Students at 15 UK universities schedule walkout in demand of ceasefire
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Students from universities, including Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE) scheduled a walkout in demand of a ceasefire.
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Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip in Rafah on November 6, 2023. (AP)
On Thursday, students from fifteen UK universities—Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE) among them—organized a synchronized walkout in protest of the “increased securitization and monitoring of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students” and in demand for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Thirty Palestine societies from UK universities came together to organize the protest and released a joint statement that said, "The hostile environment that is being encouraged by university administrators has effectively banned Palestinians from their right to publicly grieve the catastrophe befalling their people in Gaza."
The statement added that officials on campuses are forbidding Palestinians from flying their national flag and preventing gatherings where they may even mourn their dead, forcing them to conceal their identity.
Speech restrictions are chillingly affecting Palestinians and pro-Palestinian voices in places that are meant to be bastions of free speech and intellectual debate, according to the statement.
The London School of Economics (LSE) university students joined other academic institutions in a nationwide "Walk Out" earlier today to denounce their institution's involvement in Israel's occupation of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/0ERHPCk5o4
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) November 9, 2023
Demanding an urgent ceasefire, students protested by walking out of their lectures, seminars, and classrooms.
Over a hundred students from LSE participated in the protest by staging a walkout, while walkouts are expected at 13 more campuses on Friday.
Meanwhile, in the US, eleven hours were devoted by Harvard students to reciting the names of around 7,000 of the ten thousand Palestinians who were killed by Israeli occupation troops in the last month.
In a show of solidarity with #Gaza, #Harvard students spent 11 hours reciting the names of 7,000 out of more than 10,000 #Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 9, 2023
Other community members also wrote the names of around 2,000 #Gazans "Israel" has killed in its… pic.twitter.com/O3OinUkny4
Members of the community also inscribed the names of almost 2,000 Palestinians who were killed by "Israel" as a sign of solidarity.
Harvard students dedicated 11 hours to recite the names of approximately 7,000 out of more than 10,000 Palestinians who lost their lives at the hands of Israeli occupation forces during the past month. In a show of solidarity, community members also inscribed the names of around… pic.twitter.com/HPweOD6EMT
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) November 9, 2023
In new attempts to censor pro-Palestinian voices, the British government put increasing pressure on police to ban a pro-Palestinian demonstration set to be held in London on Armistice Day, Saturday, November 11.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would hold the Metropolitan Police commissioner "accountable" for approving this Saturday's protest in solidarity with Palestine.
Tens of thousands of people are anticipated to demonstrate in the capital of Britain to call for an end to the Israeli aggression, which has been going on for a month.
Met Police chief Mark Rowley has said that the rally, organized by the Stop the War Coalition, does not meet the threshold for requesting a government order to stop it from going ahead.
Earlier, in a contradictory statement, Rowley declared that his forces will be “absolutely ruthless” during pro-Palestine protests, but said prosecutions would only happen when the law is broken.
In a similar context, last week, former US Secretary of the Interior and current Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke proposed legislation to ban Palestinians from the United States, mirroring a former proposal by former President Donald Trump’s infamous "Muslim ban".
The bill suggests pausing visas for Palestinians and revoking any visas issued since October 1. Zinke argued it would protect Americans from the threat of "Palestinian terrorists", which he claims are abusing the immigration system amid the current attacks on Gaza.
Zinke was first appointed Secretary of the Department of the Interior under the Trump administration and was elected to the House last year.
