugly with counter-protesters meeting the encampments with force.
At UCLA, a masked pro-Israeli group ambushed a pro-Palestinian camp, shocking footage showing figures in hoodies bashing activists with bats and setting off flares.
Police had established control by dawn on Wednesday. The college cancelled classes in response to the assault.
Hundreds of protesters have also been arrested at Columbia amid similar events, with police officers clearing encampments and an occupied building.
