Pro-Palestinian groups are establishing protest camps at universities across Britain, drawing inspiration from similar actions in the United States.
As reported by The Times, on Wednesday, students at several Russell Group universities including Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle erected tents and anti-Israel signs. Organisers cited inspiration from US demonstrations against Israel's actions in Gaza.
"Unfortunately we find ourselves as students at a university which is complicit in genocide and our efforts to change that have come to nothing so far, so we needed to take things a step further," Lewi El Hawary, a law student from Brighton and the camp leader at Newcastle University, told the newspaper.
The protests, coordinated with trade union-led events, also saw a blockade of the Department for Business and Trade in London.
Last weekend, Warwick students began a sit-in, urging British universities to escalate actions.
While smaller than US counterparts, there have been several protests at British universities since Hamas’s attack on October 7 prompted Israel’s armed response in Gaza.
Edward Isaacs, president of the Union of Jewish Students, highlighted increased antisemitism on campuses. “This year, Jewish students have been continually facing antisemitic hatred on campus. Since October 7, Jewish students have experienced an unprecedented volume of abuse and prejudice directed against them," The Times reported him as saying.
In Newcastle, students set up a camp indefinitely, demanding university transparency and support for Palestinian causes. They also want the university to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and companies that work with Israel, as well as provide protection for staff and students who support the Palestinian cause.
Manchester and Leeds saw similar actions, with demands to end ties with defence companies and Israeli institutions. The protests, organised by student groups, aim to challenge university complicity in Palestinian oppression.
In Bristol, a group called Bristol Student Occupation for a Free Palestine set up tents on the university campus with banners reading “Arms companies killing kids”, reported the newspaper.
At Leeds University, banners with slogans such as “No IDF [Israel Defence Forces] on campus” were seen as a group set up tents on the campus.
A group called the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP) has made tent camps at the university campus.
