Exeter – On Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, students from the University of Exeter launched an encampment on their university campus. Students at Exeter join students at hundreds of universities worldwide who are taking action on their campuses. In line with the global student movement, the Exeter students work to protest their university’s complicity in the Israeli occupation and the genocide of the Palestinian people. This escalation follows countless attempts at communicating with the administration, exhausting means of protest, to be met with inaction. In joining over 150 student encampments worldwide, students in Exeter equally refuse to allow universities to profit from and enable the Israeli occupation. Their firm belief being that their education can not, and should never have, existed in tandem with the oppression of Palestinians.
Alongside their encampment, the students have submitted a letter to the University’s management team, the details of which can be found at HERE. Joining the encampment as resident spokesperson is social media activist, Chris Kunzler, who has gained traction across TikTok (@chriskunzler) and Instagram (@chris.kunzler) for his Palestinian advocacy.
Specifically, the students are demanding that the University of Exeter:
- DIVEST from and cut ties with all military, defence and security companies and partnerships directly and indirectly involved in and benefiting from the occupation, oppression, and genocide in Palestine and elsewhere.
- BOYCOTT Israeli universities and research partnership programs, including the University of Tel Aviv.
- SUPPORT Palestinian education by offering at least one scholarship in each department for students/scholars from Gaza, and also establishing partnerships with Palestinian universities to collaborate on rebuilding education in the Gaza Strip.
- SAFEGUARD the protection of academic freedom and freedom of speech for students, staff, and allies engaging in supporting Palestine.
The student revolution that we are seeing around the world is part of a mass movement of millions of people who, for the last 7 months, have been protesting Israel’s genocide on Gaza which has murdered over 40,000 Palestinians.
The British public is overwhelmingly opposed to this genocide and want to see an end to UK Government complicity in Israeli war crimes. The student movement has always played a critical role in the broader Palestinian movement in Britain and the recent encampments build on ongoing student mobilisations for Palestine over the last 7 months.
Footage and videos of the encampment can be found on our Instagram. As well as this, our community guidelines, published on our Instagram, help to describe the ethos of our encampment. For media enquiries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the University of Exeter encampment media representative at @ELE4PAL
