LONDON, 07 May. - (ANA) - University students in the United Kingdom have set up encampments on campuses to protest against the war in Gaza.

 

Students at Cambridge and Oxford universities are among the latest protesters to launch camps against the war in Gaza on university campuses.

 

Protesters have set up tents outside universities across the UK, including Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle, after unrest at similar sites in the US.

 

More than 100 people attended a demonstration outside King’s College, Cambridge, on Tuesday – where a protester with a megaphone by the encampment led a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

 

Protesters with Palestine flags and placards marched from the encampment to deliver their demands to the University of Cambridge.

 

A Cambridge student, who did not wish to be named, described herself as “part of a global collective which is a struggle for Palestinian liberation”.

 

The student said the protesters were demanding that the university “disclose all of its research collaborations and financial ties with companies and institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide and then to divest from these”.

 

“We will be staying here until our demands are met,” she said.

 

Students from the University College London (UCL) took part in a rally outside Downing Street on Tuesday to protest against the war in Gaza.

 

More pro-Palestinian protests are likely to be held on university campuses in the upcoming days, organisers have suggested.

 

Stella Swain, youth and student campaigns officer at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), told the PA news agency: “I would anticipate students being inspired by what they’ve seen, and more and more springing up over the next week or so.”

 

When asked about concerns about antisemitism, Ms Swain added: “Every single encampment that I have spoken to has a complete zero tolerance policy for all forms of racism.

 

“I’d say the encampments are completely safe for Jewish students.”

 

Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago, USA, on Tuesday amid tensions on US campuses over the war in Gaza.

 

An University and College Union (UCU) spokesperson said: “It has been shocking to witness militarised police forces invited onto campuses in the United States to violently shut down peaceful dissent.

 

“As peaceful encampments and occupations spread across Britain, we call on vice-chancellors to take a different approach.

 

“We are clear that antisemitism and Islamophobia have no place on our campuses or in our society, but freedom of speech and freedom of assembly within the law are fundamental human rights and civil liberties which must be upheld.”

 

An University of Cambridge spokesperson said: “The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest.

 

“We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.

 

“We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred, or other unlawful activity.”  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/07 May 2024 - - -