Following the uprising pro-Palestine protests across U.S. university campuses, institutions in the UK have also shown their solidarity with students camping out in tents against the prestigious backdrop of Oxford, Cambridge, and Bristol University.
Calls from the students demand an immediate, unconditional ceasefire as well as for their university to divest from companies that support Israel.
In England, the encampment movement is rattling Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. The premier told his cabinet this week that there had been an “unacceptable rise in anti-Semitism” on campuses across the UK. Sunak is scheduled to meet with university board members on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.
Unlike the U.S. protests, the students in the UK have not yet been forcibly removed or arrested, however, university security workers have asked them to leave, without any mention of disciplinary action.
Pupils camping out at Trinity College, in Dublin Ireland, managed to get their requests met after just a few days of protesting. The Irish Times reported that the university agreed to “fully divest from three Israeli companies in which it held investments as part of its endowment funds.”
A story by Middle East Eye recently uncovered that Trinity College had invested 78,089 dollars in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company.
Trinity’s Senior Dean Professor Eoin O’Sullivan, who led the talks for Trinity, said: “We are glad that this agreement has been reached and are committed to further constructive engagement on the issues raised. We thank the students for their engagement.”
Goldsmiths, University of London also surrendered to demands and agreed to provide scholarships for Palestinian students and commit to an ethical investment policy.
Across Europe, university students are joining the protests, including at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
In Barcelona, students were also heard as the senate of the University of Barcelona approved on Wednesday a motion in support of Palestine. The motion demands the Catalonian University break all ties with Israel, Catalan News wrote.