Student protesters showed solidarity with Palestine on Saturday 9 November by occupying the engineering building at the University of Leicester. Below you can see some of the images and videos from the occupation, which students passed to the Canary. We understand that the occupation ended when security officers threatened protesters with arrest:
You can see more from the occupation on the Palestine Society’s Instagram page:
The University of Leicester students’ demands
The following are the University of Leicester students’ demands. They said in a letter:
As students we call on you as our University and our Students’ Union to make these changes. We also demand as our Students’ Union that you help us to pressure the University into acting on these demands as well as show public support for them.
We also demand that all students protesting the ongoing genocide and your complicity will receive no punishment for their peaceful actions.
Section 1: Public Statement
1a) The University of Leicester updates its statement making it clear that the state of Israel must be condemned for the mass killing of civilian Palestinians. Failing this the University should at least alter the statement to list the numbers of casualties and in particular child casualties on both sides.
1b) The University of Leicester and the UoL students’ union make a public apology acknowledging that the way they handled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine vs how they have handled the genocide of the Palestinian people; was unequal in support and gave the impression to students that they believe that white people’s lives matter more than the lives of Arabs. We understand that this sentiment has already been expressed behind closed doors however we are requesting a public apology.
1c) The University publicly recognises that all of the 12 higher education facilities in Gaza have been systematically and intentionally destroyed or damaged, in what has been dubbed ‘scholasticide’ [1]. 95 academic staff have been killed, 88,000 students have been deprived of education and 555 were not granted international scholarships. [2]
1d) The University updates its public statement to include information on the provisional ICJ ruling on genocide noting that all states party to the genocide convention, including the UK, have a duty to implement the orders of the ICJ and prevent genocide.
1e) Upon the University failing to act on our requests, the Students’ Union put out their own statement that actually reflects the views of students in accordance with what is outlined above.
1f) The University writes a letter to all Leicester MP’s and the government, including the prime minister and the foreign secretary, calling for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the arms sale to Israel that makes this country complicit in genocide, and the immediate allowance of necessary aid into Gaza.
Section 2: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
2a) The University continues to take BDS into account when looking into future investment options.
2b) The University does not allow companies and brands to advertise themselves on campus that are actively aiding or profiting from the ongoing genocide and apartheid of Palestinians. In particular but not limited to companies that are producing weaponry being used to kill Palestinians e.g. BAE systems, MBDA, Leonardo to name just some.
2c) Where possible the University removes all brands from campus that are publicly or financially supporting the genocide and apartheid of Palestinians by the state of Israel in particular but not limited to: HP, CocaCola and all of its subsidiaries (SmartWater etc), Pepsi, Starbucks.
We thank the University for beginning this process with CocaCola and for considering the removal of Starbucks, and HP. However, we still call on you to completely remove these companies, including in vending machines, upon the renewal of their respective leases.
2d) The University publicly promises to not work with any Israeli universities in the near future that are active and willing participants in the ongoing genocide[3]
2e) The University uses its claimed influence on Barclays as a large financial institution, to pressure them to divest from arms companies that have regularly been proven to be manufacturing weapons used to commit war crimes, in particular Elbit Systems. If and when Barclays denies this request, the University publicly promises to students, and begins the process of changing banks to a more ethical option, for example Nationwide.
2f) The University puts pressure on space park Leicester and does anything in its power to cut ties with brands that produce arms that are being used to genocide the Palestinians e.g. Rolls Royce, Airbus and others.
It must take action
Section 3: Malcolm Shaw
3a) The University publicly acknowledges and reprimands Emeritus professor Malcolm Shaw as being in breach of the University’s dignity and respect policy for Islamophobia. Failing this, the University publicly acknowledges that its dignity and respect policy is entirely performative and in reality they do not care if staff members are in breach of it. [4]
3b) The University and the UoL Students’ Union publicly acknowledges that Malcolm Shaw’s views do not reflect the views of students or other staff.
Section 4: Supporting Palestine and Education
4a) The University of Leicester explores collaborative projects with Palestine educational institutions including scholarships, academic fellowships and twinning arrangements with Universities in the occupied territories.
4b) The University encourages staff and students to educate themselves on both the history and current state of the relationship between Israel and Palestine and the UK’s influence in this.
4c) The University requires departments to include optional or compulsory ethics modules to teach students about how the companies that they choose to work for as a graduate impact the world around them. This is already employed in many universities in the UK and is especially important but not limited to those subjects that lead into arms manufacturing e.g. Physics and Engineering.
The Canary will have more updates on the students’ situation at the University of Leicester as it develops.
Featured image and additional images supplied
