Students occupy university building

Martin Shipton

A group of students who oppose Israel’s war on Gaza has occupied one of Cardiff University’s main buildings in protest against what they see as the university’s complicity in genocide.

Caerdydd Students for Palestine say they have been forced to occupy the Glamorgan building “because of the repressive and genocidal actions of our university”.

Financial ties

A spokesperson for the group said: “ For more than a year Israel has carried out a genocide in Gaza. Cardiff University enables these crimes through not just its silence but its financial ties to complicit companies.

“Airbus is a significant supplier of arms to Israel and also a partner of Cardiff University through our ‘Airbus centre of excellence’ initiative. This is just one example of the complicity.

“As we come to the [degree]assessment period, we should be working on our academic subjects, but instead we are seeing our fellow students facing suspensions and possibly expulsions.

“The university is making a clear attempt to intimidate student activists, after promising to protect us, but we will not be frightened out of protesting.

“Our university has lied to us – saying they will engage with us on a review of their ethical investments and then taking no action on this.

“This is nothing in comparison to the plight of Palestinian students who have no campuses at all. Every university in Gaza has been destroyed by the Israeli war machine.

“The University Executive Board has refused to engage with us, despite widespread student support for our actions, and shows of solidarity from trade unions. That is why we are taking the action today and that is why we will continue to take action. The genocide can never be normalised.”

The group has demanded:

* Disaffiliation from companies tied to the genocide in Gaza;

* Support should be publicly offered to the Palestinian people, including a denunciation of Israel’s genocide;

* The immediate resignation of Vice Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner.

Campaign

A public campaign was launched last December, urging Cardiff University to drop disciplinary action against two students who participated in a pro-Palestine protest on campus.

In an open letter to the university’s chief operating officer and university secretary Dr Paula Sanderson and the university’s academic registrar Simon Wright, students, staff, societies, alumni and members of the public stated:: “We … stand in solidarity with the two suspended Cardiff University students, who have been accused of ‘using abusive language, harassing, and intimidating behaviour’ for their participation in a pro-Palestine protest on campus.

“Cardiff University has viewed this as a serious allegation and has chosen to suspend these two students pending investigation and outcome, as well as banning them from Cardiff University and Students’ Union premises. This includes full academic suspension.

““These students were exercising their right of assembly and protest outside the MLANG [School of Modern Languages and Translation] event that had invited the Royal Air Force (RAF) to campus on October 14 2024.

“This was only one day after Israeli warplanes targeted Shuhada al-Asqa Hospital and completely ignited the building, which directly caused the deaths of at least four people who were burned alive, and injured over 40. At the time of this occurrence, RAF Shadow R1 spy planes were present in Gaza performing a reconnaissance mission.

“This reconnaissance mission was one out of 200 that the RAF has performed since October 7 2023. The RAF has at least 1,000 hours of surveillance footage over Gaza, and only as late as October 25 2024 has it stated that it ‘would consider’ providing intelligence gathered from surveillance flights over Gaza to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if requested.

“The United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC and numerous journalists and human rights experts have described the current onslaught in Gaza as a plausible genocide. The ICJ has issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes. Legal experts have suggested multiple times that the United Kingdom and its armed forces, including the RAF, could be complicit in war crimes and genocide. Students were exercising their duty to hold their university to account and demand it fulfils its legal duty to divest from war crimes and genocide and should not be punished for doing so.”

“Cardiff University’s own students near-unanimously voted at their AGM in November 2024 to call on the university to support Pro-Palestine activism on campus and, as student campaign group Time to Act Cardiff has highlighted, the university is more likely to suspend protestors than those accused of rape or sexual assault.

“We … publicly condemn Cardiff University’s decision to suspend the two students, and demand their immediate reinstatement to their courses and that the disciplinary investigations be dropped. We urge Cardiff University senior management to protect freedom of speech, assembly and protest on campus and to sever all ties they have with companies complicit in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “A small group – approximately ten – are refusing to leave the University’s Glamorgan building. At this stage, it is unclear whether they are Cardiff University students. For the safety of everyone in our university community, our security continues to monitor the situation. We will do everything possible to minimise disruption for our staff, students and the wider university community.”