Workers' Weekly On-Line
Volume 55 Number 2, February 1, 2025 ARCHIVE HOME JBCENTRE SUBSCRIBE

Students Stand with Palestine

Oxford University Students Occupy Radcliffe Camera

On January 24, 2025, Oxford University students occupied the iconic Radcliffe Camera building, renaming it the "Khalida Jarrar Library" in honour of the Palestinian political leader and human rights advocate. Held to coincide with the International Day of Education, the action was aimed at holding the University accountable for its complicity in Israel's occupation and genocide [1].

The occupation was a direct response to the University's failure to meet the demands of organisers Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P), who had organised encampments and other occupations on campus in the previous academic year [2]. These demands include an overhaul of investment policy, including that university-wide assets be disclosed and all arms companies and the university divest from companies complicit in Israeli genocide, apartheid, and occupation. The demands further call for boycotting institutional relations, and rebuilding and reinvesting in higher education in Gaza. The students demand that the University sever its relationship with Barclays Bank due to its investments in military technology used in Israeli military operations.

"Lockheed Martin, a key weapons supplier to Israel, uses components supplied by BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce to manufacture their deadly F-35 fighter jets - technologies developed in collaboration with Oxford University. These three arms giants, among others, have provided Oxford with tens of millions of pounds in research funding," OA4P points out.

On entering the library, the students vowed to remain in the building until the University agreed to meet all demands within a defined timeframe.

The occupation was accompanied by a series of events inside and outside the occupied library that afternoon, starting with a rally at Carfax Tower to mark the International Day of Education. That was followed by two teach-outs at the Clarendon steps, discussing Oxford's involvement in Gaza and the 2009 Clarendon Building Occupation. Students held a vigil alongside Oxford Health Workers for Palestine later that evening.

Two days later, OA4P and other local activist groups held a further candlelight vigil outside the library in memory of those who have lost their lives under Israeli occupation and to demand accountability for the ongoing human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Despite initial discussions with the activists, the University of Oxford ultimately called in the police to evict the students on January 25, leading to several arrests.

"The University deployed at least a hundred security and law enforcement personnel to forcefully arrest actionists and use physical violence on protestors outside the library, expending city and University resources in the process," report OA4P. "This follows the University's pattern of bad faith engagement with OA4P, and repeated violent repression of pro-Palestine organising on campus."

Despite this attempt at suppression, OA4P remains committed to exposing the University's ties to arms manufacturers and its involvement in Israel's human rights violations. "We will not rest while Palestine remains under Zionist occupation," declared OA4P.

Indeed, the students point out that the occupation of the Radcliffe Camera and the continued protests serve as a reminder that the fight for Palestinian liberation is far from over. With the University of Oxford under increasing pressure, OA4P affirm that the coming weeks will be pivotal in in the struggle for Palestinian rights and for their demands of Oxford University to be met.

As part of the ongoing campaign, OA4P has organised a mass picket of Barclays Bank on Saturday, February 8, 2025, from 11am to 1pm. The protest, under the banner of "Disinvest Now! Don't Bank on Apartheid", will continue the push for the University to sever ties with Barclays, whose investments in Israeli military technology are seen as enabling the occupation and the genocide.

Notes
1. Instagram posts from Oxford Action for Palestine, Oxford Health Workers for Palestine, and Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign, January 24-26, 2024
2. "Oxford University Authorities Agree to Meet Encampment Students", Workers' Weekly, June 8, 2024
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-24/ww24-13/ww24-13-04.htm


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