Introduction:
By Hamza Ali, researcher at the Progress Center for Policies
The Gaza solidarity encampment movement has spread across the world, from New York to London, Melbourne to Cairo, Amsterdam to Istanbul. Thousands of students are pitching tents and organising rallies to register their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
And the message is being heard loud and clear. On tent walls and placards in the heart of the war zone, Gazan children have written messages thanking students at the encampments. The student movement represents a new dynamic of the solidarity with Palestine.
Context:
Encampments have been established on almost 140 American campuses, and more than 80 internationally.
The protest movement was sparked at New York’s Columbia University on 17 April when students pitched tents in the middle of campus and began rallying in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Other US universities swiftly followed suit: to date, pro-Palestine demonstrations have also occurred at universities including Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, NYU, MIT, South Carolina, and Texas. Hundreds of students and staff have been arrested and suspended for their involvement in the protests, with some videos on social media appearing to show police using brute force to subdue protestors.
What started in the American universities has now spread. They emulate the late 1960s student protests against the Vietnam War and the 1980s against South African apartheid. They may be “the largest student movement so far” of the 21st century, said Robert Cohen, a professor of social studies and history at New York University who has studied student activism.
Student movement in the UK:
In the UK, Pro-Palestinian encampments have spread to at least 15 universities, including prestigious ones like Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics.
A protester at the Oxford camp said, “Students are standing with Palestine and calling out the complicity of our universities and governments with Israel. We have been inspired by how students in the United States are not being intimidated.”
Many want universities to sell off shares, assets or other investments in companies linked to Israel and its war in Gaza, a move known as divestment. Activists say universities and colleges investing in Israeli companies or organisations doing business in Israel are complicit in the war in Gaza.
The protesters are also calling for a ceasefire, for universities to acknowledge the conflict in the besieged Palestinian territory as a “genocide” and to “condemn the destruction of all of Gaza’s universities”.
In recent days, the University of Cambridge’s wealthiest constituent college, Trinity College Cambridge, decided to divest from all arms companies. Trinity had £61,735 ($78,089) invested in Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems, which produces 85 percent of the drones and land-based equipment used by the Israeli army.
A protestor at Cambridge University said “the love for the Palestinian people and universal human rights unites us all. The camp is peaceful, it is safe, and it’s receiving beautiful community support.”
The decision from Cambridge to divest from arms companies came one week after Ireland’s most prestigious university Trinity College Dublin agreed to divest from Israeli companies linked to illegal settlements after just a few days of student protests.
The decision is seen as a significant victory in the student movement and reflective of the pressure that has been put on. Importantly, these actions often have significant support from the staff and academics of the institutions. In early May, an open letter written by Cambridge academics and signed by more than 1,700 staff, alumni, and students from the university was published, expressing support for protesters who set up a protest encampment last week that calls on the university to end any potential complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Some lecturers have even called for going further. Leonie Fleischmann, a senior lecturer in International Politics and Human Rights at City, University in London, said that as some students achieve their goals and more protests erupt, the “momentum” must be maintained.
“If we look at the anti-apartheid movement (in South Africa) and the Vietnam War, students across the globe were significant in creating change and influencing their governments to hold other governments to account” she said.
The movements are also supported by a range of communities and reflect the growing solidarity with Palestine. The Jewish Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London said it stood “shoulder to shoulder” with those rallying for Gaza. In Oxford University, Jewish Students for Justice (JSJ) issued a statement in solidarity with the organisers Oxford Action for Palestine, saying they “fully support the encampment’s struggle” and “call for the University to accept their demands in full.”
This therefore neutralises the attempt at Britain’s politicians and media at delegitimising the movements by claiming, as echoed by prime minister Rishi Sunak, that the encampments encourage ‘antisemitic abuse’.
Fighting for more than one cause:
Whilst the movements are centred on supporting Palestine and Gaza, some students have also fused their demands on Gaza with their calls for universities to help tackle the climate crisis.
Protestors at Leeds University have said “The colonialism that perpetuates Israel’s occupation is also perpetuating the exploitation of the environment. Arms companies and fossil fuel companies are all exploiting vulnerable people for their own gain.”
The camp at the University of Manchester – one of the biggest in the UK – was organised by a wide coalition of student groups including Youth Demand which campaigns for an arms embargo on Israel and an end to new oil and gas drilling.
Meanwhile, at Newcastle University, the Palestine encampment has “relied heavily” on student climate activists, including those linked to Just Stop Oil, the British environmental activist group.
Political impact:
Many critics globally have dismissed the impact of the protests and tried to delegitimise them. But in America, the signs are that protests are a contributing factor to a steady decline in president Joe Biden’s popularity.
New polls in the New York Times show Donald Trump is leading Joe Biden in 5 key battlegrounds in the US, as the election edges closer. Analysts have suggested this is because the support of young people is eroding for Joe Biden. Many are turning away and saying only with a changed approach to Palestine will they consider voting for him.
David Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas, said that during the Vietnam War, when the anti-war movement caught fire, students played a big part in it. And eventually the tide turned against the war in Vietnam in US public opinion. That is the objective for many of these protestors all around the world who are adamant on enforcing and enabling robust change.
Conclusions:
One chant that has become popular in the universities is “I believe that we will win”.
It reflects the growing movement and the unwavering commitment to justice that is being formed at the student level and keen to usher in a new world. The worldwide protests highlight what could be a historic moment as young, progressives embrace the Palestinian cause as never before, conjuring political pressures that could challenge long-established bipartisan support for Israel.
Observers have suggested the pressure on university campuses and institutions and the messages will soon begin to impact the political leaders. And those participating are keen to highlight that they want a better world and a complete shift to the system that has dominated for so long. It therefore remains the case that the genocide in Gaza has become a radicalising force all around the world. Many have suggested the student revolution has begun.