Whether or not Israel scales up its attacks on Palestinians seeking refuge in Rafah, the Palestinians’ struggle will continue and Israel must emerge from its genocidal war as a pariah state. Sheffield University students have rallied to the worldwide protest movement, demanding that governments halt their support for Israel’s colonial project of ethnic cleansing and that universities end all collaboration with Israeli institutions. The Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine made up of staff, students and alumni from both Sheffield and Hallam universities and have support from local trade unions and community activist groups has set up protest camp outside the University Students’ Union.
The Sheffield action comes on the week that the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said it had written to 82 British universities warning them of the possible risk of criminal liability over any investments held in arms companies and Israeli settlements. Sheffield University has multi-million financial contracts with BAE Systems, GKN, Boeing, and several other arms manufacturers.
The explosion of anger from campuses around the world, reminiscent of the mass mobilisation against the US war in Vietnam, has caught political elites by surprise. It shouldn’t have! Did they really expect people to quietly watch Israel, armed by its Western backers, to continue murdering Palestinians?
Predictably, Netanyahu railed against the student protests in the US as “horrific“: “Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped.” But such patently false and intemperate charges reflect the Israeli leader’s panic at the prospect of young people – including young Jews, who are joining the protests in increasing numbers – turning the tide of public opinion against Israel. The alarm bells are also ringing for the likes of Biden, Sunak and Starmer. There are signs that support for Israel is becoming an electoral liability. Since the student protests have started, Biden’s popularity in key marginal states in the November election has dipped further and in last week’s UK local elections, the Labour party lost significant number of votes in several parts of the country where, reportedly, to Muslims, but also to young people, in general, sections of the population to whose views the Labour leadership shows no regard. In Sheffield, Qais Al-Ahdal won the Darnall ward from Labour, with a margin of 1200, by standing as an Independent to highlight Labour’s failure to oppose Israel’s war on Gaza. The Independent reported: “Pat McFadden, a senior member of Starmer’s shadow cabinet, admitted on Sky News that the question over the events happening in Gaza, and Sir Keir’s support for Israel, were having an impact on votes.”
The student protests have opened up a new front in the opposition to Israel’s war. Al Jazeera showed Palestinians in Gaza holding up placards applauding the students’ stance. At times they must have despaired that the world is ignoring their plight but here was proof to the contrary.
The Sheffield Campus Coalition is calling for people to visit the camp which is on the forecourt to the Students’ Union building on Western Bank S10 2TG. They would very much welcome support and any of the following items: food, water, blankets, toiletries (incl sanitary products), wet-wipes, etc. Donations to purchase such items are also welcome.
