Friday 20 February 2009

Hicham Yezza (Nottingham) on Student Activism in Comment is Free

You can read Hicham’s full article “Student Apathy is Good for Business” here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/19/student-politics-sit-ins-gaza

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Message from the Islamic University of Gaza

Dear fellow students of King's College ,

We would like to express our sincere thanks and deep appreciation for all your conscious efforts, endeavours and demands to support the right to education, justice and freedom in Palestine.

We wholeheartedly support your peaceful protests against the blanket bombing of Gaza in general and the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) in particular which suffered extensive destruction and damage to all its buildings, academic facilities. Additionally more than 20,000 students, whose families have been agonizing from the suffocating siege of Gaza, have lost some members of their families and many others have lost their houses.

With great respect and admiration, we have been following all activities taking place in 19 British universities. Your brave campaign has strengthened both our hope and will that we are not alone in this just battle against unprecedented blatant injustices and flagrant violation of human in Palestine.

We are absolutely proud of you all and proud of your solidarity and support campaign for the right to education in Palestine which gives us bright light in the heart of the military occupation darkness.

We wish you full success in your supportive campaign and in achieving all your sensible demands which show a high level of awareness and commitment to defend basic human rights in Gaza at a time of obvious media bias and hypocrisy of many governments.

We hope to cooperate with you soon to establish mutual academic cooperation between our academic institutions. In this regard, we confirm our high interest and strong willingness to provide you with any information, facts, plans, courses, etc related to your practical demands.

In solidarity with King's College Students in Occupation

Dr Kamalain Sha'ath
President, The Islamic University of Gaza

Sunday 8 February 2009

The independent on student sit-ins

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/students-are-revolting-the-spirit-of-68-is-reawakening-1604043.html

Friday 6 February 2009

Fundraising Meeting

Emergency Fundraising Meeting:

Having suffered an 18-month blockade, followed by nearly a month of heavy bombardment, Gaza is in desperate need of aid. Yesterday afternoon we had a very productive meeting with KCLSU officials and decided on a few things, namely that fundraising will begin on Monday 9th February, last for 3 weeks and all proceeds will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

Owing to this, it is imperative that we hold an emergency organising meeting on MONDAY 9TH FEBRUARY. Please meet outside the STRAND ENTRANCE at 11am and we will move onto a suitable location from there. We will briefly discuss the outcomes of the meeting with the SU, the ideas we’ve already formulated and then delegate responsibilities/tasks for all those able to help, such as campus supervisors. We need to make the most out of the 3 weeks we have, so it's important that we begin our fundraising efforts immediately. Please also bring with you any ideas you have for raising money.

Sunday 1 February 2009

University of Nottingham forcibly removes Occupiers

Security staff from the University of Nottingham have forcibly removed students occupying a lecture theatre with police present. Property of students has been confiscated. Rush calls in protest to the University on 0115 9515151.

N.B.
Supporter Baroness Tonge was denied access to visit the protesters on Saturday evening at about 6pm and addressed them from outside the windows of the occupied lecture theatre.

After the victory: What next?

Open meeting for all those who have been inspired by the movement, and want to discuss the way forward.

Tuesday 3rd February
5pm
The Spit, Guy's Campus

"From the river to the Strand, this is Palestinian land."

KCL Occupation

Occupation Comes To An End, As Students Declare Victory!

King's College London Students End Occupation, Declaring Victory


Feb. 1, 2009


(London) King's College London students declared victory today after almost two weeks occupying a lecture theatre at the Central London Strand campus. The students began their sit-in protest almost a fortnight ago on Tuesday morning January 20th, demanding a series of measures from the university management aimed at recognising the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and initiating concrete measures to help to alleviate it. King's College students were particularly concerned about the stance of King's College in light of the decision to award an honorary doctorate to Shimon Peres, current president of Israel.


"The college has agreed to a series of measures to directly address the current crisis in Gaza, including the provision of scholarships for those directly affected by the crisis, and the donation of educational resources to institutions in Palestine", said Mido Khan on behalf of the student protesters. "In addition, the college has acknowledged the scale of discontent that the award to Peres has generated among the student population, particularly considering the award in the context of what has happened recently in Gaza." The students agreed to cease their occupation after college management agreed to publish a statement outlining the position of the College on these issues and the humanitarian measures undertaken in the wake of the occupation.


"This signals the reintroduction of student activism as a powerful agent for political change, and shows us that if we make a stand then we can make a difference", said Hesham Yafai.