Encampment set up at University College London campus in solidarity with Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) — Joining several other university campuses across the Western world, University College London (UCL) students also set up an encampment in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Roughly a dozen tents have been pitched outside the main building in Bloomsbury, where entry has been restricted as only students are allowed to enter the campus.

The action by students at UCL is meant to call on their school's administration to divest from Israeli "war crimes" in Gaza with a pledge to rebuild universities in Gaza.

Meanwhile, students were told on Friday that ID checks would be in place at the gate of the campus.

The email, seen by Anadolu, said that while the university must be a place that can accommodate lawful protest by staff and students and remain open to the community, "we are aware that there are external individuals and organisations who are seeking to exploit the university's duty to allow freedom of expression."

"We cannot allow something that causes significant disruption to the running of the university and interferes with our primary purpose as a place of learning and research," read the email.

- Protest growing

Waddah Alshammari, a Saudi national who came to London from Liverpool to support the protest, was one of those not allowed to join the encampment.

Speaking to Anadolu outside campus, he expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and their supporters.

"While the university is shutting down the doors, they're not allowing anybody to attend and therefore, we are here waiting and showing support," he explained.

"We demand power to the people. So, this is not a democracy," said Alshammari, adding: "They (Gazans) are dying every day, they're being starved and we need to do something about it."

Also speaking to Anadolu, Anwar, a spokesperson for UCL Stands for Justice, said they have asked the university to meet three main demands.

"Divest from any companies which are complicit in ongoing genocide going on in Gaza, to condemn those war crimes, and for them to pledge for the reconstruction of the universities in Gaza, all of which have been destroyed," said the official of the group, which is organizing the protest.

"We intend to remain here for as long as it takes for the university to acknowledge our demands," said Anwar, suggesting that businesses and corporations with links to Israel are "complicit in genocide."

Touching on the increased security measures since the encampment began, he underlined that it has not stopped their numbers from growing.

He said more people "are coming and standing with us to demand our university divest from these companies, which are destroying the civilian population in Gaza," added Anwar.

The global wave of pro-Palestinian student demonstrations began on April 17 at Columbia University to protest Israel's offensive in Gaza, spreading to other Western countries, including the UK.