Pro-Palestinian encampments launched at five elite British universities

Amid the ongoing Israel war on Gaza, universities across the globe are witnessing pro-Palestinian encampments. Now, UK Universities have also joined the protest and more schools are expected to join the movement.

After the US universities, now UK elite universities have also joined the pro-Palestinian protest. On Wednesday, students at five elite UK universities set up pro-Palestinian encampments.

As per the report of The New Arab, these encampments were launched by students of Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, and Sheffield universities. 

All these schools are part of UK's prestigious Russell Group of higher education institutions. More and more institutes are expected to join soon.

Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP), a group of staff, students and alumni at Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam universities are leading these protests.

"Day 3 of our solidarity camp! Morale is high and we’re still going strong. We are thankful for every member of our community who have offered countless amounts of support and assistance," said the group on X platform.

"On Jan. 18th, the world was made to watch as the last standing university in Gaza, Al-Israa was laid to ruin by the Israeli Occupying Forces. Today the students of Sheffield will be holding our institutions accountable by setting up a Solidarity Encampment on campus," said another message by the group on X platform.

As per BBC report, protestors at Goldsmiths, University of London, have occupied the library. The protests are happening in line with those seen in US where New York Police Department have arrested scores of protestors. 

The prime minister's spokesman said police would "have our full support" if students in the UK attempted to replicate protests at US universities.

"We've always been clear that people have a right to peaceful and lawful protest - but clearly, people shouldn't abuse that right to intimidate others, cause unnecessary disruption," added the spokesman.

Police remove protestors from top Paris University

As per reports, police entered the Paris' Sciences Po university today and removed many protestors.

One student told reporters "around 50 students were still inside the rue Saint-Guillaume site" when police entered, as reported by France 24.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's office also commented on the protests and said 23 university sites had been "evacuated" on Thursday. The Prime Minister statement also added that such protests will be dealt with using "total rigour".

Read more:

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