Anti-war protests in Oxford and Cambridge, UK

 

    Students took part in the protest by smearing their hands with blood-red paint in protest of Israel's killings in Gaza. Last Wednesday at Oxford University in the United Kingdom

The students of Oxford and Cambridge, two famous universities in the United Kingdom, have protested to demand an end to Israel's aggression in Gaza. They are protesting by pulling tents in the university campus. In the face of student protests, some university authorities in Europe have announced the severance of relations with Israel. This is one of the demands of the protesting students.

Hundreds of students started protesting at Oxford University in London last Wednesday local time. A number of demands were raised by the protesting students to the university authorities. It contains several demands, including the end of all funding to Israel, severing ties with Israel, reforming university investment policies, boycotting Israel, and rebuilding educational institutions in Gaza.

Students are protesting by pulling tents in front of Oxford's Museum of Natural History and Cambridge's King's College. Placards and Palestinian flags with slogans such as 'Stop the genocide in Gaza', 'Stop supporting Israel' are seen in the hands of the students. Some of the protesters wore the traditional kefaya (the black-and-white scarf that Palestinians wear).

In a joint statement, Oxford Action for Palestine and Cambridge for Palestine called on university authorities to stop providing financial and moral support to the Israeli government. The statement said, "Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) cannot make a profit at the expense of Palestinian lives." The image of the university cannot be developed by hiding Israel's crimes.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned about anti-war protests in various educational institutions. He urged the vice-chancellors to take more steps to protect Jewish students on campus.

Last month, students of Columbia University in New York started a protest demanding an end to the war in Gaza and severing ties with Israel. Later, protests spread in more than one and a half hundred educational institutions of the country. 

Protests are ongoing in at least 12 European countries. However, the Israeli forces have started a ground operation in Rafah, Gaza, ignoring the student protests in the country and the concerns of the international community.

Announcing the severance of relations with Israel

Students of Ireland's Trinity College Dublin (TCD) started a protest by pitching a tent on the campus. Last Wednesday, the university authorities said, it has been decided to sever ties with institutions that conduct activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. All processes will be completed quickly.

However, TCD student union president Laszlo Molnarfi said in a statement that they will continue the movement until all existing ties with Israel are severed.

Spanish universities are considering severing ties with Israeli institutions amid ongoing student anti-war protests. CRUE, a governing body comprising the vice-chancellors of the country's 76 universities, announced the plan on Thursday. The organization also supported ongoing anti-war protests at universities across the country.

Protests are peaceful, yet violent

The ongoing protests in US educational institutions are peaceful, but the authorities are using excessive force. Thousands of students were arrested. A recent study revealed such information.

The study was conducted by a US non-profit called the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. It is said that they analyzed 553 protests across the United States from April 17 to May 3. It found that 97 percent of these protests were completely peaceful. However, law enforcement forces have detained more than 2500 students.

The study found that there were at least 70 incidents of police interference with peaceful protests. Apart from the obstruction, numerous students from different universities were arrested together. According to the organization, from the beginning of the protest at Columbia University on April 17 to May 3, the police arrested more than 2,600 students from more than half a hundred educational institutions.

Besides, they have used force in various ways including crushing the tents, using chemicals, batons to disperse the protesting students.

Criminologists say that the police are mainly using force to disperse the protests.